Dear friends,
I recently enjoyed an hour-long conversation with my good friend Sesi in Mibu. We talked about all kinds of things—church, leadership, current struggles, and some of his recent conversations with leaders and teachers from the various outreach areas.
During our conversation, Sesi told me that the leaders wanted him to pass along their gratitude to us. What he shared really touched me.
As these men have carried more and more of the responsibility of shepherding the church over the years, they’ve begun to understand just how heavy the work of ministry can be. There are problems to work through, people to encourage, difficult issues of growth and discipline, decisions to make, and the constant responsibility of helping God’s people continue toward maturity.
As they were talking together about these things, they reflected on the many years that we as missionaries carried much of that weight alongside them. Sesi said they simply wanted us to know how grateful they are that we were willing to come and do that for them.
I can’t adequately express how encouraging that was to hear. They’ve experienced enough of the weight of ministry themselves now to understand it in a way they couldn’t have years ago.
But then Sesi told me about something else they were thankful for that I really wasn’t expecting.
They were thankful for all the times I said “no.”
That probably needs some explanation!
Cross-cultural ministry can very easily expand into trying to meet every conceivable need. Over the years there were requests involving medical needs, logistics, materials, business ventures, community development, and all kinds of other things. Many were legitimate needs! There were even times when I completely agreed that something would be beneficial for the church, but taking responsibility for it would mean setting aside something else—Bible translation, lesson development, teaching, discipleship, or training. I could only do so much.
So I said no. A lot.
Sometimes I would tell the leaders, “Yes, I agree—that really does need to happen. But that doesn’t necessarily mean I need to do it.” Instead, I would encourage them to think about how they or the church might take responsibility for it themselves.
Those weren’t always easy decisions. Over the years I sometimes wondered whether I was being too hard-nosed or unwilling to help.
That’s why what Sesi said next meant so much to me.
He explained that the leaders now recognize how valuable those “no’s” were. They helped keep the main thing the main thing: understanding the gospel, gaining greater access to God’s Word, and developing leaders who could shepherd the church themselves.
And apparently it taught them something else as well. Now that they’re carrying the responsibility, they’ve learned that they also have to evaluate the endless things demanding their attention and ask, “What is truly important? What do we actually need to be doing?”
What an encouragement!
Years of wondering whether some of those decisions were the right ones were met, all these years later, with an unexpected affirmation from the very people those decisions were intended to serve.
We certainly don’t do ministry for recognition or gratitude. But I won’t pretend it wasn’t deeply encouraging to hear! More than anything, I think it’s another small window into the growing maturity of the church in Mibu. These aren’t simply people who received ministry from missionaries years ago. They’re now carrying the joys, burdens, decisions, and responsibilities of ministry themselves—and learning through experience to depend upon the Lord as they do it.
And Sesi’s message of gratitude really extends to you as well. For more than two decades, so many of you have prayed, given, encouraged, and sacrificed alongside us to make this ministry possible. These are some of the fruits we all get the privilege of seeing as God continues His work in Mibu.
Thank you for being part of it!
We also continue to ask the Lord to grow our team of regular monthly financial partners so I can devote the time needed to Bible translation, lesson development, discipleship, and supporting the Mibu church. If you’ve considered joining us, the giving link at the top of this email makes it easy to give either monthly or through a one-time, tax-deductible gift. We’re deeply grateful for every person who helps make this ongoing work possible.
In Christ,
Geoff
