This Is My Story

Kathy Bousquet

Description

They give up everything and live in foreign, often lonely, sometimes hostile places. All for the Gospel! The life of a missionary can be a little mysterious to those who have never been one or seen one in their domain. But as you read their stories, you will come to know them in their deepest place—as they are—quite like you and me. Only, like Abraham, ‘who went out not knowing,’ this huge step of obedience has left their lives with never a dull moment. Be prepared for a life-changing experience as you read about and study the lives of these men and women who themselves are changing lives.

Informations

• Publié par: Castle Quay Books
• Date de parution: 11 mars 2008
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781894860574
• Langue: English

Extrait

This Is My Story: Missions Stories From the Frontlines
Copyright ©2008 Kathy Bousquet
All rights reserved
Printed in Canada
International Standard Book Number: 978-1-894860-40-6 (paperback edition)
International Standard Book Number: 978-1-894860-57-4 (electronic edition)
Published by:
Castle Quay Books
1307 Wharf Street, Pickering, Ontario, L1W 1A5
Tel: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]
www.castlequaybooks.com
Compiled and copy edited by Kathy Bousquet
Cover photos by Stephen Chaloner, Cavell Rowsell and PAOC Archives
Cover design by Essence Publishing
Printed at Essence Publishing, Belleville, Ontario
This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission of the publishers.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are from the New King James Version of the Bible. Thomas Nelson Publishers ©1984, 1982, 1980, 1979
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Bousquet, Kathy, 1944-
This is my story : missions stories from the frontlines / Kathy Bousquet. -- Rev.
ed.
ISBN 978-1-894860-40-6
1. Pentecostal churches--Missions--History. 2. Pentecostal Assemblies of
Canada--Missions--History. 3. Missionaries--Biography. I. Title.
BV2565.B68 2008 266'.9940922 C2008-900739-5
Prayers
The Lord gave the Word; Great was the company of those who proclaimed it.
Psalm 68:11


