This poem portrays a person wrestling with their calling, with the trials they've faced, and with the unknown trials ahead. Two different voices speak to the weary pilgrim: the voice of the Liar, our spiritual enemy, and the voice of the Lord. Turn back, turn back,...
I hate bugs. No, I’m not the kind of person who goes into hysterics every time I see a spider. I can usually keep my cool. But still — the sight of one gives me an unpleasant shudder and a wish to be somewhere far away. Somewhere where spiders never existed. “If the...
I send you out as sheep among the wolves, yet take no staff And bring no sturdy sandals for this steep and narrow path. You’ll be accused, yet make no plan in your defense to speak. You’ll hunger, yet your purse and plow and fields – behind you, leave. I send you out,...
Before the ends of the earth, there was an end. Before the Spirit came, the Savior left. And they waited — not looking at the sky for the return of what was past, but devoting themselves to prayer for the revealing of what was promised. Do not look for times and...
Come, follow the pilgrim journey.…
For a time, we lived in a refugee camp with people who had fled across the border from war in their home area. That border was less than 30 miles away, and when their villages were bombed, our tin roof would shake. Learning to distinguish the sounds of war from the...
“You will be my witnesses,” Jesus told His disciples soon before He ascended to heaven. “But first, wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit.” Wait? This was the beginning of Jesus’ plan to change the world? It’s certainly not the way...
Every year when the rains come and the river swells, the land floods. When we visited North Africa prior to settling there, we could hear the children laughing and playing in the temporary lake created by the floodwaters. Sadly, one morning we heard that a young...
It’s not that I haven’t been around dead babies before. This is a refugee camp in North Africa. Babies die every day. Malaria. Malnutrition. Dysentery. Other generic tragedies that make up the backdrop of a life marked by poverty and war. The story is...
The practice of contemplative prayer has meant a lot to Eva in the past few years. It is a practice of consent to the healing presence and action of God within our hearts. As we pray a welcoming prayer, we are invited to embrace even our most painful emotional...
You go through so much training and preparation before moving overseas. You enlist your prayer and financial partners, make your plans, say your prayers and goodbyes, and step into the life of your dreams … and it absolutely knocks the wind right out of you....
Believe it or not, there is a road somewhere under all that water! During the rainy season in semi-arid North Africa, rivers overflow and dirt roads can become nearly impassable. As missionaries, sometimes the road ahead also seems impassable. First there are...