All for the Kingdom

He whispered to me in the middle of a workday, in the middle of a greenhouse way up in the mountains of Quito, Ecuador. It was quiet. It was subtle. But it was there. 

I had been tending to tomato plants for hours. There was dirt caked all over my fingers and under my fingernails. Everyone around me was listening to their own music, and the silence allowed for me to get all up in my head. Why was I here? What was the point? Then came the whisper. 

All for the kingdom. 

A few days later I began to not feel well and I couldn’t go to ministry. The kindest, sweetest Ecuadorian doctor who came to see me and two others informed me that I have vertigo most likely from living at a high elevation. He said it again.

All for the kingdom. 

The very next day almost everyone here at Dunamis also got sick. We were all throwing up and having diarrhea and completely miserable. We found out that after two weeks of living here we had all gotten parasites. I was dizzy, nauseous, and very homesick. 

But it’s all for the kingdom. 

The rest of my squad began to feel better after a few days, but I didn’t. After almost a week of being sick, the decision was finally made for me to go to the hospital. I was in the emergency room for a solid few hours while they pumped all kinds of fluids in me through an IV. I felt alone and cold and scared. 

All for the kingdom, love. 

I think sometimes, from the outside looking in, people tend to romanticize the world race. You get to travel, live abroad, learn another language, and serve people. You get to see new places and eat new foods and meet all kinds of new people. All of these things are true, but there is another side to the race that I feel isn’t talked about enough. There is a side that requires grit, determination, and a whole lot of Jesus. 

Welcome to honesty hour. 

Some days are long and hard. Some days are overwhelming. Some days you look around and wonder why in the world you just woke up on another continent away from your family and everything you find comfort in. Some days you cry because you accidentally put toilet paper in the toilet. Some days you’re so homesick that you would do anything to fight with your siblings because at least you talk to them enough to have something to fight over. 

And yet sweet, sweet Jesus always manages to stop me dead in my tracks by reminding me that somehow this is all for His kingdom. 

I find it funny, the way that this is something the Lord whispers to me. In my opinion, that is something that should be lifted high on a banner and shouted for the whole world to hear. After all, what would my life look like if I did everything as if it was ALL for the glory of the Lord? Who am I if the things I’m doing aren’t all for the kingdom? 

Why are we living our lives as if even the tiniest of things aren’t being used to build His kingdom, brick by brick? 

I don’t know about you, but I want to live in a world where somehow getting a parasite in Ecuador can be used for the kingdom. I want to live in a world where the bad days matter, where the hard things still count, because the Lord is all His abilities that we don’t even understand is somehow using all of it to glorify Him and build His kingdom. It gives us the strength to endure. It gives us purpose for the pain. 

All for the kingdom, my friends. 

Love from Ecuador, 

Abby <3