The Whole Scoop

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.I Corinthians 15:58This was the verse that God gave me this morning. It just jumped out at me during my worship time, and I knew that it was just for me today.I was recently talking to Maria, who is here visiting, and we were discussing some of the hard situations that are happening here. I asked her if we were the only ones who were facing things like this, and she told me about another missionary family who is going through a lot of the same things that we are facing right now. I was able to see that we are not alone in our troubles. In fact, I believe that the reason I have felt so depressed for the last few weeks is that nobody talks about the hard things about being a missionary. We want to only tell you about good, encouraging things, and not admit to the sometimes hard reality. Then we are tempted to think that we are the only missionaries that ever have problems.I told you before that there were a lot of rumors going around, some rather funny...like accusing us of being shoe thieves....and some not so funny. The fact is that there have been a few people who have felt it necessary to try to ruin our reputation. It sometimes feels like we might as well leave, since they have been quite successful, or so it would seem. But, just now, Maria told me something that I did not know before about Thai culture. I guess in Thai culture, if something happens, it is the cultural thing to do to badmouth your opponent as quickly and as loudly as possible. The first one to get the story out is the winner, and everyone believes them. Now, since we are Christians, when we hear strange stories about us, we have chosen to turn the other cheek and not say anything to defend ourselves, which, in this culture means that we are guilty as charged! That explains a lot to me, and believe it or not, it also gives me courage.I don't know how to fix the problem with the culture, but I also know that we are Christians, and will live by the bible standard no matter what people say about us. I also know that God is able to show who is telling the truth and who isn't. It may take a while to see the results, but we are in this for the glory of God, and not just to preserve our popularity with the local church, or anybody else. Can you see why that verse that God gave me this morning made me so happy? It is a promise, and I believe it with all my heart, even though my eyes cannot see how it could possibly happen. We can see clearly that Satan is very angry with what we are trying to do. We know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that we are not perfect and have tons of room for improvement, but God did call us here, and we are doing our best to follow his leading.I know that I ask you to pray a lot. But I really don't ask you to pray as much as I should. Elani called me a few days ago and told me that since she stayed with us for so long, she knew that there was more to the story than I was writing on my blog! She is right. I do not want to give the devil reason to rejoice, by telling everything that he is doing. But, I also know that you need to know as much as I can share so that you will pray for us, and encourage us! This is hard work, and there are many days when it is hard to see the sunshine in life at all. But then, God sends us encouragement of some kind, so that we can look up and press forward. Most of the sunshine comes from the kids. We can be thankful that the storm is mostly from outside, not from within.  One day, I was crying out by the well, feeling so sad and lonely, when Hannah walked by with a bucket full of dirt, singing, "glordy, glordy, halleluia!" It was so cute and so sweet that it made me dry my tears and realize that Hannah is the reason we are here...and Meme and Memewah and Ahmesow, and Chowin and Thunduh and Pawkuhmooeydee! They are precious treasures, and every pain, every tear, will be worth it to see them in heaven.