It was still early in the morning when I climbed into my car and buckled my seatbelt, the backseat full of suitcases, boxes, and bags. The sun was shining brightly and I cranked up the air-conditioning to combat the end-of-summer Iowa heat. I took a deep breath as I pulled out of the driveway. This wasn’t just any road trip; this was the beginning of an entirely new season of my life.

I was leaving the comfort of home for a new adventure—serving as a semester missionary in the inner city. I was joining missionaries to serve and witness to a community impacted by poverty. My emotions ran high, made up of nervousness and excitement.

As I drove off that day, I didn’t know what to expect on the field. I had an abstract understanding of the concept of missions, but what that meant for everyday life was a mystery to me. Part of me assumed doing missions equaled constant superspiritual moments. What I found when I got there, however, was a bit different from what I expected.

The struggles Ken and Lygia Lovelace face on a daily basis have not ceased, and others have been added. Their adopted twin daughters complained for months about unusual feelings in their chests. Then seizures began. Through extensive testing, they learned both girls had sudden arrhythmic death syndrome. They are trying now to accept the fact that their girls’ hearts could stop any time. The twins are 12 years old.

Fourteen-year-old Elijah continues to struggle with heart problems of his own related to the diseases that he has. He has more bedridden days than up-and-at’em days. His family remains thankful for the good days he does have.

On the church front, the Lovelaces continue to serve the Lord and began a new Sunday morning Bible study in May. Ask God to use the study to serve the people well and grow them up in Him.

The Lovelaces appreciate your prayers. Given the multiple illnesses of their children, prayer is the greatest resource they have. Pray they would have the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual strength they need to forge ahead in the face of nearly insurmountable health problems in their family.

Close your eyes and imagine a scene unfolding in front of you—a scene in which you play the starring role. You and your family have left your home country with high hopes of building a better life. Hunger, scarcity of all kinds, poor living conditions, and perhaps even persecution were part of daily life.

But a miracle happened and you were permitted to immigrate to the United States. You find yourself in the middle of an environment totally unlike your home country. You have been helped to find a small apartment and given an allowance for a limited time. You don’t know English. How will you find a job, and will your allowance end too soon? Sending your children to school is another worry; you picture them alone and afraid.

Having left your extended family and all your friends, you gather your small family around you and attempt to encourage yourself and them with the hope that life will be better in this new country.

Now, open your eyes and thank God for the freedoms, the provisions, and even the luxuries that you enjoy every day. This imagined scenario is a reality for some people in your community. How can you and your missions group help?

Writing comes naturally to me. Pen on paper or fingers on the keyboard, when an idea comes to mind and I’m fleshing out an article or blog post, I’m in the zone.

What I’m learning the longer I follow God though is that He is one storyteller I will never be able to match. Try as I might to write my own story, in reality, God continually asks me to give Him the pen instead. While most days it’s hard, when I remember what He’s done, I can’t help but surrender.

I think back on how this 4-year journey that began with me coming to South Asia as a college student with a God-given desire to go overseas is ending with me leaving as an adult with a hunger to tell the gospel to anyone who has 2 ears and will listen.

God calls all of us to step out in faith and do new things so that the gospel would multiply to every nation, tribe, and language. Whether it’s across the street or across the world, the gospel is the greatest story ever told that so many have yet to hear.