Zach speaking at NCC Uprising, youth group.
I have been a “full-time missionary” for close to 14 years, which is absolutely crazy to consider! Fourteen years is a long time. It makes me feel a bit old as I type it and ponder those 14 years, close to 12 of them have been spent in Prague, the other two spent in Xenia, OH.
As I ponder those 14 years there are so many things to be thankful for and stop and praise God for. That is not a small amount of time and I can’t begin to imagine how many prayers have been prayed, how many dollars have been given and how much people, maybe including you, have sacrificed to be part of what God has, is and will be doing in Prague, Czech, Europe and beyond! I am moved to shout and sing out loud THANK YOU TO EACH OF YOU WHO HAVE BEEN PART OF THIS AND WHO WILL BE PART OF THIS!
As we have been in Washington DC this week, we have been very blessed. We have seen God’s generosity through many people here. It’s moving and I’m speechless as I think about it all. In the midst of this all, something that I have been carrying around for 14 or so years stood out to me. Somewhere in the midst of this “career” of mine and the support raising I, and we, have done for all these years I started carrying around a “I am a burden” mindset.
What do I mean by “I am a burden” mindset? That’s a good question that I’m still trying to unpack, but somewhere in those 14 years, while I would write people, call people and try to create avenues to see the support we need raised, I started to believe that as missionaries that need to raise support, that we are not a blessing to people, but a burden to them. That when they see my name in their inbox or in their caller ID, they say something like, “Oh it’s that Zach guy again, he needs money.” This might be true, but I don’t believe it is the overwhelming response of people. However, in the midst of interactions, some how, some way I started to believe this.
Then God brought us here to DC and Míša and I have had this blown up this week. We have had people remind us that we are a blessing and not a burden. It has been freeing for us. It also has helped us to see that we aren’t trying to “sell” ourselves or what we do, but we are honestly giving people an opportunity to be part of what God is doing to woo people to Himself through our presence and work in Prague and beyond.
We are excited to see how God will surprise us the rest of our trip and we are actually slightly giddy with anticipation to see how He will show up. Of course, we will have those “burden moments,” but in those moments we will preach these words to ourselves: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” (Romans 10:15) Once again, THANK YOU to all of you who have been part of this crazy adventure in some way! You are all amazing. Please pray for us, as we are trusting God to once again show up and bless us, so that we can be a blessing to people in Prague! If you would like to be part of it, please CLICK HERE to help. THANK YOU!
Jon and his wife, Anne Marie, who put together an amazing week, to allow and show us we are a blessing not a burden.