In 1996, our missionary organization changed leadership and direction. Instead of allowing the missionary to follow God’s call, we were told to stop what we were doing to reach the lost and learn a new way to reach the lost. A model for doing missions from the other side of the world was imposed on our Latin American context and missionaries. It became evident that one could either work with their model or pack it up and go home.
Many did leave the field. Some of us tried to leave the field. My wife and I even packed trunks to send to the States with volunteer missionaries who were coming to work on projects that we had going and were to finish. We were reassigned to the new organization as leaders of a low-income population segment team.
I was mad, disappointed, depressed, disillusioned, and confused to mention a few emotions. Those are not good characteristics for a leader. It was in that condition, that our Mission Board sent us to Richmond, Virginia for training. We did it and learned what they wanted, but I returned to the field still wanting to do missions my way.
One morning sometime after coming back from training, I read Psalm 37:1-7 in my morning devotional time.
Trust in the Lord and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do It . . . Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him;
That passage changed my attitude and emotions and again put joy in me and into serving God. Nothing changed in the organization, but God’s Word led me to trust in the Lord, to do good in many areas of ministry, and to delight that I was doing God’s will and not mine. God’s Word took me from the pit of despair to retirement, and doing it His Way!
“Trust in the Lord and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do It . . .” Psalm 37:1-6
Joe Powell
Pryor, Oklahoma
There were so many doubts, so many reasoned arguments as to why the new direction of the company wouldn't work. In some ways I still wonder if imposing the same program for everyone really was the right way to go. I have come to the conclusion that while we lost some ground in the efforts we were doing and relationships with our national brothers was strained, we inadvertently were on the right track for the future of the work in Venezuela that did not include foreign missionaries. Our national partners were not encouraged as they should have been but our drawback to our "teams", etc. was a time for them to move forward and lead the work in a more…
Amen his will not mine thank you 🙏