Incredible Works | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: Incredible Works | Previous Challenge Entry
By Marlene Custer
10/16/24
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Several years ago my husband and I were preparing to go to a small island in the Pacific Ocean on a mission assignment. This was going to be different for me because on our previous assignments my teaching experience was used. This time my husband’s accounting background was the priority. He would be in charge of the organization’s Business Office for a group of islands.

While I was eagerly looking forward to the adventure, I wondered what I would have to contribute. Maybe you have wondered what you have to offer in following the Great Commission. Repeatedly, God has instructed His people to “Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples.” (1 Chronicles 16:24 NIV and Psalm 96:3 NIV)
The Great Commission in Matthew 28:19 is surely for all followers of Jesus.

I remember praying that God would guide me in doing whatever He wanted me to do—“even if it was just to encourage those we would be working with”.

Once we arrived I was certainly not idle. Among the tasks I was involved in was language classes for me to learn more of the trade language, and also to teach the teacher more English. I led Staff Devotions for several weeks, collated Bible study booklets and songbooks in the national language, shopped at local markets and provided refreshments for visiting work teams and a regional convention. I helped with cleaning visitor accommodations, organized storage cabinets, and home-schooling materials. There were meals to prepare for visitors and team members on respite. When the island was ravished by a hurricane, I was involved in the clean-up. I never lacked for something to do!

For years we had wanted the opportunity to see a Bible Dedication. That dream was fulfilled. What an experience to see people get God’s Word in their own language for the first time!

When the time came for us to return home, it was with mixed feelings. We had grown to love our fellow workers and the Nationals. As we said our good-byes, the wife of one of the newer staff members came to me, and with tears in her eyes, she thanked me for coming. Then she said, “I don’t know what I would have done if not for you. I don’t think I would have made it.”

I may not have personally declared His marvelous deeds to the Nationals of this island country, but it makes my heart sing that I was able to encourage and enable someone that did speak the language, to fulfill that mandate. The end result is the same!

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