Beautiful Feet

“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news”(Romans 10:15)!

Tears welled up in my eyes Sunday morning and the lump in my throat thickened as I watched eleven missionary families march into our church sanctuary bearing the flag of their mission country during slides of their field work.

I was overwhelmed with the beauty of their sacrifice, with the beauty of their humble countenance, and with the beauty of the spirit in them that for the “joy set before them,” they have endured so many things to bring the hope and freedom of the gospel to the least among people around the world.

This is the first Missions Conference (as a missionary participant) for my friend Marge who a year ago this time was diagnosed (twice), then healed of throat cancer. Now a year later, she and her family have been called to Costa Rica, accepted by a mission board, and are raising support for ministry to homeless and destitute Nicaraguan refugees – the least among the people of Costa Rica.

How beautiful her heart, with all its passion and all its pain, is to me. How beautiful her love for her family and her love for those unloved people.

At the Ladies Missionary Luncheon today, I met some of the dear women who labor in difficult locations across the globe to bring food, education, and the love of Jesus to tribes in third world countries or Eurasian countries impoverished by years of communist rule.

For an ice-breaker, I asked them to share the most unusual food item they had ever eaten (I was the emcee for the luncheon). Wasp larvae, eels, sheep heads, intestines of various animals, a fish stomach, fried termites and rats were among those found on the “menus.”

For many the challenge of finding and storing uncontaminated edible food is a daily one. For others, the challenge was keeping up with the laundry when water and power are not always available, even if they did own a small clothes washer (dryers are a luxury).

I learned that ironing your clothes is not only a matter of neatness, but also a matter of health—it reduces the number of invisible bugs that can make their home in your underwear!

I am reflecting on so many things as I write this: gratitude for what I have, awe for these beautiful ladies, and a new wonder about living spiritually in the everyday.