His Kingdom Come
Written By: Shari Tvrdik
The need was made obvious on social media, no hidden agenda, no hinting at what she "would like you to pray about." Instead, a flat out ask. "Winter is coming soon," the ministry worker wrote. "Mongolian's are preparing. Unfortunately, my church heating system was damaged and we will need to purchase a new one for the harsh winter in order to continue our ministry all year around. Most of our church members are not from well off families. We need to look for help from the outside."
She continued,
"Our church needs to raise $1'500 in total. $500 has already been raised by the church. Please contact me personally if it's possible for you to give."
I sat reading her post from the outside, of where I once was very much inside.
I had spent eight winters in Ulaan Baatar, the coldest capital of the world.
My memories of the deep freeze will never be forgotten.
The Facebook post took me back in time to a woman carrying a bucket of wood on the coldest January day. She came into her home where I waited for her to return. The cold wind entered before she did. She stood there with wind burned cheeks and what I can only describe as cold bones. "I had two dollars," she said. "My family hasn't eaten in a couple of days and I was going to buy rice but then I chose wood instead." Setting the wood down next to her cold wood stove she spoke words that still wreck me to this day.
"Freezing to death is more painful than starving."
I set my phone down and laid my head on my pillow.
I wondered if anyone from the outside would give to the furnace fund.
We're all busy. The spinning globe is full of spinning needs...everywhere... and the other side of the world is so far away.
Six hours later I awoke to find messages from some of our CCWM missionaries.
"We'd like to give to the Mongolian church. Is it possible for you to take some of our funds and move them to help purchase the furnace."
These ministry workers don't have a whole lot more than "some" funds.
They are just starting their own ministry out in a brand new community in another country.
They should be consumed with their work.
I recognized how counter intuitive this sort of gift was.
If anyone had a good excuse to "sit this one out" it was these guys.
And this isn't the first time a request like this has been made by one of our CCWM ministry workers.
Working for a mission sending organization I'm privy to these kind of emails. I'm blown away each time it happens, "Please transfer my funds to ________ we want to help."
I stared at the email and let it sink in.
I knew they were giving from what little they barely had, in order to cheer the Mongolia ministry worker forward....for HIS kingdom to come.
Churches, ministry workers, pastors, we can sometimes lean toward competitive can't we? We get protective, focused, a little self centered.
Our work is important. It's valuable and we are pushing so hard to get where we believe the Father wants us to go.
With sheer grit we overcome all the obstacles and build what we think is for His kingdom.
Hammer, nails, focus,
just... keep... building....
Without even realizing it we become a builder of our own kingdom.
Ours.
Our organization. Our mission. Our project. Our church. Our kingdom.
Its a temptation worth fighting, because the other side of that, the opposite is quite a remarkable defeat of the enemy.
These ministry workers had a bigger call on their life than their own ministry.
It was not boxed into a location, or a people group or even a specific affiliation.
The call was to build HIS kingdom and to submit to HIS will.
"Money is raised!" the ministry worker reported just a week after her candid ask.
The church will be warm this winter, despite the negative forty degree average temps.
The ministry workers in another nation will soon be telling us about God's favor and blessing in their new ministry. I'm sure of it because this is how our Great God works when we line ourselves up with HIS plan, HIS kingdom, His purposes.
And me, am I lined up?
What am I building today?
