About the Author of this Week's Epiphany Testimony...
My name is Abigail and my husband and I are long-term workers, in transition from one country in the Middle East to another. We have a heart for unreached Muslims to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ, put their faith in Him, be discipled, and begin meeting together.
Abigail’s Reflections This Epiphany…
This past year has been a joyful and full year. It has also been a year of change, transition, and loss.
Even as God has answered prayers, led in clear ways, and shown His faithfulness and provision to me in fresh ways, there has also been considerable waiting, letting go, and living in the unknown.
Last Epiphany, my now husband proposed, and I said yes. My heart was filled with joy and hopeful feelings of expectation for our future together. This began a season of closing things down and working to finish well in my field of service in the Middle East. Bittersweet. Eleven years of praying for, loving, pursuing, and ministering to a people group that I call the “Pearls” wrapped up within a few months in order to make room for another unreached people. As sure as I am that this is the Lord’s will, and even as excited as I am for this new venture with my now husband, there is a loss and a grieving. Our God is a God who shines light in the darkness— to the lost world, yes, but also in our experiences. Also, in our hearts, He shines light, exposing areas of darkness, and areas of pain. He sees us and knows us and enters in. He sits with us. A picture comes to my mind of the sun slowly melting away the frost on a clear, winter day. Similarly, His presence with me at this moment feels like it is thawing out a part of my heart, helping me to look forward in hope.
The “Highlanders,” as we call the people that we are going to, have also experienced a lot of loss. They call themselves the people who “have no friends but the mountains.” I wonder if God might use my experience of loss and transition to help me understand the Highlanders better. If nothing else, I feel a deeper compassion for them and a deeper desire for them to experience the healing light of Christ.
Blessed be the Lord.
Abi