The End is the Beginning

Saying good bye to the missionary team in Moundou on that last day was really hard.  The more I had the chance to get to know them, their love for G*d and the heart they have for the Ch*dians, the more I realized how much God had used them to change me. 

You read about them in my previous blogs and I want you to see them now

so you can remember them and pr*y for them.

First, Kirk and Kay Carver - Team Leaders in Ch*d. 

Kirk is a chiropractor from Maryland who gave up a thriving practice to serve in Ch*d.

Kay is a massage therapist.  She wears many different hats in Ch^d. (literally & figuratively

Serving and loving the people are her strengths. She is also a very good organizer.  

They have a lot of responsibilities.  They oversee and help coordinate the work of the other team members (whose pictures follow theirs).  They also oversee and help coordinate the medical team at the various dispensaries and the hospital in Gadjibian. 

This is Mattias and Melina Ezel.  Mattias is from Germany and is involved in personal discipleship and vocational training as he teaches  metal working at the vocational school Dadje started in Moundou.  Melina works to help stop the "initiation rites" that so often occur.  These initiation rites are steeped in the occult.  Often even those in the church are so steeped in tradition they find it hard to not participate because they would be condemned by the tribe leader.

Their children from left to right are Emily (5yrs),  Karis (9yrs),  Micah (8yrs).

On the far right is Susan who are Karis' home school teacher this past year.

Below are Karina Corrales from Argentina and Beate Schlect from Germany. 

Karina is involved in teaching Sunday School teacher how to teach children.  Remember that many of the Ch*dians don't have an education and can't read, so they don't have any experiences

with teaching or even being taught. 

Beate teaches young women the importance of abstinence with the "Love Waits" and the "Love Stays" programs.  These programs are so important in a country, such as Ch*d, where  HIV is prevalent

Karina and Beate have developed an Oral Education program that teaches the entire B*ble in 52 lessons.

What a team!  How blessed I have been to know each of them.

In my journal, on that day before we left I wrote, "It's really hard to describe how I feel when I think back over the past 2 weeks. 
I came to Ch*d planning to serve others and I feel as though I've been served.
I came to Ch+d planning to give and I feel as though I have received.
I came to Ch^d planning to teach yet I am the one who learned.
I came to Ch*d planning to share G*d's love and I am the one being blessed by it.
I came to Ch+d thinking I could make a difference, yet I am the one who will forever be different!
The people in Ch&d need a lot of things.  They think they need money for roofs or scooters or material things.  What they need is compassion, not pity.  They need to not only hear about God's love but they need to see it modeled for them.  Gods love isn't materialistic it's realistic."



Many people have asked, "how did G#d change you?" 
1. I realized I can do anything G*d calls me to do.  We haven't been given the H+ly Sp*rit just so we can do easy stuff.  The Great Commission says "GO!"   When we use excuses we are denying the power of G+d.

2.  We tend to want to receive before we give.  We want to learn before we teach, we want to feel loved before we reach out to give love.  We want to "know G^d"  but we fill up on head knowledge instead of experiencing it.  These are excuses we use, again, denying the power of G^d.

3. In some ways God broadened my view of missions -  it's hard work. Not that I ever thought it was an easy job, But I experienced first hand how it can't be done without G*d.  Even short term m+ssionaries need to be ready to give up everything.  You can't have any kind of agenda or plan, period.  When we loose ourselves, we find G*d is there and had it right all along. Refer back to my journal entry above.... what I thought was going to happen did happen in a sense, but G*d did the unexpected - and it was awesome!!!

So much has changed, mostly me- my dependence on G*d has deepened.  I am learning how to see people the way G*d sees them.  I am reminded of something Sean told us one evening as we were discussing Eph 1:15-19. "We see hopelessness and despair. But G*d sees hope and strength. We need to see with G+d's eyes, not our own blinded eyes."

We often go around acting religious and pr+ying but if we can't even talk to someone because we perceive they are different, then we don't know anything about Jesus.  Being involved with people is often times messy and sometimes painful, but it is what we are called to do.  We need to get rid of our phony religious "stuff" and start DOING what God called us each to do. 

I am so grateful that I had this chance to GO and serve. The little bit of sacrifice there might have been is diminished by the remarkable work only G*d can do.  You just can't get this from reading a book.  You just have to do it. So for me, this is the beginning, I hope, of more chances to share with the people of Ch+d, what I have graciously received from G*d.

Thanks for your interest in my blog.  Thank you for taking time to read it. Please also take the time to pr*y for our m#ssionaries and for the future teams that will be going to help with the work in Ch*d.
Feel  free to email comments or questions to babycatcherbobbi@gmail.com.