Proclaimer Blog
I shed a tear. You may too.
I'm not ashamed to say that yesterday two things brought a lump to my throat and a little tear to my eye (not a full blown blub, you understand):
- Elections in Egypt. I saw a lady queuing to vote being interviewed on the BBC. "How long have you been waiting?" asked the reporter. Quick as a flash, she replied, "About 30 years." This is a significant moment in Egyptian politics/history and Christians and churches must be praying, not least because the outcome (known in about two weeks) could have significant impact on gospel witness in that historic country. Make sure you are praying this Sunday…
- A newsletter from friends in South Asia. They have gone for 18 months to learn the language and culture so they can minister to the large Diaspora back here in London. They've been gone 8 or 9 months and I miss them. But what brought a tear to my eye is that in this honest newsletter they admitted that they are all (kids too) desperately homesick. They're determined to keep going, but it's hard. Ministry is hard. If you went into ministry thinking otherwise, then you're a fool. We can get seduced by the fact that ministers in this country have been well looked after (relatively speaking) for the last few hundred years. And, praise God, there are still kind and generous donors who make sure ministers are cared for. But it is not the norm around the world, and it is certainly not the spiritual norm anywhere. Ministry is suffering, and if you don't feel it, perhaps you ought to pause and ask yourself, "What, exactly, am I doing wrong…?"