“You would love it here,” Mat said to me on our evening phone call.
He had been teaching in Hawassa for two weeks now and was standing on the balcony overlooking the busy night streets.
“Hmm. Ok.” I answered coldly thinking, Yeah…probably not.
He knew I really wouldn’t love it. Been there. Done that. Hardest time of my life. No thanks.
Mat has always been a passionate dreamer and adventurer—I love that about him. Well, I guess at least until it affects my life. As our years together progressed I have grown tired. I like things grounded and settled. It’s hard to raise kids with structure and routine when everything keeps changing.
When Mat returned from that trip to Ethiopia he didn’t press me about it. He enjoyed his time there, loved teaching, and was refreshed to have been with the African people again.
Fast forward to January when he went back for a teaching trip in Ambo.
“You have to meet our national partner and his wife! You would love them,” was the line in his email.
No, I felt firmly. I don’t want to meet them! I was caught off guard by my knee-jerk reaction.
I knew what meeting them meant. I never replied to that email. While he was away that black cloud hung over me. I really wasn’t interested in what he might suggest when he came back.
Sure enough, at home, he brought up living there.
“I think we need to seriously consider and pray about moving to Ethiopia.”
I had no response. This time he wasn’t just feeling out the waters. My heart wasn’t ready to grieve all that it would cost us. We made this sacrifice once before. But back then we were young and largely unattached to life around us. Our plan had always been to ‘go’ so we kept everything else at arm’s length.
This time around, every relationship is tighter, our connections are stronger, our involvement is deeper. The sacrifices this time would not just be ours but shared with five beautiful children.
Still, I knew he was right. I felt like Mary, pondering “these things” in her heart.
Despite my lack of desire to abandon all that I love for ministry and adventure in a foreign land, the truth is, the kindness of the Holy Spirit had gently been prodding me for quite some time—ever since Mat started with TLI years ago.
We had this quaint little plan. After school, Mat would be full-time and go on adventures around the world for the sake of the gospel. And I could risk nothing, respectfully raising my kids in stability and comfort. Deep down I knew when that time came, it would never be a reality. I just didn’t want to face it.
Recently, at a missions conference, I couldn’t help but feel, that’s supposed to be us. The Holy Spirit kept confronting me as we read missionary biographies and prayed for people groups as part of our homeschool curriculum. I was left wondering, What are we doing here? What is going to last for eternity?
One missionary really shook me. As he stepped out in radical ways, God greatly blessed his ministry. But his wife questioned his every decision, “Are you sure?” she asked.
I thought back to Eden, “Did God really say?”
Lord, is that me? Don’t let that be me.
Everyone sees it, everyone knows it—Mat Adams is not made to do the daily grind. He comes alive when he is teaching, preaching, and eating weird food in foreign circumstances that would make just about any other person uncomfortable.
As a wife, I am in a unique position to help the man God has given me. So why, as his wife, would I resist God’s plan? Wouldn’t it be best for our whole family to have a husband and dad flourishing where God called us to be?
Yet, sane people don’t choose to live in developing-world conditions with zero access to safe hospitals, or give up deep relationships with their best friends, or take their five kids away from their grandparents. The cost could be really high.
“Is Jesus worth it?” That’s the question. Is he worth the cost we will pay with our finances, our kids, our lives?
He is. We have no other reason. What more could I want for my husband? For me? For my kids? What can we do that will last for eternity?
So, we are moving to Ethiopia. Well, at least we are beginning the process (James 4:15).
As we continue to seek the Lord through all of this, he has shown me that every good gift is from him (James 1:17). Everything I give up that breaks my heart was only ever a comfort given by the comforter himself (2 Cor 1:3–4). My love and my life is for him and not for this world (Matt 10:37-39). Will I let his gifts—my parents, my friendships, my safety—keep me from obeying his word?
Lord, may our actions truly match our convictions,
Miranda
Dear Friends,
I trust you enjoyed hearing Miranda’s perspective for a change. I did.
Please pray for us as we discern the wise and good path for our family (Prov 16:9).
VISION & TEACHING TRIPS
1) Vision Trip: Miranda and I will be leaving for Ethiopia together on May 24th—just over a week! I am super excited for Miranda to finally step foot on African soil again, 8 years after leaving Tanzania. We are going on our first vision trip to survey the land and get a sense of what living there might look like.
2) Teaching Trips: I will be teaching at two sites in Ethiopia—Shasamane and Ambo (May 30–Jun 10) We will be teaching how to preach from apocalyptic literature, ie. the Book of Revelation. That oughta make for exciting class discussions! 🙂
Thank you for being a part of our lives and supporting us as we live out God’s calling to make disciples of all nations by teaching them to obey all that Christ commanded.
Next month, I plan to share details about our future plans and ways you can participate in sending us out in a manner worthy of the gospel.
To the Glory of God,
Christ’s body has many members. Each has a role to play in the kingdom. Thank you for sending us well!
Pray for Us
- Miranda and I are leaving for Ethiopia to take a vision trip to see what it practically means to live there. We’ll be meeting with a missionary or two, local pastors, visiting the Shasamane site, and scouting the land. Pray that we are able to gather helpful info and get a grasp of the realities of life on the ground there.
- Pray for my teaching trips the next week in Shasamane and Ambo. Pray for the teachers, some it’s their first trip with us. We’ll be teaching the book of Revelation so that will be sweet! Pray that the pastors are not distracted by the prophetic nature and symbolism of the book, but rather focus on its overall message: Jesus wins! So, believers, endure to the end.
- Pray that the training would take root in the students’ hearts and explode into faithful Bible-based preaching which would lead to transformed lives in the pews.
- Pray for my semester to end well. That I would prioritize appropriately. I only have two weeks left with only a couple of papers to write and final exams.
- Pray for Miranda and the kids over these next two weeks as she finishes up teaching at our homeschool co-op and that the kids would finish their school work before our trip. Also, that they’d do well with the grandparents and obey while we are gone, and not miss us too bad.
