We had a truly blessed time together last week, considering the idea of "Rethinking Missions" and learning about the church in Iran from Elam Ministries. All three of us had a chance to speak about the work of Uttermost Sports, share some information about the 10/40 Window and restricted-access countries, and connect with friends and supporters in Norman, Oklahoma. The Turkish coffee and baklava were a huge hit (obviously!), but we were most grateful for how God brought together several dozen people to pray and ask that His Kingdom come to various places on earth.
The spirit of The Lord whispered to me, “What if?” What if I took the plunge, what if I finally let go of the earthly restraints that I let bind me to my chair. What if?
As if in a dream, I walked to the back of the church, my soul abandoning the prison of my body and leading it to where Jesus would call me. My pastor gave me the shirt off his back to cover my church dress as I finally let go and lay back in submission to the all-encompassing grace of The Lord. Five years after hearing the voice of The Lord, I got baptized.
I was a quarterback in high school and I was awesome. So awesome that a grand total of zero schools offered me a scholarship to continue being awesome for them. However, I was invited by a couple of schools to pay my own way and be what’s affectionately referred to as a walk-on athlete. Walk-on, meaning free, and athlete, meaning we’ll figure out where to put you later.
Last week, our president returned from an overseas trip with promising reports of new work in new places. We are so thankful for the doors God continues to open for us in the uttermost regions of the world. However, recognizing an opportunity and capitalizing on it are two different things. Envisioning what could be is a snap; crafting a plan and following through with it is much more complicated.
So begins month two of our weekly office blog!
As fall gets into full swing, our staff continues to move forward at full speed: hiring a new Director of Development, planning an awareness event, sending out many mailers, and seeking God's heart for this work He has called us to.
Much like eating a salad, mobilization is both absolutely necessary and mostly frustrating. Our goal is to get as many incarnational gospel witnesses as possible, into as many places as possible. Simple enough. Except for one variable. We focus on the “10/40 Window,” a geographic designation for a massive swath of the planet where the majority of the world’s unbelieving population lives. Many of these places are headquarters to terrorist cells, sex trafficking rings and drug smuggling operations. Many governments in these regions would prefer to live in the 7th century and many of their infrastructures aren’t too far ahead anyway. That’s a long way of saying we work in incredibly inconvenient places.
