I was Skyping with some friends this week who I haven't seen since I visited them a couple of summers ago. At the time, the husband had been renovating their house. When I asked him about the progress, his answer impressed me. Well, it wasn't the answer so much as his perspective and attitude: it was coming along, but he didn't expect it to be finished for another 2-3 years. Which seems very reasonable for a working dad of 3 and husband who regularly lends his hand in the kitchen. Then I thought of the email I'd written earlier in the day, telling a man who was inquiring about Greek materials to check back in a year to see our progress. I had felt so ridiculous writing such a thing in the 21st Century where waiting is a thing of the past. But the reality is that there is a process to start the ministry in a new country: we have to find people, train them, including a native speaker who is qualified to translate the materials, translate, and then train the locals.
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| Taken from Antelope Travel website |
The beauty is that this isn't just a mere human project, but we often see evidence of God's hand orchestrating people and events to bring together the right people at the right time. So, within a day of the man who requested the materials, we had a conversation with a person trained in EE who has moved to Greece. We still need the native speaker who can translate, but I reached out to the person requesting the materials to see if they know of anyone.
Like many things in life, it takes time. Thankfully one of the fruits of God's Spirit is patience. He has fashioned our regenerated spirits to be able to withstand situations that require endurance and perseverance. And since we have almost no training in this in our everyday lives, perhaps this is why He allows trials of various types that develop the patience needed for the things He's called us to wait for or that simply require time to develop--like my friends' house getting completed or having all the key people in place to begin the ministry in Greece.
I think it's helpful to keep this perspective for the things that have been a long time coming. And also to celebrate each phase of progress...one step at a time.
