It was our first Sunday in our home church in Tremont, IL and we were called up front to say a few words and be welcomed officially for our furlough time in the States. To our surprise we were presented with an announcement that the church had raised money for us to by a boat. Although we knew they were working on raising funds, it was a complete surprise that the total amount had already been donated. To be honest, it was a huge relief, one of the many ways people have blessed us by their generosity over the years.
As many of you know who follow our blog, last year we moved to a missionary school which is located out in the jungle, on the banks of the Amazon. There are no roads to the school so we knew a boat would be necessary (see this previous post for a map of our location). Unfortunately, buying a boat here is not as easy as walking into a store and picking out the model you want. I've been spending many of my days visiting the factory where the aluminum boat is being manufactured. While they will customize your boat to your specific needs, they don't have any of the accessories needed, so I have spent countless hours running around looking for a battery, bilge pump, hinges, running lights, locks and countless other items that would only bore you.
In addition to the boat itself, we will be needing a trailer to pull the boat out of the water each day. The reality here is that if we leave the boat in the water theft is very likely. The school owns a large boat that they leave docked in front of the property. Someone told me the transmission unit has been stolen 3 times. The simple solution is to pull the boat out of the water and lock it up out of sight from the river. Again, no boat trailer stores exist to pick out your favorite trailer. So, like many of the other missionaries that live here have done, I'm building mine.
In this long (going on 6 weeks now) process, it's easy to get discouraged. Why isn't this easier? Why do I have to go through such lengths just because someone might steal my boat? Is this really worth all the trouble?
The other day Brin was explaining to one of the girls how doing something difficult builds character. If that's true, why are we so repulsed by anything difficult? It seems our whole culture is bent on finding an easier way to do something. I wonder, have we placed such a high value on ease of use that we are actually missing out on something along the way?
2 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." [James 1:2-4]
So, while I'm trying to consider it pure joy, I sure will be relieved when this boat finally does arrive!
