Ants in the Sugar Bowl

This photo was taken of our family in March of this year.  We spent two weeks as a family ministering in Ghana.  Native orphans, deperate villagers, people without the hope of Christ all pierced our heart. 

What is God calling us to?  Where is he leading us?  The task is overwhelming. 

This picture is fitting because the exposure was cloudy but we have smiles on our faces.  Our future is clouded.  So many unknowns face us.  Yet, our eternal hope brings us joy to face the insurmountable task at hand.  Although everything is not crystal clear, we must step forward in faith.  We can smile at what is before us.  To love as Jesus loved.  To pour forth His love, hope, joy, and peace upon everyone we encounter.

A few days ago, the below poem was read aloud in training.  Surprisingly, tears came to my eyes from no where.  It made me realize what is ahead and how it affects my heart...

Ants in the Sugar Bowl
By Elizabeth Givens

So send I you

     To ants in the sugar bowl,

     To things that fly, creep and crawl into the house,

     To uncertain water, sporatic electricity.
     To long hours, sweltering heat, exhausting days,

     To uncomfortable vehicles, crowded jeeps, smelly buses.

     To noisy early, early mornings.

     To rice, rice, and more rice.
     To poverty you didn't believe existed,

     To masses of people like you have never seen,

     To know, and work with people who have never known comfort,

So send I you, and I expect you to adjust.

So send I you

     To people who will give from their poverty,

     To friends who will embarass you with their generosity,
     To pastors who will entertain you from their lack,with beauty,

     To hungry, receptive, questioning people who want to know God,

     To study, to teach, to learn from your study and teaching,
     To prove your own motives, values, and beliefs,

     To learn more about yourself and the culture that has reared you,

     To know God and to understand more deeply dependence on Him,

So send I you.

Are you going?  I'll go with you all the way.

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying,

"Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"

Then I said, "Here am I! Send me."

Isaiah 6:8