“I had no idea it would cost this much?!”
Is it worth it?
Maybe you have had the experience of placing your purchase by the register and the clerk calls out the price, what you owe, what you need to pay to take the item home with you. Suddenly, you realize you were mistaken about the price-tag. With eyebrows raised, you exclaim, “How much?”
“I had no idea it would cost this much?!”
A few years ago, we thought it would be fun to send some cookies to our kids living and working across the pond, as we say, “holding our grandsons hostage” five thousand miles away. So Jill made some tasty cut out cookies in the shape of “Xs” and “Ox” to represent hugs and kisses from Oma & Opa, iced them and she boxed them perfectly to take them to the post office to ship them off while they were still fresh from the oven. Then came the verdict: it would cost…$35 to send these delightful momentos from Oma to her grandsons! What?! Maybe we should take a picture of the cookies …and us enjoying them and just send them the jpg & the $35! So that’s what we did.
When you open your hands to let your kids head across the globe for the sake of global work, just exactly how much does that cost? How much does it cost to simply let go?
“Pray to the Lord of the harvest…”(Luke 10:2) That’s the clue – it’s His mission, not ours. God invites us into His mission. But how much does it cost?
Jesus says, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways (deny yourself), take up your cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23 NLT)
When you think about one spiritual conversation with eternal consequences, how much does that cost? What’s it worth?
Someone has crunched the numbers and calculated the cost of Scripture translation. Our friend at PBT, Eunice Herchenroeder, reported, “We say that the cost of translating one verse of Scripture is $35…This, of course, includes only the costs that are measurable in dollars. It doesn’t include the less tangible emotional, relational, physical, and spiritual cost….”
Translating the whole Bible into a new language is a 30+ year project, starting with listening carefully, writing down the language, teaching trusted language informants to read this newly devised alphabet arranged into words and sentences and then …the long process of translating the Word of God for the sake of the Bibleless peoples of the world. Yes, every tribe, every tongue needs to hear Good News, understanding the will of The Father in their own tongue! Just how expensive is that?! Take a moment and watch this “Story of the Aruamu” to get an idea of the cost… And to answer the question, “Is it worth it?” take a couple of minutes to listen to Lindy Van Alstyne’s answer.
We asked some “parents of global workers” about the cost of the mission to them. Answers varied but be believe you too will see a pattern emerge:
TB wrote:
That’s a tough question and is going to take some thorough thought…My first instinct is the cost…the ability to have my daughter in the states to adventure with, have coffee/hiking dates, have Grammy day in person like I do with my other grands. But the blessings (for me) is being able to go over and be an integral part of their lives and ministry…things I would never have thought God would call me to. And it is a ministry to have loved those in ministry.
DSG wrote: The cost/grief of the loss of the dream of “what you thought your life would look like with your kids” at this point. My kids being involved in global missions was never on my radar. I am so glad though that God’s plans for their lives were so much better than I could have ever imagined!
JH wrote: Just noticing this morning how many places I have gone that would have never been on my radar, Middle East, France, South Africa, Turkey, Albania, and Morocco, due to my family and I subsequently going into missions. Oh and Michigan. I never would have gone to Michigan. (This is an Ohio State joke; we loved Michigan!).
GN wrote: My experience was how my faith grew. Yes, I missed my son, his wife, and eventually 4 grandchildren. I had my aunt and uncle as examples as Sam and Nancy left for the mission field soon after their marriage. Seeing the faith of the Cope’s helped me. Sam and Nancy helped me be comfortable with my family in Africa. We prayed daily for the safety of our son and family and for our comfort with where they were. We could have worried ourselves to death but we turned that over to God and let our faith grow. Also, after visiting the family on the field and seeing their situation and relationship with the Nationals was great comfort. I’m thankful my son and family are back in the States and live about 2 miles from us. But I’m thankful there will be souls in heaven because of their work in Togo.
VSH wrote:
The Cost:
Emotionally – not what I expected for my daughter. I expected her to live 3.5 miles away with a white picket fence and I would go over daily and help take care of my grandchildren. honestly, it’s the empty chairs at the special events, like birthdays and holidays that they are missed the most. But also in the day to day events. Financially- wow I never thought I would spend over $300 to send a package across the world because I wanted my grandchildren to have the things they can’t get over there. By the grace of God, we can afford to do this and I probably spend over $2000 sending packages throughout the year including for Christmas.
Spiritually: wow! Never thought my spiritual life could get stronger with the Lord sending my daughter so far away. Such a blessing to know they are doing God’s work, and God’s will. That we can help with this spiritually, and financially and see the fruits of their labor. The beneficial spiritual rewards, definitely outweigh the emotional and financial costs.(YES)
DLPG wrote: The grief of not being around my 3 grands and watching them grow up like my mom did because she was close to me I just want all my family close if I could I would build a house with 4 wings for my children to live close to me and then have room for my sister, niece, great nephew, his wife and my great great niece to live close by cause I just want to be around my family cause they are my happy place (YES)
DPM: The cost of my son and his family not being able to come to his brother’s wedding
One mom wrote: I’ll be honest…I work so very hard trying not to focus on the costs and the losses…that it’s really hard for me to allow myself to “go there.”
BKT: My son has been on the mission field almost 20 years. I miss him, his wife and their 2 children like crazy. His location is not the safest place to be. I miss the holidays and birthdays. HOWEVER, this is where God has called him to serve. Who am I to argue with that???? I love being able to videochat chat with him and see his passion for his work and his dreams for the future. Having him so far away was not in my life plan , but it is what it is and the fact he is happy with what he does and where he is, helps me be content.
PT: I have learned that there is a cost, one way or another. I had a daughter on the mission field for 7 years. She now lives next door along with my Grands. But I have a daughter that lives 2300 miles across the country and a son who lives in heaven. I miss them as much as I missed my daughter and grandchildren who lived in India. I remember when they were coming and going, more than they are today, feeling like I was on a roller coaster ride. After all these years, I guess about 21 or 22, I’ve grown used to it. It is my “normal” I mostly don’t hurt anymore. I try to live each day for itself and enjoy what happens today. I try not to think about what could be and just focus on what is right now.
To get an inkling of what it costs to complete this mission, provide Bibles for the Bible-less of the world, picture yourself in this setting, (“The Bike Trip” with Kyle Von Rueden, among The Baga of West Africa) step back and count the cost. Ask us sometime about the rest of this story!
As I consider the cost for us personally, my mind returns to a melody from yesteryear with a question for all to consider:
“Would you be poured out like wine upon the altar for Me?
Would you be broken like bread to feed the hungry?
Would you be so one with Me that I may do just as I will?
Would you be light and life and love, My word fulfill?”
We close this question of the cost of the mission with a prayer: would you be willing to pray this prayer with us?
“God, Your Word is more precious than all I possess. Your Scripture gives light to my path and directs my steps. Through Your will alone lives are transformed and minds made new. So I now pray for all people that do not yet know You. For you’ve promised that Your voice by every tribe and nation will be heard. So equip us by Your breath to provide every heart language with Your Word! ( The Translation Prayer – ETEN.bible; for a great summary of what’s involved with Bible translation from start to finish and to grasp the magnitude of the task see https://illuminations.bible/about and scroll down to “the translation process”.)
