Rise Up

Don't give up; rise up!

As a follow-up to yesterday's post, I looked up the phrase "rise up" in Scripture, and I was surprised to find how often it appears in Scripture.  The phrase "rise up" appears 67 times, "rose up" appears another 104 times, and there are many more inexact phrase matches such as "rise ye up," "rise," or "arise" that use the same Hebrew or Greek word translated "rise up." 


There are two main Hebrew words translated "rise up." One is quwm (Strong's #6965), which is translated "to stand up," "to rise up," "to arise," "to raise," "to establish," "to stand," "to perform," "to confirm," "again," "set," "stablish," "surely," "continue," "sure," "abide," and "accomplish." It appears 629 times and is usually translated by one of the first four translations in this list (498 times combined). 


The other word is shakam (Strong's #7925), which means "to rise up early" and appears 67 times. 


So do you think this concept is important to God? I can't list all the Scriptures here, but I was blessed by what I discovered. (I know it gets long to read through all the verses. I debated cutting some of them out or just listing them by their references, but I figured if I included the verse, then you could choose whether or not to read it--and it would be easier to read the verse if it was right here than to have to look it up somewhere else.)


In many cases, the command to "rise up" involves conquering an obstacle in order to accomplish a task.

Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work. Neh. 2:18

Then ye shall rise up from the ambush, and seize upon the city: for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand. Josh. 8:7

And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, LORD, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee. Num. 10:35

Now rise up, said I, and get you over the brook Zered. And we went over the brook Zered. Deut 2:13

Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle. Deut. 2:24

Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem: and with them were the prophets of God helping them. Ezr. 5:2 

And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses. Neh. 4:14 

Rise up, let us go; lo, he that betrayeth me is at hand. Mark 14:42

Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk? Luke 5:23

But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth. Luke 6:8

Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. Acts 3:6

There are also a number of verses that say, "Rise up early." This is what God has been trying to get me to do for 6 years now, and I never knew how often it was listed in Scripture.

And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night. Gen. 19:2 

Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid. Gen 20:8

And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. Gen. 21:14 

And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. Gen. 22:3

And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. Gen. 26:31 

And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. Gen. 28:18

And early in the morning Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them: and Laban departed, and returned unto his place. Gen. 31:55 

And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me. Exod. 8:20 

And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. Exod. 9:13 

And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. Ex. 24:4

And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone. Ex. 34:4 

And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. Josh. 3:1 

And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD. Josh. 6:12  

And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on that day they compassed the city seven times. Josh. 6:15

So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was taken: Josh. 7:16

And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and numbered the people, and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai. Josh. 8:10 

And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. Judges 6:38 

Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. Judges 7:1 

And it shall be, that in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, thou shalt rise early, and set upon the city: and, behold, when he and the people that is with him come out against thee, then mayest thou do to them as thou shalt find occasion. Judges 9:33 

And it came to pass on the fourth day, when they arose early in the morning, that he rose up to depart: and the damsel's father said unto his son in law, Comfort thine heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your way. Judges 19:5, 8, 9

And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Judges 21:4 

And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the LORD, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the LORD remembered her. 1 Sam. 1:19 

And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again. 1 Sam. 5:3, 4

And they arose early: and it came to pass about the spring of the day, that Samuel called Saul to the top of the house, saying, Up, that I may send thee away. And Saul arose, and they went out both of them, he and Samuel, abroad. 1 Sam. 9:26

And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal. 1 Sam. 15:12 

And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days. 1 Sam. 17:16

And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle. 1 Sam. 17:20 

So David and his men rose up early to depart in the morning, to return into the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel. 1 Sam. 29:10, 11

And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man that had a controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel. 2 Sam. 15:2

Wherefore now rise up early in the morning with thy master's servants that are come with thee: and as soon as ye be up early in the morning, and have light, depart. 1 Sam. 29:10

And they rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone upon the water, and the Moabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood: 2 Ki. 3:22  

And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? 2 Ki. 6:15

And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. 2 Ki. 19:35

And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. 2 Chr. 20:20  

Then Hezekiah the king rose early, and gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the LORD. 2 Chr. 29:20 

And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: 2 Chr. 36:15

And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually. Job 1:5

Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves. Song 7:12 

On the other hand, there are five negative instances of rising up early. (How quick we are to rise up early if it's to do our own will! And yet, when it comes to doing God's will, how often and how glibly we quote Psalm 127:2 without thinking of the weight of evidence in Scripture for early rising.) 

Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! Isaiah 5:11

He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him. Pro. 27:14 

And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. Ex. 32:6 

And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned. Num. 14:40 

It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep. Psalm 127:2

You rise up because you love the Lord.

My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. Song 2:10

I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock. Song 5:5 

Don't think you are the only one who has to rise up--your enemies are constantly rising up against you--which is all the more reason for you to rise up yourself and prevent their schemes.

