Mine was a long story of a teenage girl's
surrender after hearing a challenge to pray Isaiah's prayer, Here am I; send me (Isaiah 6:6). Oh,
there were places I didn't want to go—for selfish reasons, of course. Finally,
after weeks of battling with God, I gave in and asked God to send me anywhere—or not—as
He willed.
He sent.
Our first term on the mission field was
difficult. Learning the language, adapting to a foreign
culture, living in a city that was a hotbed of revolt, learning to drive around
flaming barricades in the streets…. It was a huge adventure, but it wasn't
easy. We knew God had placed us here, and we were content. Along with that
contentment came the realization that this is a very hard field. Most people
had shut God out of their lives. They were not interested in spiritual
things. But, we believe that everyone has a right to hear or read the gospel,
and we persevered.
By the end of our second term, the new
church was born. It was so exciting. For our inaugural service, over eighty
people came to encourage us, including a few believers for the new church
plant. The opening was held on a Saturday night, and on Sunday morning, we had
our first service. I don't remember the attendance, but the great majority was our family of four.
Since then—over the last twenty-four
years—we've seen ups and downs in the church. For a time, people came our
way from another church's split. (That's not
the way we wanted to grow, by the way.) When all was resolved, they went
back—which decimated our congregation and left us with almost all old people. My
husband and I privately called ours "the geriatric church." After that,
people came and went. A few of the older people have passed away. Almost all of our experiences
were negative, but some people got saved. Transformed. Sadly, some of them have since drifted away. We've tried to bring them back, but God knows.
Pioneer fields
are, after all, pioneer fields. Those who accept the Lord are almost always the
only believers in their families. They face social pressures and mocking. Only those who don't care what others think persevere.
Many years ago, another missionary woman
sat across from me at her kitchen table in Madrid. She said, "You hear all
the time about the millions of people who are waiting for someone to tell them
about Jesus. They don't tell you about the millions who couldn't care
less." For the most part, that's the field she and I came to.
Let's turn this around a little bit. It's
true that the great majority of people don't even want to hear about God. Most
have absolutely zero spiritual interest. Many have never heard of Jesus—except in
cursing or if their families are religious.
But …
- We actually see some people sitting outside,
reading our gospel tracts that they received in their mailboxes. How many more
read them inside their homes, where we don't see?
- Some people have been saved. Isn't one eternal soul worth a lifetime of
effort?
- Lost people regularly attend our church and
hear the gospel. Yes, we want them to be saved, but our job isn't to save them;
it's to preach the Good News over and over again, pray for them, and let the
Holy Spirit work in conviction.
- Business people where we do our banking and
buying have had direct witness from my husband and me. They would probably
never have heard a word about Christ otherwise. (Now, thankfully, over the last
two years, two gospel-preaching churches have been planted in that town.)
- Our lack of church people has enabled me to
have more time to pursue additional avenues for witness and ministry.
Is this a hard place? Yes. Are there other
hard places in the world? Yes, of course. "Hard" manifests itself in different
ways. It could be: idolatry, false religion, atheism, secularism, materialism, addictions, or some other influence.
God calls, enables, and gives fruit. We
don't know how much fruit—and will probably never know until we get to
heaven—but the Lord promises some
fruit. Remember the sower? And he
(Jesus) spake many things unto them in
parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed,
some seeds fell by the way
side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places,
where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had
no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because
they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the
thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought
forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath
ears to hear, let him hear (Matthew 13: 3-9).
May we hear God's Word and be encouraged
today. Keep on sowing.
Therefore, my beloved brethren,
be ye stedfast, unmoveable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord,
forasmuch as ye know that your labour
is not in vain in the Lord.
(1
Corinthians 15:58)
by Lou Ann Keiser, in Basque Spain since 1984
