Did you ever think that people involved in full-time Christian work, especially missionary work, must be special Christian super-heroes? They whoosh around doing amazing things in the Kingdom of God, with no apparent difficulty or effort?
Well, Christian workers, perhaps especially “missionaries”, are not equipped with super-hero flying capes, they have to walk or take the train like everyone else. Anything which looks smooth and slick from the outside (like a swan gliding along the water) is usually accompanied by furious and extremely tiring paddling under the surface (like a swan).
The ordinary-ness of Christian workers has become very apparent indeed to us since we’ve been here. In our own lives, definitely, but also in the lives of our colleagues. Discouragement, doubt, illness, accidents, injuries, issues with family or friends, over-tiredness and depression, are by no means uncommon.
Some things are just “life”, some things are down to the challenges of adjusting to another culture and/or way of life, other things are more directly down to our enemy, who desperately does not want any of us to be doing what we’re doing and would be delighted if we took the next plane, boat or train back to our country of origin.
Please pray for all the students and staff at Les Cèdres with regard to all these issues, and please pray for other Christian workers you know, who are very likely to be facing exactly the same difficulties. It can be really hard to find someone to talk with about this stuff, and even harder to genuinely open up.
Oh, and when it comes round to choosing a Christmas or Birthday present, please, no capes dahling…
Breakthrough France 