LORD, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me. Psalm 3:1

The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. Deut. 28:7

So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me. 2 Ki. 16:7

But if any man hate his neighbour, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally that he die, and fleeth into one of these cities: Deut 19:11

If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong; Deut 19:16

False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge things that I knew not. Psalm 35:11

Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually. Psalm 74:23

When enemies rise up, the Lord is able to scatter and conquer them.

And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble. Ex. 15:7 

For thou hast girded me with strength to battle: them that rose up against me hast thou subdued under me. 2 Sam. 22:40 

And that bringeth me forth from mine enemies: thou also hast lifted me up on high above them that rose up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man. 2 Sam. 22:49 

Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them. Psalm 17:7

He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man. Psalm 18:48

Through thee will we push down our enemies: through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us. Psalm 44:5

Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God: defend me from them that rise up against me. Psalm 59:1

Mine eye also shall see my desire on mine enemies, and mine ears shall hear my desire of the wicked that rise up against me. Psalm 92:11

For I will rise up against them, saith the LORD of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the LORD. Isa. 14:22

For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act. Isa. 28:21

Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind; Jer. 51:1

We ought to oppose those who rise up against the Lord. 

Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? Psalm 139:21

Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity? Psalm 94:16

Beware if someone is unwilling to rise up: Maybe it's because they have something to hide. 

And she said to her father, Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee; for the custom of women is upon me. And he searched, but found not the images. Gen. 31:35

Or maybe it's simply because they're idle. 

Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech. Isa. 32:9

Rising up is a sign of honor. 

Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD. Lev. 19:32

Just like you can rise up to do good, you can also rise up to do evil. 

And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them. Deut. 31:16

Good advice if a ruler rises up against you: 

If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for yielding pacifieth great offences. Ecc. 10:4

God might punish you by making you not to be able to rise up, or by allowing someone weak to be able to rise up against you.

They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beersheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again. Amos 8:4 

The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand: they are wreathed, and come up upon my neck: he hath made my strength to fall, the Lord hath delivered me into their hands, from whom I am not able to rise up. Lam. 1:14

For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet should they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire. Jer. 37:10

Let burning coals fall upon them: let them be cast into the fire; into deep pits, that they rise not up again. Psalm 140:10

The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up. Amos 5:2

The Lord says, 

Now will I rise, saith the LORD; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself. Isa. 33:10

Let us also rise up, in the power of the God whose Spirit dwells within us. Let us move closer to His likeness. Let us labor, "striving according to His working, which worketh in me mightily." (Col. 1:29)

Good Idea + Obstacles = Give up?

So often I have a vision to do something grand, but then one little thing will come up and cause me to say, "Oh, well, I guess it's too hard anyway, so I can't expect to do it."

Case in point: This week I'm teaching the preschool class at our church's VBS. The first night, I had all the kids get their picture taken, intending to decorate the outside of my door with each kid's picture taped to a train car (The "Sonlight Express" train is our theme).

The second night, I had a guitar lesson at 5:00, and VBS started at 6:00. I also had to get Mom to the church by 5, so we decided to leave the house at 4, and then I would have just enough time to get Mom to church 15 minutes early, and turn around and make it on time to my guitar lesson.

We left and made good time, so I decided we had time to stop at Wal-Mart before we got to the church to return some unopened packages of supplies we had left over. In the parking lot, as I was putting my keys in my purse, I noticed my camera.

"OH! I never got these pictures printed!" I thought to myself.

My instinct was to ditch the whole idea, say to myself, "Who cares if there's a door decoration or not? The kids will never know the difference. They won't miss it if it doesn't get done." The time was just too short. Maybe I could do it another day... but by then it would be so late in the week that it would seem pointless to do it at all. I might as well just give up on the whole plan.

But at that moment, something within me changed. Something within me said, "Why don't you rise up and conquer this obstacle and get this thing done like you planned to do? You can do it! There's still a chance!"

It was a fork in the road moment. It was over a small thing, but I felt that it symbolized all the similar situations I would ever face in the future. I could choose my normal reaction ("Oh well, it's too hard, might as well give up"), but in that moment, I was offered the opportunity to change to a new normal.

I took it.

Something in me rose up and said, "I won't take no for an answer. I will get this done." I charged into the store, marched back to the photo department, printed the photos on the instant machine, and had them in my hand in 5 minutes. Done!

My vision was going to get fulfilled, and I was still going to make it to my guitar lesson on time!

How much better it felt to actually accomplish something than to accept non-accomplishment and forgive myself "because I couldn't have expected to do it anyway."

