Well, I can't say I'm surprised. Turns out Africa isn't as closed as we thought! We all went to the banquet on Monday night to hear the missionaries speak about what is going on around the world in missions. I cannot say how glad I am that we went. Initially we were going in order to support my son. At the time we reserved spots as we thought he was going to Africa for sure, but then everything changed and we found out he wasn't going! We still needed to be there.
As a family we had read the book called The Sword and the Scalpel about the life of Dr. Bob Foster and his parents who had started the hospital in Zambia where I was born. When we found out his son, Dr. Steve Foster, was going to be one of the speakers, I was so excited. It was like meeting a hero in real life. We've read about so many missionaries over the years, but they've always been dead for years like Adoniram Judson or Jim Elliot. But this time, the missionary we had read about was alive and we would get a chance to meet them in person!
I knew my kids would be the youngest and that it would probably be a challenge for them to sit, but they did great. There was endless amounts of punch in the punchbowl. They must have been back and forth a hundred times.
There were 3 speakers, a woman from Pakistan, who shared her story of being there for 16 years. And then an another amazing speaker who is a Canadian missionary to the First Nations in Northern Alberta! He had to be one of the most inspiring men. He has truly taken and is using his unique skill set, which is not your typical missions skill set - fitness, entrepreneurialism, and music, to this northern community. There he teaches fitness, guitar/piano lessons and built a hotel (crazy story!). He is making connections with this community in such a neat way. I was trying to figure out how I could get one of my daughters to marry him.....
Finally Dr. Steve got up to talk and he was also inspiring as he shared what is going on in Angola. As soon as it was done, I knew we had to go up and try to talk to him. I was shocked when I saw my son be the first to run over to him. I guess we were thinking the same thing. I was so pleased when I saw Dr. Foster take the time to listen to him. I was eventually able to get over there as well and introduced myself.
Turns out, the only reason he was turned down was because my son hadn't indicated he would be willing to do "anything". They assumed he ONLY wanted medical experience. That is true, but my son has so many other things to offer. They started to interview him. They found out his love of animals, his farming background, his interest in being in nature and the wilderness. Dr. Steve's eyes were popping out of his head. He needed someone over there to help with the farm they manage - cattle and kudo (a type of antelope!). They need help with the hunting. They need help using drones to find out where the wild animals are. My son's eyes started popping out of his head. He was basically begging them to send him and Dr. Steve was saying, "We'll do anything to get you there. We'll meet you at the border!" It was pretty much a done deal. Dr. Steve made sure that we all got a picture together so he wouldn't forget my son's face. So, it looks like he is going to Africa and he will get medical experience and a WHOLE LOT MORE! He is so excited to be able to use all his farming experience over there. I can't imagine what is in store for him....Dr. Steve's final question to my son was, "Are you ready to experience something wild?" Uh yeah!
Meanwhile, my quiet older children standing beside me weren't out of Dr. Steve's range of view....."What are you two interested in?" When he found out my next son had an interest in flying and is considering the flight school out of Alberta, Dr. Steve quickly mentioned how they love the pilots that come out of there. My son left the evening so confused - was God opening that door again? We had kind of half-closed it because of the cost. So it is back on the table now.....
My daughter was also interviewed by Dr. Steve as well as by the nurse who caught me at birth! She said, "What are you interested in doing? We'll have to stay in touch. You need to consider coming over for a short term missions......" My daughter said, "Yes! I'd love to!" Oh boy. How many kids will end up in Africa!? I can only "blame" my grandparents and parents who put the Africa bug in me and now in them! But, honestly, after an evening like that, it makes me sad that more people weren't there to hear the inspiring messages they told. I wanted to go myself after that. It seems like missions is "out of style".
But it isn't at all! I loved how fitness and business and music can all be used so effectively! Technology is now used to make super interesting videos to update all of us on what the missionaries are doing. It isn't out of style at all. The mission is keeping up with what is going on in the world. I think my kids grasped that it was a life with purpose they were pursuing. They weren't considering average jobs. They were considering doing something with all the skill sets God gave them. It all goes back to the verse from a couple days ago,
"...a wide door for effective work has opened to me...." I told the kids the morning of the banquet, "God can open it again or keep it closed". It looks like He opened it. I can rest that if He wants more of my kids in missions than He will open those doors, too, or slam them shut. Now we just keep praying and waiting in anticipation of what He is going to do.
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