Why Afghanistan?

I remember a time, not so long ago, when I wanted to be a missionary to China. I was obsessed with anything Chinese and Gladys Aylward was my all-time hero (I still admire her a lot).

Now that I think back, I didn't have any sort of real desire to be a missionary. I wanted to go to China, but I never really thought about actually ministering there. It was just some sort of vague inclination underneath that outside part of me that said, "I want to go to China."

And then suddenly that was gone. Maybe the desire left when I learned that China isn't quite what it was like in Gladys Aylward's time, maybe not. For a very short while the thought of working with the Hispanic people (here in Oregon, or elsewhere) floated around in my mind, but that too was short lived. My attempt at learning Spanish was a flop (so don't ask me to try and speak Spanish. The only word I know is 'yes' 'girl' and 'boy' ;P)

The first time Afghanistan entered the picture was probably when I stumbled upon the Medical Teams International website. I remembered a field-trip to their Real. Life. exhibit and went to their website to find out a little bit more about them. I started reading about their different areas of medical work in different countries.

'Nicaragua, interesting. Romania, Moldova, El Salvador, Cambodia, Indonesia, Kenya, Niger... Afghanistan!

This was about a year or so ago, and I wrote in my journal how I could never go to Afghanistan! I was too scared, inadequate, and I just never could do it. After all, wasn't it dangerous? Wasn't it improbable that an insignificant Oregon country girl would be sent by God to a hostile country like Afghanistan, especially considering the fact that women aren't really treated with respect there.

I didn't give it a second thought for a while.

Don't ask me how or exactly when, but a couple months later, very suddenly, I had this huge, burning desire to go to Afghanistan. We're talking about a consuming desire.

Maybe it was when I learned that Afghanistan is (what) the 3rd poorest country in the world, that there are 19 physicians for every 100,000 people, that the life expectancy is 46 years...

Who knows! I don't.

The usual response when somebody hears about this crazy 'idea' of mine is, "Oh, really?" "It's a kind of dangerous right now." "I don't think you could get in anyway." (Because I'm female. Because I'm blonde!!!) Or on the more confidential talks I have people tell me that God would never send a girl to a place like Afghanistan, that girls aren't supposed to leave their homes, that we shouldn't go to another country to witness if we aren't witnessing right where we are.

I beg to differ on all but the latter arguments.

Yes, we need to be witnessing right where we are, but even if we aren't maximizing the opportunity we have, that doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't go on a mission trip. Some people are called to serve outside of their homes and communities.

Someone might say, "But if you're not witnessing and sharing the gospel right where you are, what makes you think you can do it anywhere else?"

Good question. That may be true, but a mission trip is a trip where your whole design is to share the gospel, isn't it? Yes, we should be sharing, yes we should be lights, and, yes, our lives should be witnesses to the lost. When I think of witnessing, I think of passing out tracts and so forth, not just living Godly life as a living witness. That's one thing I can do, by God's grace, even if I don't go to town a lot and have a whole lot of opportunities to share.

THIS IS LAME!

You don't get my point, do you?

I think the way I put that makes it sound like I am making excuses for not 'getting out there'.

I think what I'm trying to get at is that some people really are called by God to serve on the mission field, some are called to serve at home.

I can't quite say which of the two I am. I'm not positive. It's not for me to decide. It's not for anyone else to decide. Yes, it's dangerous, yes 6 Americans from a medical team were killed, yes going there could mean losing your life, but does that mean we should stay in the comfort and safety of home? "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain" (Phil. 1:21) I think we're seriously contradicting ourselves if we preach that God takes care of us no matter where we are, that His ways are not our ways and that we are to out unto all nations and yet we stay in our little shells of comfort, saying that such-and-such a thing is too dangerous and that God surely wouldn't ask us to do THAT.

"Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,

and your healing shall spring up speedily;

Your righteousness shall go before you;

The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;

You shall cry, and he will say, 'Here I am.'

If you take away the yoke from your midst,

the pointing of the finger, and the speaking of wickedness,

if you pour yourself out for the hungry

and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,

then shall your light rise as in the darkness

and your gloom be as noonday.

And the Lord will guide you continually

and satisfy your desire in scorched places

and make your bones strong;

and you shall be like a watered garden,

like a spring of water,

whose waters do not fail."

Isaiah 58: 8-11

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..."

Matthew 28:18-19