There were several more obstacles in the way (My guitar lesson let out late, I had to make photocopies of the train page for the kids to color, I had to trim the photos down to the right size for them to fit in the "window" on the picture, I had to trim the colored pages down to the size of the train, and I had to tape the finished product on the door), but you know what? Someone was there to help with every single step. Mrs. Joyce made the photocopies for me, Mrs. Cox did the trimming on the paper cutter, and Ashton taped the finished train cars to the outside of the door.

What a little, tiny, insignificant-seeming triumph! (Whoopie-do! Me and a bunch of helpers succeeded in making a door decoration!)

But what a great step of advancement it represented for me. I learned to rise up and conquer in order to accomplish something, even when my way is fraught with obstacles.

I'm totally ready for this to be the new normal.

Overseas Trips

God allowed me to take a number of overseas trips.


In 2004, I spent 3 weeks in China, teaching English camps and touring. (Read about it!)

The Pearl Tower in Shanghai

In 2005, I spent 2 weeks in the Dominican Republic, visiting a pastor and his family. (Journal coming soon!)

Eating mangos in the Dominican Republic--my new favorite fruit!

In 2006, I spent 5 weeks in Morocco and Spain, visiting my college roommate and touring.

The leather tanning factory in Fez

From 2006-2007, I spent 8 months in Spain, learning Spanish at the University of Málaga.

Plaza de Toros (bullfighting ring) in Málaga, with the Mediterranean in the background

In 2007, I went back to Spain for 3 more months, serving the local church in music ministry.

Playing for the performance of our Christmas cantata, El Don de Amor (The Gift of Love)

In 2009, I went to Mexico for 2 weeks for business and visiting friends.

In 2011-2012, I spent 6 months serving with Betel in Spain and England. (Use sidebar to navigate to the month of November 2011 for the beginning of these posts.)

This post is part of the series My Journey into Missions.
Next Post: Coming Soon!
Previous Post: Going overseas as a Christian Tourist

Lost and found

I lost my watch Saturday.

James and I went kayaking Saturday night, out to the rope swing that I blogged about earlier. When we arrived, we tied up the boats, and I hung my watch and my camera together over a tree branch so they wouldn't get involved in the fun we were having. "Don't let me forget these and leave them here," I said to James.

We amused ourselves by jumping off the rope over and over and over again, and then I got my camera down to take a few videos, hanging my watch sort of precariously over a different branch in the process. The rope swing was amazing and I was quite pleased with the videos I was able to capture. When we got tired, we got back into the kayaks and went home. The whole trip took about 2 hours.

You can see my watch hanging there in the full-resolution version of this picture

I got up to my room and looked down at my left wrist.

No watch.

"Oh great!" I exclaimed. I went downstairs and said to James, "Do you know what I did? I left my watch out there." He groaned with me about it and we said to each other that maybe we could go the next day in between church services and get it. We agreed to try.

We went to church, and I drove separately, because I planned to attend my Spanish church after our service. The Spanish church service wasn't over until 2:00, and I got into my car making mental calculations. "2:00. That means I'll be home by 2:30, and we have to be back to church by 5, which means we have to leave at 4:15...yup, I think we can just barely make it." At the most, I had an hour and 45 minutes to do what had taken us 2 hours the day before--but I figured if we hurried, we could surely do it faster.

At 2:30 when I got home from church, I flew up to my room, changed out of my church clothes, and grabbed a towel. I flew down the stairs and out to the truck, where James was already waiting. It was 2:45. Whoa... that had taken a good 15 minutes out of my time. We also figured we should be back by 4:00 to give us time to change back into our church clothes. And now we wouldn't even be arriving at the boat launch until 3:00.

But then the scene described yesterday played itself out. We were back in our driveway by 3:43, having done the trip faster than we would have dreamed possible. (And then we found out that church wasn't at 5:00, it was at 6:00, so we even had time for a nap!) 

That watch was really special to me. It was given to me by the folks at the Iglesia Evangelica Bautista, the Spanish-speaking church I attended in Milwaukee, and it's even engraved with my name and the date on the back. When we moved, they gave it to me in appreciation for playing the piano for their church, and I have worn it ever since. There's a story behind the scratches on one part of the band. It's been everywhere in the world with me. And besides the sentimental value it carries, it's also a very nice, rather expensive watch, and it keeps perfect time, keeping right on the second to Verizon time. I would just really hate to lose it. 

Three things I thought could have happened. 

1) Someone could go out there to play on the rope swing, see my watch, and take it

2) The wind could blow it off the branch it was precariously perched on, and it could potentially fall in the water and be gone forever (the water is really deep right there). 

3) It could rain and damage the watch. 

That's why we wanted to go on Sunday, as soon as possible, and we completed our mission. The watch was there, untouched and intact. It was lost, but now was found. 

I thought about the effort I had to exert in order to recover my watch. 

