Comfort Creatures

by Teri Spray

“How can I possibly survive a trip overseas? I can’t even take a 10 hour car ride without having a sore back and headache from sitting too long!” These thoughts and more raced through my mind in September of 2003 as God drew me to Himself and showed me that I would be going with my husband to explore India with a pastoral team.

My fears and frustrations mounted as I continued to explain to God night after night that I just wasn’t cut out for this missionary stuff and He’d better find someone else more suitable. “But I NEED my pillow top mattress!” I whimpered to myself. Still, everyday in every way the Lord continued to draw me closer and closer to traveling through India.

“But God,” I sputtered, “they don’t even use toilet tissue!” ...And then there was the classic excuse, “I don’t have a thing (Indian) to wear!” Slowly but surely the Father gently readjusted my focus as well as my priorities. Each day, with the help of our friends and church family, we walked nearer and nearer to the other side of the world.

I began to see the promises of God come alive in front of my face each day. First, I saw God’s provision. As the finances would come sacrificially from the most unexpected sources, we wept grateful tears. Verse after verse would pop out at me from Christian media and my Bible. Truly God has a heart for the entire world and our comforts here in America are not a priority in His awesome kingdom.

I would find myself flinching as I read the apostle Paul’s accounts of suffering for the cause of Christ. Eventually it became clear to me, that the purposes of God far exceed the priorities of my comfortable life. As I allowed God to lovingly rearrange my priorities, a joy and delight emerged. A sense of purpose began to burn inside of me and a freedom to go-where-ever-do-whatever began to grow.

I learned how to become more self-reliant for my personal needs, such as carrying tissues in my purse for the rest room. I learned how to protect my hands from unclean water. Wash twice. Once with water, then apply Antibacterial Gel. I packed a soft pillow and clean sheets. I also included my own first aid kit of vitamins and medicines.

Meanwhile, my loving Father was building in my heart a love for a people whom I had never met. Eventually, God brought would bring us into a village to lay hands and pray for people who had never been touched by Westerners. Perhaps they had never even been touched by anyone outside of their village. These precious people are called “Untouchable” by their Hindu society. They call themselves the Dalit (downtrodden).

Was it worth my physical discomfort to bring a life-changing touch to the lives of the villagers? ABSOLUTELY! Yes, the bus ride was bumpy, but God’s Grace was there with us, and it didn’t hurt. Yes, the plane ride was long, but God’s grace helped me to sleep through much of the flight. Yes, the beds were very hard, but sleep came anyway. Yes, India is a dark, confused country, but the light shines brighter in the eyes of the believers against the dark background. They are like diamonds glowing upon black velvet.

As I have now journeyed twice into the chaos of India, I am amazed at how I am comfort- focused here in America. One night in Bangalore, we were in a torrential rainstorm. This rain was so heavy one of our party was stuck in a flooded rickshaw for over two hours. Our quiet Indian companion, Nataraj, voluntarily went out into the deluge on his motorcycle to buy pizza for a couple of members of our team who were too tired to join us for dinner at the restaurant.

The next day I asked Nataraj how he fared in the terrible storm. His answer changed my life. He explained to me, “I am fine. It was no problem. You see, I was raised in a very poor village by a very poor family. God has used my hardships as a child to help me in ministry today. Other people are bothered by things which do not bother me. If the weather is bad, it is no problem, because I have been out in worse. If a meal is missing or late, it is no problem because I learned to live with hunger. God has used these things to help me to help others.” Nataraj is one of my favorite people because he epitomizes a servant leader. He humbly accompanied our team and hardly said a word for the first three days of our journey. He simply directed our drivers, stayed with us at our accommodations and sat with us at meals. As he began to open up to us, we learned that his ministry is the Director of Operation Mobilisation for the entire state of Karnataka!

Ever since my conversation with Nataraj, I have pondered the questions, “Do we baby ourselves too much America? Do we pamper our children and prevent them from being useful to God?” I am not suggesting to begin putting our young ones out into the rain or limiting their food rations. However, I am considering training our grandchildren to be overcomers to the challenges instead of merely avoiding the battles. As one missionary wrote, “Do not ask God to remove you from the battles but to empower you to have victory in them.”

As we were serving the Lord in India, so many things fell away and simply didn’t matter anymore. If meals were late, it was okay. If the food was unpalatable, we could eat a food bar instead. If the bed was hard, we’d sleep sooner or later anyway. If traffic was crazy, we prayed for our driver, if the road was bumpy, we thanked God we were riding, not walking. For two weeks we lived with 15 people who reacted to each circumstance in the same manner. Our leader told others this group was his best team ever.

As I returned from our second journey to India, I saw how home education is much like a mission adventure. We do not choose a comfortable path when we home educate our children. We choose a path “less traveled by” as poet Robert Frost would say. The comfortable road appears to be well-paved practical and simple, but seldom has the same intriguing curves, pristine forests and wildlife along the way. We can safely call home schooling our mission field.

I don’t believe home schooling is supposed to be a comfortable choice for most of us, but rather a choice of obedience. I have no doubt that when God called you to home educate your children, He also promised to be faithful to see you through. He will provide the funds and guidance to your home school journey just as he provided for us on our overseas adventures.

God is going to take you through your battles, not always around them. You may be battling sickness, time constraints, organizational nightmares, misunderstandings and persecutions from your family and friends. You may be battling your own fears of failure and inadequacy. Keep up the good fight. Even when the battle rages, you are becoming stronger in your faith and foundations.

We are privileged to be your tour guides along the path of your home school journey. You will be wise to learn to take care of your personal needs as I did. Give yourself enough time for record keeping, lesson planning and spiritual growth. Most of all, let us embrace the life-changing opportunity we have to teach our own children in our own homes the things we most want them to know. Let us remove ourselves from seeking our own comforts and continue on the rugged path God has laid for us so that we might finish our race well.