Planting and Harvesting

What is God going to do with us in Ecuador anyway??? I have been mulling this over and over in my mind in the past few months. Maybe it has been more than "mulling" and verging on "worrying"....As if I don't have enough to worry about, I figure I have to worry about God's jobs too. My nature is such that I like everything to be organized and planned out ahead of time, so that I know exactly what I am doing, so that I can be prepared for anything that may come....and when things are not set up ahead of time, I tend to start worrying.

Yesterday, a verse jumped out at me that I don't remember even really reading before. It was right there, in the middle of a story that I have heard over and over probably a hundred times. The verse was John 6:6 and the story is the feeding of the five thousand with the loaves and fish. Jesus had asked Philip where they were going to buy the bread to feed all those people? Then verse 6 states."He was testing Philip, FOR HE ALREADY KNEW WHAT HE WAS GOING TO DO." Yes, God already knows what he is going to do.......does he really need me to play a part in it? No, I don't think so. But I feel a little like Philip. Maybe God is testing us. Maybe, too, he enjoys letting us play a part in his plans. Anyway, whatever God is going to do, I want to be a part of it.
And by no means, does God only have plans for missionary work in Africa or Ecuador.....
Many people have asked us why we can't be missionaries right here at home. Why do we think we have to travel half way across the world? Of course the answer is that we are missionaries right here in our own back yards.

We have spent some time out at the farm lately as harvest is under way and we all love to be out there. And it gets me to thinking more about John 4: 35-38. It seems like we do more "planting" here at home than actual harvesting. Yet when we go to do these short term medical missions, it seems like we are doing alot of "harvesting". It's like verse 38 says, " I sent you to harvest where you didn't plant." I wonder if the long term missionaries feel like they do all the "planting " work and then these North Americans sweep in and reap all the harvest? Maybe I will ask some of them if I get a chance.

Lori