Inspiring Obedience

To be honest, I don't even know where to start with this post. And I know it won't do the topic justice.

As I was thinking through my time in Chad and my time with the Vanderkoois, I was struck by the enormous amount of patience, obedience, and faith they demonstrated. To go to undergraduate and graduate school (along with a number of years of other such training that I never quite got an exact count on) to learn to translate the Bible, travel to a different country (not to mention learning French before getting to that country), and devote 25 years (so far) of your life to translating the Bible into a language that about 75,000 people in the world (less than the population of Peoria) speak in one remote part of the remotest continent of the world, pray constantly and fervently, serve tirelessly, work diligently, love abundantly, all in a land that isn't your home, to see a few individuals transformed by the message of the gospel, a social structure beginning to see positive changes, and a few seeds planted for the future of the church in Chageen that will go on to impact thousands and thousands more in generations to come that you will never see... gah.

In an age of instant gratification where everything is accessible at the click of a button, I find Mark and Diane's example one of the most encouraging models of perseverance and faith in God's provision that I have seen firsthand in my life. This small blog post doesn't do nearly enough justice to all the steps of obedience, big and small, that the Vanderkoois took each day I was in Chad. They are living proof of the power of the gospel in the lives of ordinary humans that choose faith in God that produces obedience beyond human capability. I am forever grateful for their perseverance in the faith that spurs me on as I reflect on God's work in their lives and in mine.