Introducing myself

Not sure if this is the right way to do things, just getting familiar with how things work on steemit...

My first post was in the Christian Fellowship community... can I re-post that here? I will try...

I thought I would introduce myself here on Steemit. Even though I joined a few years ago, I never got around to learning how to post and work here on Steemit. So this is my start.

I hope this time finds everyone encouraged and trusting in the wonders of God's grace and love at a time when the world around us is full of fear.

The short story of my life is this. As a young man, I felt the Lord's call to go into missions, but I was full of fear. I avoided following through with that call until 2001, when my wife and I stepped out in faith to follow His call. We went through 5 years of missionary training and then moved to the Philippines.

In the Philippines, after 2 years of Tagalog study, we moved out to a remote area in the jungles of Palawan. We moved to live with a group of indigenous people called the Palawano. We were with them for 3 years.

Of course the Palawano spoke their own language, so we had to learn their language as well. It was mostly an oral language - nobody in the area where we lived spoke Tagalog, and neither could they read or write. They lived on subsistence rice, root crops, fishing in the river, and hunting wild pigs (and monkeys) in the jungle. It was a blessed time to be able to live with them and teach them about the greater world, of which they knew very little. Their world was all about the spirits that they believed could control the environment they lived in - the spirits that lived in the rocks, parts of the river, the largest trees, and various parts of the jungle. They lived in fear of these spirits, often making animal sacrifices to satisfy the requirements of their beliefs. Many people died of malaria and complications of childbirth. Into this environment we brought basic medical education and literacy. There is nothing like seeing someone's eyes open as they begin to understand truth - truth from a source that they have never heard before.

Alas, our long term plans of staying with them for many years were not meant to be. Our children really struggled with our time in the jungle, and we found it was necessary to move away for their sake. We left behind a team of fellow missionaries, who eventually completed the teaching, and are still there working with the Palawano. Lord willing, someday I will be able to go back again and visit my friends there - the Palawano believers who used to live in fear of the spirits, but now follow Christ. Many of them also now know how to read and write, and for this I am thankful.

The rest of our time in the Philippines was spent in education (my wife is a teacher) or traveling around the country and helping the other missionaries learn language. In the Philippines there are over 170 different languages, and so every remote area where a new missionary is assigned, that missionary has to learn the local language in order to minister to the people. Most people around the country can speak Tagalog at a conversational level, but to communicate spiritual truths to them in Tagalog if that is not their first language can be difficult for them. It is far more effective for them to learn about the Lord in whatever their heart language may be.

I could tell more, and perhaps I will at some point. There are stories of all kinds of things. How did they plant their crops? How did they administer herbal cures from malaria? What influence did Islam have on their animistic beliefs? Or I could tell of the times that we had to evacuate because of Islamic terrorists that came looking to kidnap us. Or trekking across the jungle to find a young boy's father, whom we needed to fly out to the hospital in town for surgery. Ultimately God worked through everything, even in spite of the weaknesses that we had in ministering to the people.

For now, we are remaining here in the USA, until the Lord releases us to return overseas. The world has changed, and is changing, much in part because of the effects of the coronavirus. But God has not changed, and He is still reaching out across the world to bring the Gospel to people that have not heard.

I hope that my life will inspire others to serve the Lord, knowing that He is faithful and always provides for what we need, and will safely bring us to His kingdom.

God bless you all.