A few months ago the Lord sat us down with our church elders and invited us to be a part of His plan for Kauai. Kauai is one of the smaller islands in Hawaii with a population of about 65,000 permanent residents. I honestly had never heard of it. I knew my sister had gone to Hawaii a few times but I couldn't recall where. Bring the gospel to Hawaii?? It's suppose to be one of the most beautiful places on Earth, do they even need it there?
If you know me you've probably heard me talk about all that the Lord is doing through a young girl named Katie Davis. Her book, "Kisses from Katie"is one of my favorites. It's an easy read and I enjoy her story. She was a young American gal straight out of high school, popular, homecoming queen, president of her senior class, in super love with Jesus. After graduations she surrenders everything to the Lord and follows Him to Uganda. She gave up the American dream to follow hard after God and be obedient to what God commands in scripture. The Lord has used her to turn a part of Uganda upside down for His glory. She clothes, feeds, educates and provides medical services to thousands of people, she has 14 adopted daughters, shares the Love of Christ with everyone she meets and is a wonderful example of being the hands and feet of Jesus. I love her story!
It didn't take me long to realize that Kauai is not Uganda. Lol. It's not India. It's not South America. It's not a third world poverty stricken country and I've had a bit of a hard time with that. Christians in general have a hard time with that.
"We are going on a missions trip"
"That's great! Where too?"
"Hawaii."
"That's my kind of missions trip!!"
I was a little embarrassed at first. Christian traditions told me that mission trips are not for the beautiful places. They are for the "hard places" and that the Gospel is reserved for the third world poverty stricken areas. I use to believe that too but the bible says otherwise. The great commission is this,
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. Matthew 28:16-20.
Jesus says share the Gospel and make disciples of ALL the nations, not just some. Not just the ones our Christian culture approve of. Kauai, Hawaii is a part of all nations. He cares for the people of Hawaii just as much as He cares for the orphans in Uganda and He commands us to go there and be salt and light.
People have suggested ease and comfort for us. They see us lying on the beach with a Bahama Mama in our hand and our bible in the other. They see us taking a nap against a palm tree with our hats over our eyes next to sign that says "Repent and Believe". They see us sharing the gospel to the dolphins and taking selfies next to volcanoes but I've see otherwise. Instead of coconuts and beautiful beaches I see the Lord preparing my family and I for His mission there. I've seen my flesh dying a slow and painful death these last few months. He has shown me where my comforts lie. He has revealed to me my heart full of fears and anxieties, He has shown me that I have extreme lack of trust in Him. I don't see sandcastles and sunsets but I see us leaving our family, friends and comforts to go live on a tiny thing of an island in the middle of the ocean. When I think about going to Hawaii I'm not exaggerating when I say that I think about dying. If we go, we go to lay down our lives for the Gospel. It's pruning season in this house and it hurts.
So my answer to the title to my first blog entry is yes. Beautiful places need the gospel too and we are looking forward to being a part of all the God has for the island of Kauai.
No comments:
Post a Comment