Qualifying the Called

Pete and I watched a beautiful movie called “The Inn of the Sixth Happiness” with Ingrid Bergman.  She plays an English woman who feels called to be a missionary in China.  She is turned down by the missionary agency as being “unqualified.”  She is also told by many wise and learned people that she should not go.  Yet, despite that, she goes at her own expense.  The story is a beautiful love story between a woman and the people of China.

I couldn't help but resonate, as some very wise people urged me not to go to Cameroon, and I am hardly very qualified.  But I have often heard that “God doesn't call the qualified, but qualifies the called.”  Somehow, God called our family to Cameroon and He is equipping us with all that we need (and many extras as well).

I bought a book at the market on teaching ICT (Information Communication and Technologies) and actually had quite a nice morning at the school.  I am beginning to appreciate why the curriculum includes drums, xylophones, etc. and spends so much time covering “traditional” communication methods.  It is a lovely way to honor the traditions here (many still used) while moving forward into the more modern technologies.  We would be wise to remember that newer doesn't always mean better.  After all, the whistles still work well on a football field.  For all the time saving devices we have in the US, we are always in a hurry.  Here, the pace is much slower—there seems to always be time to stop and “greet” one another.

On November 2nd, Pete and I are giving a talk on the Year of Faith to the staff of a facility for severely disabled children.  I am eager to tour the facility and perhaps offer to help there on some regular basis.

Bye for now,

Joy