Burning the Candle

....at both ends.

Have you ever heard this saying? I feel as if it is particularly true for my husband right now. This is why we are hoping and praying that he will be able to quit working within the next six months. We know that if God wants it to happen it will, but at times it is easy to lose this focus. We have now been traveling for 5 1/2 months. We have visited 13 churches so far. Out of this 3 support us, one of which is our current, sending church. Another is his brother's church.

Every week Jason spends about five hours calling pastors. This is time that he takes off in the middle of his work day (his client's parents graciously gave him permission to do this) so he can catch pastors at church. If he can catch them. He asks them if they would be willing to receive his packet in the mail. Most say yes. He then spends a couple hours, once or twice each week, preparing the packets to be sent out in the mail. He also spends time before and/or after the Wednesday night prayer meeting printing off our booklets. After he mails the packets, he calls the pastors again to see if they would be willing to schedule a meeting. Finances, or the lack therof, usually seem to dominate these conversations.

There are usually two responses. "No, we just don't have the finances and it would be better for you to spend your time somewhere else." OR "Yes, you can come, be we can't take anyone on right now." We have only had three churches tell us they have money available in their budgets. One took us on in January, we are visiting another in April, and we are hoping to schedule a meeting at the third in May. We visit churches in spite of their inability to take us on for support.

We hope that visiting these churches accomplishes more than just raising support. This is the focus we have to keep (or at least try!) otherwise we will easily become discouraged. We hope that some may get saved, develop a bigger burden for missions, volunteer short or long-term on the mission field, and reach their town or city for the Lord. This bigger goal allows us to look at each meeting as an opportunity to minister in or encourage each church.

Back to the candle. In addition to these hourse spent contacting churches, Jason works 33 hrs. each week. He is a deacon in our church, with his main responsiblity being the development of a web site. We spend 2-3 hours getting tutored in Slovak every Tuesday night, in addition to the study we put in during the week (and he always spend more time than I do). Then of course we spend all day Sunday and sometimes Saturday evenings as well, traveling to and from the church, and ministering in the services. We often get home late Sunday night (it was 11:35 last night) and he has to leave for work around 8:00.

I know God gives us strength (Phil 4:13) to do His will, but sometimes it does seem a tad overwhelming. God does not give us more than we can bear. I also know that we are doing what we believe God has called us to do.

God knows all about the economic situation. He knows when to ease Jason's time responsibilities and when we need to reach the field. I don't, but He does.

Pray for Jason to get the rest he needs. Pray that he will be able to quit work by the end of the summer (or earlier!). Pray that I will know how to help ease his burden. Pray that we can balance ministry, work, and family. Pray that we will trust the Lord and His timing.