Missionary Monday

We have the most incredible friends. I keep wondering why God has blessed us with such great friends and honestly I am in awe of it. There is Bob and Shannon who spent two years in a Muslim country in Asia and continue to minister to the persecuted there even from here while working and raising 3 beautiful daughters, one of which is severely autistic, and another child on the way. Their faith in the Lord's Will and their heart to reach the lost is a passion that you cannot ignore. There is Eileen and Jerry - adopting 3 children from Ethiopia after adopting twins a few years ago and an incredible testimony to Christ everywhere they go. Megan and Kostya are selling what little they own to follow God's calling to the Ukraine with 3 young children in tow in order to help train pastors there, knowing hospitals and conveniences will be too far away to be of much use to them. Brian and Mandy are adjusting to new parenthood in a country where little English is spoken and most people completely misunderstand Christianity. We have dear friends in China who know that they will go two years between visits with their precious grandchildren and who can be deported at the drop of a word but they ache to see those bowing in worship to ancestral gods bowing their hearts to the One who died for them. There are David and Dawn, Sarah and David, Russ and Cindy, Debbie and Steve, and numerous others who have turned their backs on very lucrative careers to help train future pastors and missionaries with a salary hardly enough to keep them above the poverty level. There is CT - a man with a testimony so incredible most people think it is fiction - whose love for the Lord and desire to grow in the Word is such a great encouragement to everyone around him. There are Beth, Wittney and Renee who remind me to be a better mother and teacher, role model, neighbor, friend and servant. I could go on and if you are one of my friends reading this, you deserve to be mentioned but if I didn't include you it's because this post could never be long enough for all the blessings of friends! Why do I post this under "Missionary Monday"? Because all of you are missionaries. I have personally witnessed you reaching out to the lost, your neighbors, your family. I have seen you walk the talk. And today I thank you for being a missionary.