•  The circumstances of the day meant that I had to make a serious investment of time and energy in order to get it back

•  Timing was important. The sooner the better (because every passing minute made it more likely for someone to come or for it to rain)

•  Order and precision were important. I had to do all the steps, without leaving anything out (can you imagine if we had gotten to the lake and had forgotten to bring kayak paddles?)

•  The success of my mission caused me much rejoicing and made all the muscle soreness worth it.

And it just made me think of all the effort that God had to go through to rescue US. "I once was lost, but now am found."

Jesus had to do far more than get tired arm muscles--His arms were stretched out and nailed to a cross.

Jesus had to go a lot farther than a 30-minute drive and a 28-minute kayak trip--He had to leave heaven and come to earth.

Jesus treasured ME far more than I treasure my watch. If my watch hadn't been there when I got back the next day, I would have just shrugged and said, "Oh well, too bad, but after all, it was only a watch." When humanity was lost at the fall, Jesus could have shrugged and said, "Oh well, too bad, but after all, I can always create more people." But He didn't. He went all the way down, down, down--down from heaven to earth, down from life into death--in order to rescue me.

The success of Jesus's mission caused Him much rejoicing and made His sacrifice worth it. "Who for the joy set before him endured the cross," Heb. 12:2. "There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." Luke 15:10.

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me. 

I once was lost, but now am found, 

Was blind, but now I see.

Mission--possible!

Heart pumping, arm muscles burning, I plunged the kayak paddle into the water for the strongest stroke I could manage. Again, and again, and again, hundreds and hundreds of strokes. I was on a mission, and it was a race against time.

James was already way ahead of me, and his powerful strokes easily sliced through the water. Both of us were in this together. I turned my head to look at each stroke to make sure it had the maximum effect. The water was choppy and the wind was at my back, casting up droplets of spray from behind. That meant that I would be going into a headwind on the way back, when I would be already pretty fatigued.

Any other day, we wouldn't have such a race against time, but this day would give us the best chance of completing the mission.

James rounded the bend ahead of me. I caught up to him as he was landing his kayak. "There it is!" he said. "It's still there!"

"Can you get it for me?" I asked.

"Sure," he replied. He was already out of the boat, retrieved it, and carefully handed it to me. I looked at the time.

3:07.

"YES! We are beasts!" I exclaimed. Since we were so far ahead of schedule, James took the chance to do three rides on the rope swing. He's getting really good at diving off the rope, something I haven't figured out yet.

Then we headed back. Stroke. Stroke. Stroke. The wind in our faces, spray washing all over us from the choppy waves, and a relentless pace. Stroke, Stroke, Stroke. Hundreds and hundreds of strokes. Arms burning more now, heart pounding harder, muscles begging for a rest. No rest. No chance. The race against time was still on.

We pulled up to the dock.

3:23.

"WHOA! We're totally gonna make it!" I ran up to get the truck from where it was parked, we loaded the kayaks in the back, tied them up, and roared off. We pulled into our driveway, parked, and jumped out.

3:43.

"Wooohooo!!" We cheered. "We did it!"

It was 2:45 when we left. From leaving the house to getting back, we completed our mission in just 58 minutes.

(See my blog tomorrow for the explanation of what was going on here.)

Hiking Grandfather Mountain

This was pretty much our day yesterday, and what a lovely day it was!

At the beginning of the hike, before we were all tired out

See the grandfather's profile?

Our main sustenance on the hike--that and cake! Yum.

Yay! We timed it right to see the rhododendrons blooming!

Us three on top of McCrae peak, high above the much touted "mile high swinging bridge."

You can't see it, but Katherine is standing on the edge of nothing here. She almost lost her balance and fell over the cliff right after this photo was taken.

McCrae peak from a distance

Me being a daredevil

Cool parts of the trail

Lots of ladders were there to help people get over the rocks. Everyone was amazed that our dog Abbi could do these parts!

All I Have is Christ

Beautiful! This brought tears to my eyes.

(If the right side of the video is cut off, you might have to go straight to YouTube and watch it.)

Going overseas as a Christian tourist

A journey overseas--how strange that just crossing international borders can make you feel more like you are "on mission for God." Home is so mundane, so lackluster, we excuse ourselves for being less than our "best Christian self" at home. After all, it's just home. Everybody knows you. Everything is familiar. You don't feel like being super spiritual; you just want to be yourself. But when you go away, especially if it's far, far away, a place you need a passport and a plane ride to get to, then suddenly you kick into high gear and say to God, "Whoa, here I am! You can use me now!" It's as if we think we suddenly pop onto God's radar screen when we show up in another country and then just as suddenly pop off of it when we arrive back home.

vs.

