Mission

It is very easy to be hard on the Jonah of the Bible. It seems so obvious to us what he ought to do. However, I believe that each of us has a Nineveh we brush aside as quickly as Jonah does. When God calls Jonah eastward, Jonah goes as far as humanly possible westward. Of all things he goes on a boat. Israelites were not seafaring people. Jonah probably did not know how to swim and in Israelite culture the sea was used to describe chaos, danger and evil, where monsters dwell. Jonah also paid the fare for the ship. Commentators believe that during this time money was rare.

People are a little shocked when we tell them that we are “Missionaries” who don’t start any programs.  As servants of Christ we come beside individuals and see what their dreams are for their community. We work together on how we can support them.  

Like a significant number of people in the CRCNA, I spent time serving with Resonate Global Mission (then Christian Reformed World Missions) in Nigeria.

My husband Gil and I left as seminary interns in January 1998. We were among the last who lived and worked in a remote, rural village. My family left 19 years ago, but in my current role with Resonate, I had the opportunity to go back for a ministry strategy evaluation.