It wasn’t pleasant, but I appreciated it all the same. The gritty dust I felt on my teeth as I made my way home was a reminder that I’d been privileged that morning to visit families who lived along the exceedingly dusty streets of the Peruvian shantytown where we served with World Mission Prayer League. I really didn’t like the dirt that covered everything, hung in the air, and probably threatened our health, but I was glad to be “in the dirt” with those who hungered for the love of Jesus.
Similarly, in previous years, Pris and I served in a remote tribal region in the mountains of the northern Philippines, and I would arrive home after days of hiking from village to village covered in mud from head to foot. “Give me the mud and the blood,” I used to say. I just wanted to be with people and in the challenges of their daily lives.
Clean, orderly and business-like were not for me. I preferred the dirt. I was drawn to the grit and struggle and hope and hunger of the poor and the lost. The outdoors and the “different” far more inspired and compelled me than did what might be a more familiar environment contained within walls. The Lord’s current calling in my life, however, has brought me to something else. By his plan and for the purposes of his mission, he moved me from dirt to desk.
Many of my fellow workers in the home office of World Mission Prayer League have similar experiences. They previously served their callings in places like Bangladesh, Philippines and India. They, too, went from the “dirt” to the “desk.” Others, of course, God called from early on to serve his purposes not in our foreign fields, but at our Minneapolis headquarters.
The “desk,” dear friends, is a very important calling in the life and work of the Prayer League. Indeed, without some very dedicated and skilled people at the desks, we could have no one going and serving in the “dirt.” The “desk” is every bit as much a mission calling as is the “dirt,” and it is essential that we understand that. The Apostle Paul, very much a “going” missionary himself, acknowledged as much when he included administration in the gifts given to the church by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:28).
I find myself concerned at times that this is something many – perhaps most – North American Christians and congregations don’t fully appreciate. Do they value the “dirt” more than the “desk?” In truth, most of the workers who faithfully serve on our home staff are not as fully supported financially as are our global workers, and I wonder if they similarly receive less prayer support. I believe we rightly prioritize our prayers for those in the world who have yet to receive the Good News of Jesus. Likewise, we pray for God to send and sustain laborers in those harvest fields (Luke 10:2). It is entirely appropriate, however, and necessary, that we also pray for those mobilizing, serving and administrating those efforts. This, my praying friends, is my appeal to you today.
At the very center of the World Mission Prayer League is a confessed and shared acknowledgement that we are fully dependent on the sovereign, all-powerful and loving Father who has reconciled us to himself through his Son Jesus. For this reason, and within the unique framework and principles of our community, we neither directly solicit funding for the work we do nor guarantee workers a definite income, but rather we make our appeal to God and trust him for what he provides (see 2 Corinthians 9:8). Similarly, we do not budget for, seek out and hire “employees.” We understand that our staff is provided by those God calls into the work we share.
Sadly, when we lack laborers to send into the harvest fields, there is much harvesting work that simply does not get done, at least not yet. However, when we lack workers in our home office, there remains much work that simply must get done anyway. Accounts must be balanced, personnel matters must be handled, security concerns must be addressed, communications must be sent, and prayer must be mobilized. All these “musts” mean that some of our home staff are overworked. Others are nearing retirement. Currently we stand in great need of some workers at the desks of our Minneapolis headquarters. In particular, we have a critical need for a few skilled and servant-hearted workers called to serve with us in our business office. We also need some creative young people gifted in communications.
Will you pray for these? Will you pray for those “in the dirt,” but also for those “at the desks?” Please ask God to send us servants of his own choosing – skilled, ready and willing to serve our mission of praying for and going to the nations, and mobilizing others to do the same!
Honestly, the “desk” isn’t always pleasant: meetings, policy development, spreadsheets, publications, etc. But I appreciate what it all means! Do you? Will you? It really is God’s work getting done, and it’s very much worth praying for. On the other hand, maybe those things do sound pleasant and fulfilling to you. If so, give us a call. Maybe, just maybe, God is calling you.