On the European mission field, relationships are key – and you never know what issues or situations can make or break a relationship you are trying to develop, or what the future repercussions will be. You just have to bathe every day, every decision, and every action in prayer – and then let it go. 

Evelyn was one of the first women to come to the Lord after we arrived on the field – we had been here only a few weeks. Evelyn was at church the Sunday after accepting Christ, and her desire to learn was keen; however, when she learned something that she disagreed with, she did not accept it right away. She especially had trouble with the little things. She enjoyed music and I encouraged her to sing with me. After about a year or so, she began writing songs, which we also encouraged. One day we were going over a song that she had written and the lyrics included the line “I want to tell the world how lucky I am to have you in my life.”  I paused. Hmm…lucky. I had a difficult time deciding what to do. I knew my husband would want me to use this opportunity to guide her in a better understanding of God’s provision, but I didn’t want to hurt her – so I let it go…for a while. When it was time to sing it in church, I mentioned that, though it was no huge deal, we usually prefer to give the credit for everything to the Lord, but I made sure she knew I understood where she was going with the lyrics and that they were wonderful. Didn’t work. She was furious. It certainly was not a hill I wanted to die on, but now I was in too deep. I explained that, although it was a very small detail, and it has no bearing on eternity, it was important to remember that the Christian life is full of choices. Some are clear cut to certain people, and others are fuzzy, but we must always try to make the best choice in each situation – the choice we believe that Jesus would make. Well, she and her family left the church…for a few weeks. Eventually they came back and no more was said on the issue. She and her husband got baptized and they began to get extremely involved in the ministry. A month ago, we had a special service and Evelyn sang the song she wrote. She caught my eye and we shared a smile when she got ready to sing the line that I already knew was coming, “I want to tell the world how blessed I am to have You in my life.”  I think we had both learned a good lesson, and we felt…well…blessed!

Becky Bertrand, Belgium