Anyway, this was more or less my mentality for my first few mission trips, even though all along, I would have looked you in the eye and said to you, "No, I know that you're just as much a missionary at home as you are on the field, and going overseas doesn't make you a missionary." Nevertheless, I still felt like I could label myself as a missionary just because I went on a trip labeled a "mission" trip. Now I look back and say, "You know, I was really nothing more than a Christian tourist."

It's easy to be hard on myself now, after the fact. If I think back to who I was then, I realize that I was acting as honestly and consistently as I knew how. I didn't see the things I now see--I couldn't, in fact, because it took going through these experiences in order to learn the lesson. I thank God for the training ground that He put me though.

But read through the journal entries of any of my early mission trips, and see what stands out to you. What was my emphasis?

vs.

•  The spirit of adventure
•  Exotic sights, smells, and tastes
•  Interesting cultural customs that were different from my own
•  Amazing buildings and different architecture
•  Things that struck me as funny or quaint, like donkeys walking down the city street
•  What I bought and what I wanted to buy
•  Language barrier issues

What was noticeably absent from my journal?

•  A yearning, burning desire to see people hear and understand the gospel
•  Great and unshakable grief that the glory of God was not being uplifted in this culture
•  Determination to be creative and skillful about getting the message out to people
•  Massive dedication to prayer to see God move mightily
•  Any indication that my heart was touched even a little by the eternal destiny of the people I saw


These things were not a major part of my life at home before the mission trip, so it's no surprise that I didn't magically obtain them by breathing exotic, foreign air. The saying does hold true: "You're just as much a missionary at home as you are on the field, and going overseas doesn't make you a missionary." So considering that I was not living as a missionary at home during this period, I was equally not one when I went overseas. I was just a well-meaning tourist. And I had a cool "M" word to tack onto the front of my trip.


But God wasn't finished with me yet, and He used all these experiences to bring me closer and closer to the realities He wanted to teach me.

This post is part of the series My Journey Into Missions.
Next Post: Overseas trips
Previous Post: Call to Evangelism

Call to evangelism

(Continued from My Journey Into Missions)

Ray Comfort, well-known evangelist and author of Hell's Best Kept Secret

About this time, while I was looking for my life's destination in a geographical location, God's call to my life came clearly--and I disobeyed it.

I was 15 years old and had attended a friend's violin lesson with her so that her teacher could help us with a violin/piano duet we were playing. After the lesson was over, we all walked out to the parking lot together, including the teacher, because it was her last lesson of the day, and we were going to go home.

My friend casually asked her teacher what her license plate meant. It read "Y4MS."

"Oh! Okay, I'll tell you that story," her teacher said. "My boyfriend and I were reading Shakespeare together. It was Romeo and Juliet, and I came to the line where it goes, 'Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou?' But I accidentally misspoke and said instead, 'Romeo, Romeo, whyfor art thou?' That made us both start laughing, but it ended up sparking a really serious conversation. We started asking 'whyfor'--why are we here? What is the purpose of life? Why are we on this earth? So I put 'Whyfor (Y4) am us (MS)' on my license plate."

At this point, I saw how naturally a gospel presentation would flow into the conversation. After all, I knew the answers to the questions she was asking--or at least, I knew that the Bible contained them, and all I would have to say was, "Well, you know God offers you the answers to the purpose of life," and then talk about the gospel.

God was prompting me to do it. Words were welling up in my throat like a burning fiery pressurized bomb, and my spirit felt so impelled, so yearning to do it, that I could scarcely resist.

But I couldn't get the words out, either. Fear overwhelmed me and swallowed me up. "I'm too shy. I'm too young. She won't listen to me. I don't know what to say."

Into my thoughts came the voice of the Holy Spirit, not audibly, but clear as a bell. "This is ME. God. This is coming from me. Don't resist. Obey me. Open up your mouth and speak!"

"How dare I say no to God?" I wondered within myself. I knew that He would be with me, that all I had to do was say the first few words and He would turn on the flow and I wouldn't have to think of what to say or search for the wording. I almost just took the plunge and did it. If I had done it, I have no doubt the course of my life would have been different. The rest of my teen years could have been far more fruitful and who knows what I could have done for God? I will never know. I need not inquire, for there will be no answer.

But I kept the words back. God warned me again, solemnly. He warned me about the lost fruitfulness I would experience, the lost possibilities. But my flesh flashed out in fear and said, "God, you're just going to have to understand. I just can't. I can't."

I didn't. The conversation was over, we got in our cars, and we drove away, never to see each other again. Surely God lined someone else up to talk to that woman, but I lost something that day. I lost an opportunity to participate in God's work that day, and it set up a pattern that I would unconsciously follow for years.

