@Grady: “paid dearly for it…mostly from other believers” I hear you on that one. It’s one of the reasons I write the blog. Being a missionary is a hard road that so many enter without understanding what you’ve just said. It’s not about being negative or a discourager, I just want to see people enter the field fully aware and (hopefully) better equipped to stick around and make a positive difference for God. And yes, it does hurt.

“never make headlines, I’ll never be asked to write a book about it” Making headlines and writing books are also what we’re taught about ministry in the US church, and I agree that one person coming to the faith is a success.

You totally captured my feelings in this sentence. This term has been hard for us and on us. We’ve followed God and paid dearly for it…mostly from other believers….mostly on our own team. This is biblical reality and goes against everything we’re taught in our consumerism, me-centered US church. I’m grateful he’s breaking us out of this mentality…but it sure does hurt.

In our three years here I’ve been able to share the entire gospel a few times, but I’ve seen a dear friend come to faith. He in turn has led others….this is my success. It’ll never make headlines, I’ll never be asked to write a book about it…but it’s success and definitely worth it all.