This week, Pastor Joe David has been walking through what it means to be a missionary, using Mark 5:1-20. He has talked about the importance of loving people, prayer, and the awareness of spiritual warfare.
If you go just a bit further, you’ll find in Mark 5:21-34, a story about a woman being healed. To paraphrase, this woman had been bleeding for 12 years and experienced much suffering. She decided that if she could just touch Jesus’ garment, she could experience his healing power. She was right & her faith made her well. But this week, in Guatemala, a specific part stood out to me.
After touching Jesus’ garment, verse 30 says “And Jesus, perceiving in Himself that power had gone out from Him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said “Who touched my garments?” And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you and yet you say ‘Who touched me?’” And he looked around to see who had done it.
The text goes on to say that the woman stepped forward and Jesus said to her “Daughter your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your disease.”
This week, I began to think about the number of people that must have been close to, “pressing in,” and possibly even bumping into Jesus for the disciples to question him.
I could write for days about the impact of Guatemala, SLAM, Grace Ministries, and the people that I’ve grown to know here. The stories of joy and sorrow are endless when I think through a decade of stories in my mind. I’ve been to weddings, seen friends have babies, and even attended my first Guatemalan funeral this week for a sweet friend’s father. I’ve witnessed the effects of abuse, neglect and malnutrition. I’ve personally watched as stories of darkness become testimony of God’s goodness. But the thing that stands out through all of the stories is the intense focus on Jesus. I wish those words “focus on Jesus” could just leap off the screen at you because it’s impossible to feel the weight that they carry if you don’t have a personal experience here.
So often, I am one of those people from Mark 5 that Jesus didn’t bother to mention. I’m on of those people that bumps into Jesus but doesn’t experience His power because I’m not focused on Him. In North America, we are so blessed to have much. But I question whether the busyness is a blessing or a distraction that Satan uses to make sure that a blessed people don’t use their blessings to love others and be the missionaries that we were called to be.
In Guatemala, we are busier that in the United States. From 6am to 10pm, we are moving. At one point this week, I looked across the campus from a spot on the mountain and thought “we look like ants scrambling to get everything done.” But the difference is the focus on Jesus. Arms extended, finger tips stretched to feel His garment, eyes ahead, we know exactly where Jesus is and all of that busyness is focused on touching him.
Don’t misunderstand. There are distractions here too. As Pastor Joe David so quickly shared with us this week, spiritual warfare is real. Every event on the mountain this week includes tears from one person or another as we reflect on the life of Soy and remember his joy in all of these events in years past. Emotions are high, people are tired and frustration can occur. Satan is at work.
But how refreshing to go through all of this under the leadership of Deidra and Pastor Teddie, who are reaching for the garment of Jesus and consistently encouraging others to do the same. In such grief, we can experience such joy. Here, there is clarity and focus on the Lord.
On Grace Mountain, we are reaching for the garment of Jesus and through faith, we are experiencing His healing power.
Shining Light Abroad Ministries 