Interview with CMS Missionary A
CMS missionary A* has learnt much about depending on God and trusting in his plans amid various disruptions and disappointments in recent years. In this article, Checkpoint asked her to share what God taught her about his faithfulness and sovereignty during a difficult season.
‘There were many times when I felt like giving up, but God always reminded me that he is in control, and all I needed to do was trust and obey him.’
In 2019 you were accepted to go with CMS to a country in South Asia. You have now returned to South Asia, but not without significant disruption on the way, including COVID. Can you give a brief outline of some of the highs and lows of the last several years?
I first served as a short-term worker with SIM in South Asia for 14 months in 2014-2015. After returning to Australia, I finished studying at Sydney Missionary and Bible College, completed a Mentac (Mentoring Across Cultures) apprenticeship, and then trained at St Andrews Hall and completed initial deputation at the end of 2019. I was feeling very ready and excited to return to South Asia! However, my excitement was short lived.
After experiencing various visa issues in early 2020, by March, all plans were thwarted due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. I ended up serving online in a social business in South Asia for six months. Finally, in October 2020, I was able to return to South Asia. However, the lockdown was extremely difficult, and I struggled with the isolation. In July 2021, after a long journey through Tanzania, Türkiye and Howard Springs quarantine, I returned to Australia. The following year was spent resting and serving in finance with the CMS NSW & ACT branch. However, there were still lots of uncertainty as I asked God for wisdom and guidance.
In God’s goodness and according to his perfect timing, I returned to South Asia exactly one year after my departure in July 2022. This time, I returned as a university student to learn language. There were many ups and downs–I was in a completely new place, I had to make new relationships and seek new ministry opportunities. There was grief in losing a sense of familiarity. Yet, God continued to sustain me through all the joys and hardships. After a year at university, I was offered a job at a Christian international school in July 2023, which meant I had to change from a student visa to an employee visa. What was supposed to be a four to six-week trip back to Australia during this process became 12 weeks due to application difficulties. While there was lots of uncertainty during this period, God reminded me that he is the giver of true joy and peace. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 was a great encouragement during these hard times: “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
Praise God that in October 2023, I was able to return to South Asia on a new visa. Over the past year, God has granted me great stability–I have settled into a church family, I lead a ladies Bible study, and I feel settled in my house. Throughout it all, God showed that he is in control, and everything is according to his plan and his time–not mine.
What you describe sounds very testing. Tell us some of the ways in which you responded in your faith and personal life.
When I left South Asia in 2021, I felt like my ‘earth was giving way’, as it’s described in Psalm 46. However, this Psalm reminded me that God is my “refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). In verse 10, God commands us: “Be still, and know that I am God”. I had to preach this truth to myself regularly and continually fix my eyes on the cross. There were many times when I felt like giving up, but God always reminded me that he is in control, and all I needed to do was trust and obey him.
How did your understanding and trust in God grow as a result of these events and uncertainties?
God worked through my year of vagueness and uncertainty to convince me more of his sovereignty and faithfulness, in all of life’s ups and downs. I realised that in this fallen and broken world, life will never be straight forward. However, despite the troubles of this world, we can take heart, because God has overcome the world (John 16:33), he is always with us (Matthew 20:28 and Hebrews 13:5), and if he is for us, no one can be against us (Romans 8:31, Hebrews 13:6).
What is God teaching you at the moment?
Recently, I have been learning more about the reality of Ecclesiastes 3, particularly verses 3b-4: “A time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance”. This passage has reminded me that there is a time for everything under heaven, but God is faithful in all seasons. God has taught me much over the past few years–what a privilege!
*Name changed for security reasons.
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