How are you doing my sister CWMs? My prayer is you are trusting
God in all things. Right now, if you listen to the news, you can
certainly get depressed about the economy, famine in certain parts
of the world, and various wars. Yet, as Christians we know that
our God is in control and we know the end of the story. May we show
others around us that we can be calm in the midst of chaos and that
our peace comes from Christ.
Welcome to all our new CWMs who have joined us this month. You
can check out all the many opportunities to meet other CWMs at www.christianworkingmom.com
Article – Lessons from Iquitos, Peru
A prayer request of mine, for several years now, has been to go
on a family mission trip overseas. God graciously answered my prayer
and last month my husband, 16 year old daughter, 13 year old son,
and I traveled to Iquitos, Peru with our church for a mission trip.
Our family worked in the 2nd poorest area in Iquitos, Peru. Iquitos
is a city of almost 500,000 people at the mouth of the Amazon River.
It is also the largest city in the world that can only be reached
by plane or boat. While we were in Iquitos we worked with a small
church, Solo Con Cristo. We helped to paint the one room church,
helped them add another small room, led a Bible school, and in the
evenings worshipped at different churches.
We met some wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ and beautiful
children. As a family we learned so many lessons on our trip:
1. Our Peruvian brothers and sisters in Christ really know how
to worship. Most worship services we attended lasted 2 hours and
they spent lots of time singing and praising God with joyful hearts.
2. Several churches we attended met in one room and they were running
out of room quickly. These churches had almost nothing yet they
reached out to their community and loved their neighbors to Christ.
3. I observed several women who totally lived out 1 Corinthians
10:31. A pastor’s wife we loved dearly would cook for us,
unstop toilets, support her husband, and lead other pastor’s
wives with the same beautiful smile. She truly glorified God in
everything she did.
4. Children are natural missionaries. My children were magnets to
the children around us. Part of it is because they stand out so
much. My daughter is a red head and my son is fairly tall. Children
have a way of easily sharing their faith with other children.
5. My Christian brothers and sisters in Christ, by the world’s
standards have almost nothing, yet their faith in Christ is all
they need. What a testimony that is to us who are wealthy Christians.
6. The pastor we worked with shared the following statement: “I
have told my children I will not leave them financial wealth, but
what I will leave them is God’s Word implanted in their hearts.”
He has 5 children and they are all serving God in full-time Christian
service. What an example to us all.
7. We as a family can do some really difficult things, in the power
of God. No air conditioning in 90 degree weather (in the winter
in Iquitos), sharing 2 bathrooms with 18 people, and many other
adventures.
8. You can have plans for a mission trip and God often has different
plans for you once you get there.
9. When you ask for prayers on a mission trip for safety to and
from a location, make sure you ask for prayer when traveling while
you are there. Motor taxis are quite an adventure (think motorcycle
with a golf cart attached). Your prayer life gets serious real quick.
10.There are dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in Iquitos, that
I may never see again till I get to heaven. When I do get there
it will be such a sweet reunion.
Our trip was a good trip and a hard trip as well. We have memories
as a family serving God together that we will never forget. I praise
God for answered prayer and being able to serve Him.
Final Thoughts
My children are older now and international travel is a little
easier (it was still adventurous going through airports). I encourage
you as a family even with young children to find ways to serve together
in your church or community? There are different organizations that
even plan family mission trips for families with elementary age
children. You will be amazed at what your children can do and how
they open doors with people that adults cannot. As I have shared
with you before I love Operation Christmas Child with http://www.samaritanspurse.org/.
Even small children get excited about choosing gifts for other children
for Christmas. I know some families that choose gifts throughout
the year for their shoe boxes.
One of the greatest personal blessings from our trip is my children
came back with a love for missions and sharing the gospel. My prayer
is for us as CWMs is we will instill in our children a love for
the things of God and serving God in all we do. There is truly no
greater goal we can have for our children.
Thanks for allowing me to share with you this month.
Till next time,
Kimberly M. Chastain
Kimberly M. Chastain, MS, LMFT is the Christian Working
Mom Coach and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She is the
author of The Voices of Christian Working Moms, 2 ebooks and an
online Bible study. To find out how to receive coaching tips by
email daily, go to http://www.kimberlychastain.com/cwmtips.htm.
To find out more about her books go to www.christianworkingmom.com.
For a free, initial coaching session send an email to free@kimberlychastain.com.
