Sometimes I Write

The following comes to you from Mike Cope’s blog. I vowed to spread this story to everyone I know. Please read on, and to read the comments that followed this post, Click Here.

Rwanda and Sudan.
For those who read and pray about what’s happening in the world, those are two countries that bring shivers. The former suffered a genocide a decade ago; the latter is experiencing one now (in the area of Darfur).

This summer, two young couples from Highland–grad students at ACU–are traveling to those countries to consider the possibility of planting mission teams there. They’re going with their eyes wide open, eager to see what God may have prepared. I almost don’t have words to describe my admiration for their faith and spiritual passion. Greg and Sara Kendall-Ball will be visiting Rwanda, and Houston and Kelly Shearin will be going to Sudan. (They will be in the southern part of the Sudan–quite a ways away from Darfur.) Both are going to be with older, more experienced missionaries as they survey and pray.

Think of all the prayers we’ve lifted for these two countries. Think of how often we’ve prayed for the Shalom of Christ to fall on them, and of how often we’ve prayed “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Both of these trips are very expensive. But how could they really commit to a long-term mission without visiting first? Highland has made generous donations to both couples, and both have been trying to raise money from friends, family, and other churches. But both still need several thousand dollars. (Think, for example, of the expense of having to charter a private plane just to get into Sudan.)

If you’re interested in joining Diane and me in helping them, you can make a check out to “Highland Church of Christ” and mark either “Shearins/Sudan” or “Kendall-Balls/Rwanda.” Also, if you’re possibly interested but would like to visit with either couple by phone or e-mail, please let me know (e-mail gina@highlandchurch.org) and I’ll pass that along to them. I don’t think I’ve ever done this before in the history of my little blog. But this is weighing on me.

We’ve asked the Lord to raise up workers and now workers have been raised up. Will we send them?