Prayer of Sir Francis Drake
Disturb us, Lord, when we are too
well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance
of things we possess,
We have lost our thirst for the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision of the new
Heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask You to push back the horizons of
our hopes;
And to push into the future in strength,
courage, hope, and love.
Acknowledegements
Grateful thanks to all who contributed their stories. You are God’s faithful heroes, His excellent ones, in whom He delights! We highly esteem you.
Special thanks to Marilyn Stroud, PAOC Archives , for her contributions and patient assistance.
Foreword
I grew up listening to stories. Our house in Kenya was a place where new missionaries landed and veterans from remote places came for respite and a chance to get new supplies of food and other necessities. It was always a busy place, and since there was no TV, people talked, laughed and told stories. Later, as an adult missionary myself, our own home became a gathering place, a safe haven in the midst of many storms—a place to share stories.
Missionaries love to tell their stories. I remember hearing about elephants knocking down tents, spears thrown with intent that just missed people’s heads, vehicles stuck in the mud for hours, robberies during which God miraculously protected His servants and midnight escapes from countries experiencing civil war or military coups.
Then there were heartfelt stories about patience in the midst of turmoil, perseverance when facing opposition, revivals in which many people found the love of Jesus and miracles that left us wonder-struck by God’s greatness; stories about the gracious gift of life that transformed the lives of thousands of people who became followers of Jesus. All of them were part of God’s story.
God pursues all people—every language group, every tribe and every nation—with His love. This is not just a doctrine, it is the mission of a very personal God who so loved the world that He gave His own Son . But God’s story is always told through the lives of real people in real places. In this book are many stories from missionaries, shared with us so that we can give glory to God and rejoice with the angels that the Name of Jesus is being proclaimed.
These missionaries wouldn’t be satisfied if their stories didn’t point away from themselves and toward His story. That’s just who they are. It is always about God and His love and greatness.
These stories are told by simple people whose hearts long to be used by God. They have braved new worlds and cultures to bring life-transforming hope to everyone, everywhere, by every means. While there are moments of great adventure and of joy, it must also be noted that missionary life is often not an easy life. Living the life of a Spirit-filled, Jesus look-a-like, in the presence of people outside the family of faith is very demanding. These are people who go and live among the poor and the needy; they dwell among those who have not yet found the love of Jesus and may even be very hostile to the good news. Yet they are people who heard and responded. Pray for them! Support them! Love them!
...I heard the voice of the Lord saying:
“Whom shall I send,
And who will go for us?”
Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”
(Isaiah 6:8b)
• Murray Cornelius, Assistant Superintendent, International Missions Department, PAOC
Introduction
They have stories to tell! They are men and women who took a step of faith and set out on a journey not knowing what was ahead of them, but just knowing that they had to go. Some of them heard “a still small voice.” Others were broken by the conditions of tremendously needy people or had a love placed in their hearts by God for a particular country. Many have God-given gifts and talents and a desire to use them to the greatest advantage. Some went willingly and joyfully, scarcely able to wait to get there; others went hesitantly, perhaps even fearfully. Some look back and are not even sure how they got there!
For many represented in this book, the missionary journey has ended. They have “retired” from missions, or perhaps gone on to their eternal reward, but they have left behind stories—a tremendous legacy with which to inspire us.
Missionaries are people like you and me; ordinary people, filled with God. One day they may feel tremendously confident, exclaiming, “Lord, thank You for allowing me to be here!” Other days, they may sink into a pit of depression and groan, “Lord, what am I doing here?” Often they may be overwhelmed with weakness, despairing over their apparent impotency in meeting the needs around them. But still—they went.
And now they are telling their stories. Not to show how spiritual they are—they would be the first to say that most of the time they are not—but to show who they are and what they do. Some have been intensely vulnerable in their sharing, exposing the depths of their hearts. Some have wanted you to view, through their eyes, the country and the culture in which they live. Others have desired to show you the brokenness in which many people in this world live—people they come in contact with every day. Many tell triumphant stories of transformed lives. And they all want you to see that they, just like you, are on a spiritual journey—one that is not yet complete.
So why should you read this book? Perhaps the question should be, why should you not read this book? Don’t read this book if you are content in your walk with the Lord—because you will be challenged to move to a new level in Him. You may be ruined with a new passion to see God’s Kingdom fulfilled on earth.
But if you’re convinced that you have been chosen by God to live in this moment in history for such a time as this, then read on. You will soon recognize that it is not so much about the miracles; it’s about a life sold out for God. It’s not so much about working in a country, with a project or a people; it’s the importance of personal obedience. It’s not who we are, so much as who we are becoming.
Read, not between the lines, but in the Spirit. Read as if this book is a personal directive from the Holy Spirit to you; and let your response be, “Lord, what are You saying to me ?”
These are their stories. As you read them, will you ask, “Lord, what’s my story? How is it being written? Is it one that is glorifying You; is it one flowing from the very self-sacrificing of my life?”
Please take time to read the Scriptures placed in advance of the stories. The Word is alive and powerful. It reveals our thoughts and the intent of our hearts—so that we might be challenged and changed (Hebrews 4:12).
Personalize the concluding prayers, and use the reflective pages at the end of each theme as a catalyst to converse with the Lord. Take time to express to Him whatever is on your heart. And then listen for what He might say to you. It will probably be an opportunity to obey, so that you, too, can say,
I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. (Acts 26:19)
• Kathy Bousquet ( [e-mail] )
With All My Heart
For all the links in the chain,
O Lord my God,
That brought me to the story of the gospel;
I thank you, Father, with all my heart.
For Christ Himself, Author and Finisher of our faith;
For Christ who is Himself
The good news for all mankind;
I thank you, Father, with all my heart.
For saints and martyrs, teachers and evangelists,
For that apostolic company, and for Paul
Whose words I read today;
I thank you, Father, with all my heart.
And so it goes on; and always at a price.
In toil and labour, in pain and blood:
The good news spreads from place to place,
Generatio