Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: MOUNTAIN (07/02/20)
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TITLE: Vanuatu? Where’s that? | Previous Challenge Entry
By John Custer
07/04/20 -
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Sitting in the chapel waiting for the weekly service to begin, I looked at the program. The speaker was the Vanuatu Field Director for Wycliffe Bible Translators (WBT). I knew nothing of Vanuatu so I assumed that his talk would be interesting. My wife and I were volunteers for JAARS, an organization affiliated with WBT.
He told of the need for more translators to translate the Bible into the 100+ languages of Vanuatu. At the end he gave a prayer request which went like this, “We need someone to go to Vanuatu for eight months to be the Interim Business Manager. I had to temporarily assign a translator to Business Manager and I want to return her to her language assignment.”
My wife leaned over to me and asked, “Where do they get their groceries?” That did not cross my mind. I assumed that God was speaking to her heart as he was mine. I had other questions, so we met with him for lunch. He answered the grocery question and many more. The next morning, after praying about it, we told him that we would go.
Incidentally, Vanuatu is a country in the South Pacific, half-way between Australia and Fiji. (I know what you are thinking: “That didn’t take much prayer.”) Actually, while we saw many beautiful coastlines, Vanuatu is a third world country. The total population of the 85 islands was only 250,000. That meant there wasn’t a lot of money for infrastructure.
Preparing to go included getting VISAs, tickets, renting our house, and arranging for someone to pay our bills. It seemed like a mountain of things to do……but that was not the mountain!
In a few months we were there. After arriving, I was given 23 pages of job instructions. After reading through it numerous times, there was a lot that I did not understand.
I would be responsible for all of the mission finances, obtaining the VISAs and Work Permits for all of the missionaries, overseeing the ten rental apartments, and the maintenance of the facilities and vehicles. The bills were not paid by check. They were paid in person, which required knowing the location of all the businesses. I was not afraid of work. It was understanding a new computer system and all the details of the job that overwhelmed me.
The mountain was in front of me and I did not see a way to get over it! Do I tell them I can’t do the job and return to the United States? Did God lead me all the way to Vanuatu for failure? The mountain seemed to be growing.
I wanted so much to understand, but I did not know what to do to understand. The stress within me seemed overwhelming.
Out of frustration, I knelt in my living room and said, “God, this is a mountain I can’t seem to climb. I can’t do this job unless you help me.” That prayer was definitely fervent…..and God heard it!
The next morning when I went to the office, my trainer said, “John, today I want you to do the job and I will only be here to correct any mistakes or answer any questions.”
What happened next was a miracle. The mountain was cast into the sea. The job became crystal clear. It is true that I learn better by doing it than by reading how to do it, but I also believe God helped me. I loved that job and did well at it.
When my replacement arrived and my time drew to an end, the translator that I had replaced passed her language proficiency test and was able to start translation. God had a plan and I was part of it, and the plan included moving the mountain.
Since then there have been other times that I have confronted mountains that seemed difficult, but I know the mountain mover. He is my Father!
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