Next post: Going Overseas as a Christian Tourist

Avery

(Follow up to yesterday's post)

In the third cell we visited, one girl seemed different from the rest of the prisoners. She smiled a big happy smile at seeing us and immediately welcomed us into their midst. "Yes! Something different to do!" she exclaimed. She seemed like the kind of person who is always the life of the party, and I thought, "Wow, it must be nice to have her as one of your cellmates!" We sat down on the floor (a little awkwardly, I might add, because the ceiling was leaking and there were rubbermaid bins sitting around to catch the water. One of the bins itself had a big crack in the bottom of it and was propped up at an angle so that the water wouldn't run out of the crack) and introduced ourselves. Then she announced her name, "Avery," and several of the other girls said their names, following her lead. This was also a first. In the other cells, we didn't learn the girls' names.

We passed out the hymn sheets and Sally started the first hymn, "The Old Rugged Cross." Avery sang loudly and wholeheartedly, with a big smile on her face. Then we moved on to "How Great Thou Art," and Avery again sang with fervor and emotion. We were going to stop there, but there were two more songs on the printed sheet, and Avery begged to sing "I'll Fly Away." Sally said we would maybe sing two of the three verses, but when we got to the end of the second verse, Avery proceeded on undaunted to the third, so we all joined in with her. Then she convinced us to sing the last song, too, which was "Lord, I Lift Your Name on High." We had just begun when, overcome with emotion, she broke down in tears. When it was over, she asked for it again, so we obliged.

"Wow," I was thinking. "Here is somebody who is really hungry. I wonder if she became a Christian here in jail?"

Lois announced that we would have a word of prayer next and asked if there were any prayer requests. "Oh, I'll pray," Avery volunteered. So after receiving the requests, Lois allowed Avery to pray. She did so with loud abandon, sobbing out the needs to God, and ended with, "In Jesus name--In JESUS's name, Amen."

At this point Debbie said that we would begin the Bible lesson.

"Oh, I think we have a couple of Bibles that I could pass out," Avery offered. ("No, we don't," the other girls said.) She went to the table and picked up a few books, but they were not Bibles, so she put them back down.

"That's okay," Debbie said. "I have the verses we're going to be studying printed out here on this sheet." She handed out the sheets to the girls.

"Today we will be talking about hope and encouragement," Debbie began.

"You know, that's funny," Avery interrupted. "I was just thinking about hope this morning. And I knew that meant a baby had been born."

We all paused and looked at each other. Debbie continued.

"The Bible says that God is our refuge and strength. Isaiah 40:33 says, 'but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.' "

Avery interrupted again. This time she said, "You know, when I think about Jesus coming back, you know he'll have to come first as a baby, then as a child, and then as a man, and I'm not sure, but I think I have been sterilized one time when I was put to sleep against my will. So I would just ask for prayer for that. I  want to do my part to purify the human race."

Two or three of the other girls said, not too kindly, "Avery, we're here to listen to these ladies, not to you. Can't you hold your tongue for just a few minutes?"

"Ok, you're right," Avery agreed.

Debbie started in again on her material, but then Avery cut in again.

"You know, I reserve the right to do whatever I want to with my body, so when I get out of here, I'm going to cut off my right leg below the knee, have it amputated two inches below the knee..."

"Hush!" the other girls commanded.

Debbie tried again. She got about one verse read before Avery was at it again. This time it was something about how very, very painful her past had been, a boyfriend in New York, and "I don't care if I have to wait a billion years, I am never going back to being a man again."

The girls were beginning to lose patience with her. "Stop it. We are not here to hear you talk. Now let the ladies finish," they commanded.

Debbie read the next verse on her sheet. Avery took it upon herself to read the verse after that. Then she continued, "Now I also believe in reincarnation (major groan from the other girls at this point), and I believe that every person, every human being is born saved. We are perfect. We are little gods. We are like Jesus."

By this time, Lois and I were exchanging significant glances, and I asked a question with my eyes ("Do you want to say something?") and she mouthed the word, "you," so I launched in.

"Avery," I said as kindly as possible, "If you want to believe in reincarnation, you are free to make that choice. But I would just like to point out that God has revealed to us in his word what happens when you die." I opened to Hebrews 9:27 and read it. "'It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.' That means that you get one chance. The chance you get on this earth is your one chance. You are here alive today in this body, and this is your first and last visit to earth. You will have to stand before God at judgment day and give account to Him for what you did in this life, not any other."

"You're absolutely right," Avery said, looking me straight in the eye and nodding with conviction. "Yes. Yes. That's right. You're absolutely right," she said.

"And I also have to disagree with you about everyone being born saved and perfect," I continued. "The Bible says we are all sinners, separated from a holy God. Only those who put their faith in Christ will be saved."

"Yes," Avery said, nodding again. "Yes, that's right. You're absolutely right."

I paused to allow Debbie to go on with the Bible study. But it was Avery who read the next verse on the sheet, and the next, and on to the end.

