It Takes a Village {because it should}

When will and I were preparing to come to South Sudan, I remember thinking about the old saying, "it takes a village to raise a child". I connected this to getting to the mission field and realized that it also takes a village to send a missionary. I believe missionaries were not meant to go into the field without a community of people sending them and supporting them through prayer.

As I posted recently, Will and I are mourning the loss of our first pregnancy due to a miscarriage. about 30% of pregnancies end in miscarriage. I think because this percentage is so large, people don't like to talk about it when it happens to them. Maybe that's because it's hard to know how to mourn a miscarriage well or simply because it seems too personal.

What Will and I have learned through being sent to the mission field by many incredible people who support us financially and pray for us weekly (we seriously have the best supporters ever!), is that we need our village of people with us if we're going to make it in this crazy life.

Life is hard.

Dealing with the difficulty of life while on the mission field away from family is really hard.

When difficult things happen, we need the body of Christ around us to build us up and encourage us. To remind us that we're going to be okay and that God is good even in the midst of hard circumstances. We need people who will be present with us (yes, even through e-mail and phone chats) and give us a (cyber) shoulder to cry on. We are strengthened by the grace and presence of others.

I am learning that people cannot be present for you or support you if they don't know what is going on in your life. If you don't share that you are going through a hard time, no one is going to know that you need to be supported in that difficulty.

Hebrews 3:13 says, "But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness". 

What a powerful verse! Most of the hard things that happen to us are results of sin in this world. Death was never meant to be. It was not a part of God's original plan. However, sin brought death into this world. A lot of the hardships we deal with on a regular basis are due to sin entering this world. We need each other as believers because we need reminders that sin/ death/ destruction/ whatever you are dealing with is a meant to deceive us. It is not of God. We have an enemy who is out to kill, steal and destroy and yet, we often direct our anger and frustration of those things in the wrong direction. We need each other daily to uplift each other in truth. We need to remind each other to not be deceived when bad things happen to us. We need to remind each other that God is good, even when life is hard.

Will and I have felt incredibly loved and cared for in this difficult time. We are grateful for the hundreds of prayers prayed for us and for the many e-mails and texts messages that have been sent to check in on us. We are convinced more than ever that as Christians, we need each other. We each need villages around us of people who will rejoice with us in the joyful times and mourn with us when sadness hits. We need people in the good, bad and ugly of our lives. We are beyond grateful for the people who have supported us in this journey. We will continue to share the hard things with you, because you know what? We need you! We need your prayers, your love, and your presence in our lives.

"And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds."

                                                         Hebrews 10:24