Hello again NN blog followers. I'm so glad some of you are following and reading this blog. All glory goes to Him. I did not want to do this at first (as usual!). Then right before Lent, I felt "compelled" to post stories to the NN blog. This is not "Teresa's" blog. It is the NN blog. I don't know about Teresa's blog yet. Right now I hear Him telling me "Focus on this for now".
What a beautiful Mothers Day we were all blessed with. I feel like my children are my heart walking outside of my body. How I prayed so long to be a mother. As many of you know, my children are adopted from Russia. They are a daily challenge :-) and an inspiration to me.
Which brings to mind my past story about the parents who chose to leave their daughter out in the village to die. These were not mothers I met at Faith Alive. The Faith Alive mothers I met were wonderful. I've gotten several questions on it - especially about the mother. The questions were "How could any mother do that?" "There is instinct to motherhood and that story is just horrifying."
Well yes, it is a horrifying story. And I believe there is a true instinct given to us by God to be mothers. But there is evil and there is free will. I think even though these parents were absolutely desperate and starving, they chose an evil solution. Any of us would die to save our children's' lives. What caused this evil choice? No food? Or no knowledge of Jesus Christ?
It would have been a temporary solution to give them more food. Believe me I DO believe in this! I just finished reading a book by Gary A. Haugen entitled "Just Courage" and it explains this so much better than I ever could. He is the CEO of International Justice Mission (IJM) that believes that the fight for justice should be at the heart of all Christians. The author says its understanding that evil is the root of all injustice in the world. All of the points of view he expresses are supported by Scripture. It is hard not to agree with what he is saying. The author calls for all Christians to get out of our "safe havens" and step into the adventure and truth that Jesus called us when He said "Follow Me". The author says this was a call to action! So for the author, the call was to other countries that do not have our democratic form of government. He reminds the reader that there is still horrifying corruption going on in other places around our world. This book helped me so much to define what I already felt inside. Would I be willing to risk danger even though I am a mother? Would I risk danger for a neighbor? Love thy neighbor as yourself !? I won't get on a soapbox. The author says it all too well. Please don't refrain from reading it if your call is not in the missions area. I think the author explains our faith better than almost any other scripture based book I've ever read.
Here's an example. "In different times and in different ways,our heavenly Father offers us a simple proposition. Follow me beyond where your own strength and competencies can take you, and beyond what is affirmed or risked by the crowd - and you will experience Me and My power and My wisdom and My love... He says His power is made perfect in my weakness, not in my strength. And that when we get this when we know we have been rescued out of the darkness so that we can be the light of the world...we can move from being rescued to being the rescuers."
I sometimes saw the desperate need in the eyes of the Nigerian people as they looked at me. There is nothing else like this look. The children ran up to me sometimes just because they could tell I was an American. They think the United States will save them. They think so much of our country. We have helped them. But we are not to give the honor and glory to the United States. Even though this is a great country and it is a blessing to be born here - we are not the saviors of the world. Jesus Christ is. He works through us as individuals to be the light of the world. As rescuers , we are to give the honor and glory to Jesus Christ. To me, this is what helping others is about - it is what missionary work is about. It is not about imposing our faith on others. It is about transforming the life of others and our own as we know our strength comes from Him. As we serve the needy and suffering, we recognize we are all God's children, even if they do not know it yet. When those you are helping (and even people who just observe) see your actions and you claim who your real savior is, it transforms lives.
Everyone who applied to NN is still waiting to hear if we were accepted and what the new trip team formations will be. I'll keep you posted!
Teresa Pompa
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