Courage or Foolishness?
20 Sep 2023
Preparing to Serve in a Dangerous Place
Are you crazy?! Are you really taking your family to one of the most dangerous countries in the world?
This is the reaction we sometimes get when talking about relocating from our current international place of life and ministry to another nearby country. To be frank, we are tempted to downplay the risks, or over spiritualise the situation, especially when we don’t have time to explain ourselves. We want to say that we trust God, but we also know that God doesn’t promise us health and safety in this life. Following Jesus in this world can be dangerous.
There are risks but there are blessings too.
It’s true that we face physical danger, but we continue to educate ourselves and assess the risks with our leaders and with our community. Love for God and others needs to win over fear of things in this world. We live openly as followers of Christ and are aware of the balance between boldness and sensitivity. Because there is a high level of surveillance, we need to decide what is courage and what is foolishness. We mitigate risk when those around us know that we love them and that we can be trusted.
It’s true that our children face uncertainty and instability in their life and education, but we have put effort into understanding different education systems around the world and into creating a workable style of education for different situations. Travel and international communities have lots to teach us, and the different relationships are a blessing. Seeing God answering prayers in difficult situations is one of the best things for our children.
There are risks in life, and we prepare for them, but we can’t be prepared for everything. As we follow Jesus at home or in another country, our trustworthy God is continually guiding us by his Word and Spirit. Thinking through risk forces us to rely on him and not our own strength.
M&L – Pioneers Australia Workers
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