I grew up in a small town in Kentucky in a hard-working farm family. I was blessed to join the Girls Auxiliary (GA’s) at an early age through my church. GAs was required to memorize Matthew 28:19-20: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.” This verse has challenged me all my life. Late in my first marriage, my husband was called to the mission field of Japan to reach out to the deaf. Personally, I did not feel “the Holy Spirit” urging me to surrender because of my concerns about my home, my family (especially my widowed mother), familiar neighbors and friends, and a lot of church involvement. I felt like we were already serving the Lord in many capacities.
About a year later, a pastor came to our church and preached a very convicting sermon from Mark Chapter 10 where Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the gospel, who will not receive a hundred times more now at this time—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and eternal life in the age to come”. That sermon convinced my heart and set my feet firmly in missions.
We sold our home and all but basic belongings and moved to Florida to prepare for the mission field of Japan to minister to the deaf. However, because of later difficulties, that did not transpire. My late beloved second husband and I served on a mission board in Florida for 20 years. We had the joy of representing and enabling one of our own Church members to go to the mission field in Ukraine. Countless lives have been touched and changed with the gospel through her over 30 years of faithful work. And yes, I did receive “a hundred times more” houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children and fields, with persecutions.” The Blessings will always outweigh the Battles in this life.
I have since returned to Kentucky and after some trials have found my church home and Sunday School family and my Mission. I met Sajid Sandhu from our Sunday School class. Through an introductory conversation over tea and coffee, I was introduced to his passion to reach the lost and to provide for their physical and spiritual needs and his vision to establish a non-profit to bring the gospel to forgotten and underserved populations.
It is now my privilege to serve on the board of Interfaith League Against Poverty (I-LAP) during its developmental stage here in America. Our goal is to reach people of the world who suffer greatly because of political upheaval, discrimination, persecution, and untrained, uneducated populations. There are many needs to be addressed which is the purpose of I-LAP. Not to just feed the body but to rescue the souls and spirits of these populations.
I have learned that when God calls you, He does not ever “un-call” you. I pray that each of you who may be hearing my voice, will listen to that still small voice of God, our Creator, who has placed inside each of us a desire to love and serve Him, to give out of the abundance of our own blessings not how small. Our Creator God sees, even if all we have to give is “Just a cup of water” or a consoling voice. Are you called to believe in HIM?
Elaine Gills