At this point, Lois gave a stirring and passionate challenge to Avery, setting forth the truth in clear and certain terms. All the while, Avery was nodding seriously and saying, "Yes, yes. You're right. That's right."

When Lois was finished, Avery started to say something more when one of the other girls asked her to shut up. Avery stood up. "Okay. I'm finished. I'm just going to go over here now for a little while," she said. She left and went over to the bathroom.

All the girls started apologizing for Avery's behavior, and we said, "Oh, no, you don't have to apologize." But one after the other said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." I asked one of the girls how long Avery had been in the cell with them. "About 3 hours," she said. "But I don't think she's getting ready to last much longer in this cell block." I said to the girls that I would be praying for them to be able to deal with that. Think of being locked in with a person like that...and being unable to get away from her.

I do worry for Avery, though--I worry that the girls will do violence to her. I don't know what circumstances she has suffered in the past for her to be the way she is, and if I knew what she had passed through, it would undoubtedly be a story to evoke compassion, not scorn or contempt for her. I pray for her. I pray for her future. I pray that she can be set free to be able to understand and accept the gospel. Join with me in prayer, will you? And may the God who is able to penetrate even the darkest cell and the most hurting heart do mighty wonders in her life.

I went to jail today.

The cell was painted a dingy yellow--a soul-killing, colorless yellow, and the trim was painted an equally soul-killing dark gray. The women's uniform was as unattractive as it could be--wide green and white stripes on a shapeless top and elastic waistband pants. The only variation came in the way some uniforms were severely faded from washing and others had seams fraying apart with only a few unskillful stitches holding them together.

15 beds were in the cell: five triple-high bunk beds made of gray steel. They were narrower than a normal single bed by about a foot, and most had no mattress--not even so much as a thin mat to sleep on. In addition to this, three women were sleeping on the floor due to overcrowding in the jail.

Two toilets were in a room off to the side. The only privacy was a falling-apart curtain that was so short, the curtain rod had to be placed at about chest level in order for it to cover any bit of the doorway. You had to duck under the curtain rod to get in the bathroom.

The women had white, pasty faces (no sunshine ever penetrated these windowless walls) unadorned by makeup. Their eyes had a hollow, hungry look, eager for a distraction, something new, anything to while away a few minutes. Each sat on her bed--her own little private space--and no one moved around the room or made conversation or tried to interact with one another.

There I was, in the middle of all this, dressed in my jeans and t-shirt with the bright orange and hot pink flowers. The guard had let me in, along with four other women, and had left, locking us in.

We were there to do a Bible study with the girls. We passed out song sheets, sang a couple of hymns, had a time of prayer, listened to Debbie teach a Bible lesson, and answered questions if the girls had any.

What a contrast we made--bright, happy, and allowed to walk out the door when we pounded on it to call the guard's attention.

We had been there about three hours and were in our last cell block when one girl wistfully asked, "What is the weather like outside today?" I looked around for the sky and realized there was no sky, no view of the outdoors, no tiny little crack to let in sunlight. It was just fluorescent bulbs--and I realized I had already forgotten what kind of day it was.

But oh! The glory of the presence of God that penetrates even to the deepest, loneliest cell. The girls were hungry for the Bible study. The guard would poke his head into a cell and say, "Y'all want a Bible Study?" We wouldn't be allowed in if they didn't want us. But we were never refused admittance--each time, a resounding "YES!" rose from a chorus of voices at the guard's question.

What an open door for ministry to hungry, broken, hurting people! When I prayed in the first cell, I felt the presence of God just rush into our midst, and hardened, grumpy, sullen-faced girls were suddenly sniffling audibly. Five of these same girls had raped a new prisoner just the night before (We met her in the fourth cell where she had been moved, and she told us the story, utterly traumatized and quivering with the memory of the abuse. I prayed for her, too, with my arms wrapped around her, pleading to my Abba Father to wrap His arms around her and bring her healing. Incidentally, though she was not the first victim, she was the first person ever to press charges for that, due to a system of intimidation and corruption that prevails within the prison walls. And though the whole thing was caught on camera, the guards did nothing to stop it until it was over.)

What a load of spiritual opposition confronted us, though! What a brazen, daring thing it is to walk right through the doors of one of the enemy's most formidable strongholds and presume to bring the light and truth of God's word there! (That story coming tomorrow.)

God's power has conquered Satan, has conquered death, and has conquered sin. By the blood of Christ, we have the right to march right into Satan's territory, flags flying, and expect to come forth victorious.

But it must be God who wins the victory. In ourselves, we are nothing. I have no strength to fight. I can't even see the principalities and powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world, the spiritual wickedness in high places--and if I blindly swung at them (what? my fists? a sword? they would laugh at me!) I couldn't possibly expect to hit them.

