GOING TO BOLIVIA 7

Going To Bolivia 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5, 6

A BOLIVIAN MACEDONIAN CALL
In my last post I recounted my experience at a Tuesday clergy meeting at St Andrew's Cathedral where the national director, Rev Greg Blaxland, of the Anglican Church in Bolivia shared the needs of the fledgling work. He also made a passionate appeal to those present about the possibility of serving in Bolivia.

Was Greg Blaxland's appeal an open door? this was like an unexpected answer to prayer! Light had broken through the grey clouds of ambiguity which had bogged me down for the past year.

MICHELLE'S RESPONSE
I left the Cathedral and headed for home. Michelle, my wife and faithful friend, needed to brought into this discernment process. She would need time to assimilate this unexpected development.

As expected, Michelle looked dumbfounded as I shared my experience at the clergy meeting. She had already sensed that the Lord was going to move us but was not expecting something of this magnitude. We talked at great length about our lives and the future. The conversation flowed freely. She had many questions about Elijah’s well being and his education. She was interested in the details. I had none to offer except this overwhelming sense of the need to answer God’s call to serve somewhere in Latin America.

A SPECIAL PEACE
We did not even know where Bolivia was on the map! We took a short 1 hour break and continued to talk about the implications of a decision to move to Latin America. It was getting late, way past our normal bedtime.

We were both, lying on the bed, and wide awake – thinking, praying and meditating. At 2 am in the morning, Michelle, turned toward me in the bed, looked me in the eye and said with faith, Maybe God has called us to Bolivia. I will never forget her remark because it was made in humility, like the offering of the widow’s mite. The atmosphere in the bedroom suddenly changed. It was as if we had crossed some sort of a spiritual boundary. There was nothing more to say or do. The Lord’s hand was over us over us. The only thing left to do was to get some rest.

Just before I went to sleep…my mind alerted me to the next step: sharing with Bishop Moses Tay about this sense of calling to Bolivia. I needed to rest and not think too much about what to say to him or his reaction...A part of me was anxious about this inevitable encounter (read the next post to find out why).