Last Sunday al man came to visit, and emotionally begged me to start an outreach in the most poverty stricken, and violent area of Barrouallie.
He had grown up in that area, and was heartbroken to see how it had changed for the worse (particularly the young people). I couldn’t help but be moved as he kept pleading “come to ”
Since then I’ve been thinking and praying about how the Lord would allow me to reach that area…..
At the same time, part of me is anxious because reaching this area would definitely be a challenge.
It’s easy in missions work to continue serving where you’ve established yourself.
- Respect has been earned
- Souls have been led to Christ
- Your discipline and training Believers
- And the ministry is growing
However God calls us away from the field that produces fruit, to work in the hard stony soil.
This doesn’t mean I completely abandon the established work. But I am continually looking on the horizon for fields that the Lord is calling me to reach next.
Reaching these hard fields means starting the “plowing form of ministry” all over again. This emphasises lots of hard work, and very little fruit.
It’s no wonder we would rather stay in a ministry that yields fruit!
So why leave the fruitful ministry to plow in the hard field?
Because so many have not accepted Christ.
Paul was consumed by a mission to plant as many churches as possible during his life. He never stopped going out into the new fields (even though it put him in danger), and at the end of his life could say “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.”
Christ in the same way went from town to town proclaiming the Gospel to as many as would hear. His goal wasn’t to have a comfortable ministry, but to offer as many people as possible Salvation.
So like Paul and Christ we must leave the fruitful land, pick up our tools, and plant the seeds of the Gospel in the hard soil. Knowing that the Gospel will bear fruit.
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