We can’t just be alive or survive—we need to thrive. A conversation with a Global Aid Worker
We had the pleasure of getting to know a global aid worker that we’ll call “Jane” based in the Middle East during our January live interview. As such we’re not able to share her identity or post the video as we usually do so we’ll try to convey the golden nuggets of our conversation with her in this post.
“Jane” serves alongside her husband and together they are raising their two children. One of their main ministries is supplying Bibles to anyone who asks for one on the website they help to run and teach people how to use the Bible by presenting them with four questions after reading a passage of Scripture:
“What does this tell me about God?”
“What does this tell me about man/humanity?”
“What do I need to do to obey this?”
“Who can I share this with?”
“Jane” shared that while there are no other Christians in their area, they are able to have open conversations and share the Good News with those they interact with. This last year with the pandemic has made this more challenging, but they have been thankful to utilize Zoom to continue meeting together with their small groups.
When asked during the interview, “How do you keep your spirits up, and lead forward during covid and not get COVID fatigue?” she shared that trials reveal the cracks in our foundations that need addressing.
We can’t just be alive or survive—we need to thrive.
She went on to share about the disciples of Jesus, and how they could have asked Him to teach them great and powerful things. They could have asked Him to teach them to walk on water or to do miraculous signs and wonders; instead, they asked Him to teach them how to pray. “Jane” reminded us that “our response to trials should be ‘Teach me how to pray through this’”.
A few of our favourite quotes from AD’s Interview:
“Trials reveal the cracks in our foundation.”
“Our response to trials should be ‘Teach me how to pray through this.’”
“Faith makes us flexible; assumptions box us in.”
“Jane” shared with our viewers how we can sometimes confuse faith with assumptions. Faith hopes for the best, and assumptions believe that things will be a certain way. We can identify whether we are leaning into faith or leaning on assumptions by our response when things go wrong or get hard: Am I trusting that God is in control, or am I tossing out blame because things aren’t going the way I thought they would?
She took it a step further to explain that when our assumptions aren’t being met, we experience burnout faster and to a greater extent. Faith helps us to shift our outlook and perspective. Faith makes us flexible, whereas assumptions box us in.
As the interview drew to a close, “Jane” encouraged all of us to get outside of our own culture. She challenged us to connect with people who look different and do things differently from ourselves. We don’t have to cross the ocean and travel to a distant country to find people to share Him with. Our God is a personal God—He brings people across our paths as opportunities to share His love. We can extend the hem of His garment wherever we are to whoever we are with.