From our archived blog:
"I could never do that!" "Wow, you are amazing!" We hear these sorts of comments a lot when we speak in churches or talk to people about the journey God has us on. I know that sometimes people can think of missionaries as a type of super Christian. There's the everyday kind of Christian, who works a regular job in the States, and then the SUPER Christians who go overseas and are all "sold out" for Jesus. Please hear me. This is such a lie from the devil. We are not Super Christians (this should be obvious if you know us well). We get scared about malaria. We get frustrated about traffic. Sometimes we yell at our kids. Sometimes we yell at each other. Sometimes we get discouraged and think God is never going to provide for us to leave for the field. God has burdened our hearts to see Him glorified as people around the world have His Word in the language they understand best. We long to see people from every tribe and tongue and language worshiping Him. But God is the one who worked that in our hearts. He is the one who called us to move our family overseas. And we can't go to PNG without the partnership of people who live in the States and work a "regular" job. We can't battle the stresses, doubts, and fears that Satan throws our way without people praying fervently for us. We are parts of one body. And no part is more "super" than any other. We all serve a Super God. If you see anything praise worthy in our journey, it is all to Him and His glory.
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,and to still another the interpretation of tongues.All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many....If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” ....Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. - From 1 Corinthians 12