August 28, 2014
In my recent trip to the United States it became glaringly clear that the Prince family are LITERALLY the WORST MISSIONARIES in the world. We are starting a list to document it because it is just comical.
We take simple tasks and make them difficult. We are embarrassingly complicated and disastrous. We are late, disorganized, and clumsily stumble into every situation on our path.
FOR EXAMPLE. In July Kieren and I went to the USA to speak at two weeks of a youth camp and we almost DIDN’T MAKE IT THERE because we never thought to CHECK THE EXPIRATION OF KIEREN’S PASSPORT. We showed up at the airport like a group of dopes and couldn’t board the plane because of her. Sweet faced little Kieren just sat there innocently and completely oblivious as we discussed her fate. Luckily the American Embassy in South Africa was super gracious to us the next day and quickly made us an emergency passport for us and MANY MANY dollars later we had new plane tickets and were on our way. MANY DOLLARS and MANY TEARS later. WHY?? Normal people would have checked her passport for the date of its expiration. Normal MISSIONARIES (who often *travel*) would have checked her passport for the date of its expiration. BUT NO. WE are the WORST MISSIONARIES possible and so we didn’t check and almost didn’t make it out of Africa…
We made it to camp but that story is a perfect illustration for our entire lives as missionaries. We get by, but it’s clumsy and disorganized and a bit disastrous. it’s by the skin of our teeth. EVERY TIME.
We are seriously the WORRSSTT…
We sing it all the time to ourselves like this:
I didn’t know missionaries growing up so I had no idea what this life would look like, but I definitely didn’t think it would be this… ummm… chaotic??
We are seriously the most incompetent missionaries to walk into South Africa and this is a humbling truth that God reminds us of daily. I honestly have NO IDEA how we make this life work, and some days it is miraculous that we get out of the house at all. However, we are here not for our own glory but for the GLORY OF GOD and so we live through Him completely.
“God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.” -1 Corinthians 1:28-29
Somehow in the midst of our inadequacy God continues to show up because we SHOW UP and He uses us. He uses us, He blesses us, He speaks through us, and He does a work IN us. It’s crazy and I only believe it because I am living it.
God uses us ALL for His glory, even the WORST of us. Maybe that is partly the point. He uses the bottom of the barrel to prove to the world that the miracles we see have NOTHING to do with us and EVERYTHING to do with Him.