Stories in the Missional Journey of Bruce & Deborah Crowe

November 14, 2008

Started reading an Oswald Chambers book entitled, “So I Send You” the other day.  I started reading it a number of years ago and remember really enjoying it.  He was a tremendous writer, amazing that he died his late 40’s.  It’s interesting to read it now that we are here, sent and ‘doing’ missionary things.  He makes a very good point from the start, that the call to missionary activity is a call to every Christian.  I believe this more than ever now, as our Christianity doesn’t magically improve when placed in another culture.  Trust me, it doesn’t:).  God has chosen each of us as His vessel, this is something naturally understood by all of us.  Are we all ‘called?’… in this respect yes, if we know God’s heart at all, we know He seeks to save the lost and to know God is to intrinsically care about souls around us.  I like what he writes here,

 “The call of God is essentially expressivbe of the nature of God; it is His own voice.  Paul says that, “God demonstrates His own love toward us” (Rom 5:8), the love that is exactly expresive of His nature.  Get that thought with regard to the call of God.  Very few of us hear the call of God because we are not in the place to answer; the call does not communicate because we have not the nature of the One who is calling.  In the case of Isaiah, his soul was so attuned because of the tremendous crisis he had passed through, that the call of God was recorded to his amazed soul.  God did not lay a strong complusion on Isaiah. Isaiah was in the presence of the God and he overheard , as it were, the soliloquy of God; “Whom shall I send , and who will go for Us?” and i n conscious freedom he replied, “Here I am!  Send me.”   – pg 13/So Send I You

The soliloquy of God, I’ve been thinking about that.   I get tired of life so quickly, the difficulty of getting stuff done and feeling helpless in this strange culture.  I’ve found myself asking “why am I here?”, “I don’t care enough”, “can we go home now?”… as I’ve found the limits of my strength, my personal perseverance and flesh is weak..  I’ve felt dry, unburdened by my surrounding and anxious.  Ever felt like that?  I’ve been resisting prayer, the ‘get alone and seek Him kind’, and His word.  Why do I run from my source of strength?  When I read this portion of the book I went to prayer, and I found Oswald’s comments to be true.  The soliloquy of God accompanies our great God doesn’t it?  You will hear it if you listen.  You will see if you spend time with Him, He will open your eyes to it.  It doesn’t change, He doesn’t change.  It’s His call, He fills us with the desire, the hope and peace.  I left that time of prayer refreshed, encouraged to trust Him.  He cares more about those around me than I could ever understand, by spending time with Him I will get His soliloquy more in my heart.  I will ‘know’ the Lords heart and burdens.  They are not too heavy to bear, in fact scripture tells us that they are easy and light.  A great mystery to me is how God’s burden can be so joyful to bear, you’d think they would crush us and make us miserable, but it’s just the opposite.  When we care about what he cares about, God’s soliloquy becomes our favorite song.

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[Old electrical box, from the house, filled with leaves]

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[Sasha Sr. and Jr. complete the installation of new box]

We are doing well, everyone is healthy.  The chilly days are great, we expected snow by now but not complaining.  The kids are getting used to wearing mittens (which they call muffins), hats and big fluffy coats.  It takes about 10x’s longer to leave the house, but we were always late for things anyway.  It’s adorable to watch them play on the street and in the woods all bundled up with rosy red cheeks.  I grew up in Canada and it’s bringing back many childhood memories.. like getting all those fingers in the gloves… hard to do with a toddlers little hand.

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[Kids working on bikes, Broderic snaps pic of me doing something, 4 boys in tub.. save that water!]

I am off to the dump now.  I have access to a small trailer through a young family that just moved here.  I’m so excited to go use it… and get the stinky bags out of my basement.  If we leave them outside, the cats/dogs get into them.  Last night a cat was in our garbage, I didn’t realize it was in the house and shut the door in the basement, locking it inside I guess.  This morning the kids saw it race around in the house.  It’s off telling it’s friends now of the free nights lodging.  Our new friends are Tom and Lena, he is from Arizona and she is Ukrainian.  Tom is fluent, been here in Ukraine for 7-8yrs working in construction and serving with a church.  They believe God called them here to RZ and last week bought a small house down the street from us.  They have a 2yr old boy. 

Had our 3rd meeting last night, 14 adults and about the same kids.  It was neat to have missionaries represented from 3 towns.  Watched the history video, Micah shared his testimony and we had 30 minutes of prayer/worship.  Our prayer is that our collective faith would be encouraged and that families would be refreshed in the Lord.  We have some good ole american snacks and fellowship, it’s neat getting to know people here.  The interesting thing for me is that we’re all the same age approximately, young families, 2-6 kids.  There aren’t any (that I know of yet) older missionaries in the region.  You can find older (older than 40 is what I’m referring to) in Kiev, but not out here in the smaller towns.  I think this is a shame, the body of Christ needs the older, wiser, mature experience of seasoned saints.  I wonder if after the kids grow up people move on to other parts or vocations… 

 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
      And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”  Isaiah 6:8

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6 Comments

  1. papa

    Good morning Bruce,
    thank you for the post.
    2 Peter 3

  2. Justin

    If you get a chance, download “Go Outside” by Robbie Seay Band. If you can find/spare 5 minutes, just close your eyes and listen all the way through, pretty inspirational. Thank you for this post.

  3. lorrie

    you must be looking at your screen (laptop) in that pic, i know that look :-/

  4. Judy

    First of all – great photos! The tub ones will come in handy one day when they are older and are going to Prom or something….lol!!
    Oswald Chambers is wonderful and has such deep insights. “My Utmost For His Highest” is one of my most favorite, most often re-read books. “The soliloquy of God” – just beautiful!
    How comforting to know that when you heard “Whom shall I send?” you and Deb both answered “send me!”
    What an awesome example you are setting!
    well done.
    Be well, God bless,
    j.

  5. nana

    encouraging comments, we all go through the same struggles, nothing replaces the time alone we spend with Him but i am thankful for the encouragement i get from those around me, it seems to have to be a group effort. take care…love –mom

  6. bonnie walters

    May the peace of God keep your heart and mind in Christ Jesus as you continue to draw on the fountain within. True joy is not circumstancial or external. That is how we can count it all joy to have trial, after trial, after trial. Through utter dependence and helplessness a miracle of the heart takes place through the power of the Holy Spirit. Unexplainable joy wells up in the soul. It is in weakness that the miracle happens, not in strength. This joy makes room for others and others love to be around it! Rest in the Lord, Bruce, and believe this is happing in your life. We over here are proud of you and love you, brother!

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