My weapon is prayer, and the battle takes place before I ever set foot on the drawbridge to Fort Despair. I prevail through the power of the Holy Spirit in fervent prayer, and pray until God assures me that the victory is won. Only then do I walk through the gates. Only then do I invade the enemy's fortress. Only then do I reach out to the unfortunate prisoners he has bound in chains of sin and death. My God is with me, and He is the one who can rescue the captive. I look to Him, depend on Him, and trust in Him for victory. Alleluia!

My journey into missions

Why do I want to be a missionary?

I remember when I was about 14 years old. The "big question" had come up a number of times ("What do you want to do with your life? What career are you going into?") and I didn't have an answer. I was never one to think ahead much, and I definitely didn't have my 5-year-plan mapped out. Indeed, I would go as far as to say that I felt a slight annoyance that people were already asking me this question. Why did I already have to know? Couldn't I wait to think about that?

One day while my mom and I were in the car, I asked her, "What should I do when I grow up? How do I know what I would be good at? How do I know what I would like? How do I choose?"

She answered something about looking at my skills and abilities and narrowing it down that way.

"That's just the thing, though," I said. "I'm good at so many things. I enjoy doing lots of stuff. How do I come to a conclusive choice?"

"Well," she replied, "There's always missions. That will be sure to stretch you in every faculty, every capacity, and every skill you possess. Being a missionary is an undertaking that will challenge you and tax you to your utmost, but it's also an adventure with God--walking by faith, being close to God, and depending on Him for everything."

Hmmm, I thought. Maybe missions wouldn't be so bad.

~ ~ ~

A year later, I signed up to be a summer missionary with Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF). I worked for three summers in a row doing 5-day-clubs (backyard Bible clubs that teach Bible stories, verses, songs, and missionary stories). That was a good experience and gave me a lot of effective training on how to share my faith. Over 25 children prayed with me to accept Christ that first summer.

It was at a CEF meeting sometime during this period that I watched a film by New Tribes Mission. I don't even know the name of the film, but basically it was about tribe after tribe after tribe in Papau New Guinea who are begging for a missionary. They see other tribes who have missionaries getting saved and gaining peace with God, and they ask the mission to send someone to teach them, too. The mission puts out a plea, but there is no one. There just aren't enough missionaries. So one tribe has waited perhaps 3 years, another tribe 5 years, another tribe 7 years, some tribes even up to 10 years, asking for a missionary, and no one has yet gone to them. Their people are dying with Christ, and no one is there to tell them the Gospel.

This video powerfully spoke to me and I went away burdened with the immense need of the lost and dying world around me. In that moment, I offered myself to God, for Him to use me as He chose. He could send me wherever He pleased. I would do whatever He called me to do.

From then on, in my mind, my career was set. I didn't want to be anything but a missionary.

But there was a slight problem.

I was terribly embarrassed that this was what I wanted to do.

I couldn't bring myself to tell anyone (other than my family) that I wanted to become a missionary. It felt so sacred and close to my heart, I couldn't bear to bring it out into the open among a callous general public and have my heart's desire trampled on by people who just didn't understand. Compounding this problem was that I was extremely shy and didn't like to talk to anyone period, much less mention the deepest desires of my heart.

So on into my teenage years, it almost became a game whenever I was asked the "big question." "So, what are your college plans?" or "Well, what are you going to do with your life?" I always scrambled to find a vague but socially-acceptable answer that would satisfy people's curiosity and get them to stop asking probing questions, without lying, but without telling them anything about missions.

(Now I look back and wonder--why did I have such a hindrance to communicating freely about this to people? The thought that was in my mind was that if anyone knew, I would be rejected as a social outcast. Why did I think that? Funny how our ideas, even untrue ones, effectively keep us bound.)

But I kept looking around, hoping, watching, waiting for God to reveal to me His plan and show me the place I was called to go. Waiting for "the call" of God wasn't easy, especially because I was usually looking for it in the wrong places.

But God wasn't stumped or thwarted by my not knowing the game plan. He knew where He was leading me, and that was enough.





This is the first post in this series. 
Story continues: Call to Evangelism

Laurel Falls Hike

No blog about my life would be complete without at least a little mention of this hike.

Just in the month of May alone I did this hike 4 times. Yesterday we went with some girls from church and had a grand time. Monica had made banana bread and kettle corn, so we even had snacks, which was a delicious treat (usually we don't bother to bring so much as water bottles).

Here we are at the beginning of the hike

Hiking along the stream

The destination! Laurel Falls. It was surprisingly lower than I expected it to be, despite heavy rain two nights before. Just a few weeks earlier, it had looked like this: 

Us girls at the falls (minus Sarah, who is behind the camera)

And then we found a blacksnake! 

 

Adventures all around... lovely times!