Kate's Perfect World

Once upon a time there lived a young woman with gold hair and a crooked smile. She lived on the waters of Lake Victoria as it flowed to the Nile River in Jinja, Uganda. She lived in a perfect world where there was always coffee in the morning and sundresses to wear on picnics. People -- friends and strangers alike -- were always genuinely kind to her and it never rained when she wanted to see the sunrise. She sang as she washed the dishes and made the best chocolate chip cookies. Her life and her view on the world were just perfect.

Until one day it wasn't. She lived in an area with disease and death and every sort of evil. Her perfect world collapsed in the blunt reality of the real world. Her friends knew that reality well. Soon she would know the bitter taste of death for her friend's toddler who drank paraffin, the harsh truth of children being sold to orphanages with corruption on both sides of the deal, and the sting of betrayal when her best friend not only turned her back on her, but also on the Lord. She faced uncertainties as her life would be threatened and hurt as the houses where her friends lived were to be plowed down. The future was unknown and there were often more questions than answers. How could she make sense of this terrible collision?

"I need a break!" She exclaimed with tears in her eyes. "The last six months have been hard and I just want to rest." So she packed a few dresses and flew off to the land where the sun shined the brightest as the waves crashed upon the soft, white sand of the shore.

The Indian Ocean was quiet, clear, warm, and perfect. The ever blue sky and the songs of the birds were the perfect place for her to dream again. Her only concerns were the crabs on the beach and if the monkeys would steal the bread in the kitchen again. Life was peaceful and beautiful, and smelled of salt and sunscreen. There was coffee and the sun rising over the ocean to wake her up, and a bowl of ice cream and the sound of bush babies in the trees outside at the end of the day. The days stretched out before her like an endless dream, without schedule or responsibility. Suddenly, her life was perfect again.

However, dreams do not always last. One must wake eventually and return from never-never land. No matter how perfect the days spent on the warm sand were, days of harsh reality were looming before her. Could she go back, she wondered? Could she face reality after this bliss?

The memory of a song filled her mind as the anxieties of life post-vacation threatened to enter. "Find rest, my soul, in God alone. My rock and my salvation." The months preceding her escape had been hard, busy, and draining -- filled with the pain of living in her own strength. She wasn't ready to return to that. "But", she pondered, "what if I don't have to?"

No, this blue eyed girl was not dreaming of continuing life on the beach -- although the thought had occurred to her. She wondered what it meant to truly rest in the Lord and rely on His strength. People talk about missionary burn out, and to be honest, she wondered at what point she would break. But what of Paul? He had been a single, tent making missionary much like herself. However, unlike her, his threats became reality. He had been thrown in jail, stoned, and left for dead more than once. And yet, he picked up his cross and followed the Lord. How? She wondered. She had thought of how nice it would be to return to the comforts of the world again, instead of fighting for justice and seeking mercy. She wondered if Paul had ever entertained such thoughts. Surely, she was missing something.

Surely, His strength and rest would change her life forever.

And so our story does not have an ending. She will once again return to the land of witchdoctors and drunk men, but would it be different? Would she, when the waves come crashing upon the sand castles in her life, still be able to rest in her Savior? Would she, like Peter, be able to leave the safety and comfort of the boat to walk upon the waves? Would she allow the Lord to calm her in the midst of the storm if He allowed the wind and the waves to continue? She wondered if she, like the pearl, would undergo intense pain and pressure in order to be made perfect, all within the safety of the shell. Because even in the pain and suffering, she knew she would be held.

Kate's perfect world is a place where love, sunshine, and hot air balloons are ever present. However, she was just beginning to see that the Lord brought rain to bring life in abundance, and even then, in those moments of despair if the sun would ever shine again, there is rest.

I wrote this third-person prose while on vacation in Mombasa, Kenya. Life has been difficult over the last few months, but God is slowly teaching me what it means to rest in Him and rely on His strength daily. I would greatly appreciate your prayers!

• That God's strength would lead in my life always and I would know His rest
• The Jores just left on a 6 month furlough, so prayer as my team and family is now in America!
• Continued prayer for Masese as uncertainties for the future are hanging overhead
• Continued prayer for our Bible study as well, that we would see hearts transformed by the Gospel!