My Favorite Missionary by Shannon Bobb

Why do I have a favorite missionary?  What makes a favorite missionary you might ask? Several things, I suppose, but if we equate it to the world’s opinion, it would be how effective they were, how many came to know the Lord during their ministry or how many people were inspired by their eloquent speaking ability, you know–cold hard facts.  Well, I chose my favorite missionary because she influenced ME to become a missionary as well. As we mature in our Christian walk, we come into relationship with people that inspire you by being around them and realize “they get it”. She would tell stories about her and her husband’s ability to get by with the minimum for the cause. Sacrificing for the cause doesn’t make you a better missionary, but it shows me that the cause of Christ is worth it–worth more than all of these. Eating rice for three meals a day for months on end, cooking on an electric iron because that is all she had or using the tea bag to make her tea after she made her husband’s tea first show her self-sacrificing way. She had a sense of humor that would get you through the toughest times. Her sarcastic, laughable comments were something you wouldn’t expect from someone like her. She didn’t let age or health issues take away from her desire to serve overseas. She was my leader on my first missionary trip to Zambia. She was in her 70’s at the time.  We always wanted to go through security with her because her two artificial knees and a hip, would always get her pulled aside in the security line and then the rest of us could walk right through without a question. She was faithful to always bring a “comfort item” (place to sit when you do business) for each trip and made sure the bathroom was equipped with the item. We pleaded with the flight attendant into getting her moved up to first class after sleeping on the ground for two weeks and she said, “No, thanks. I want to be with my people.” She carried a whistle to keep us under control and I think I “borrowed” it so many times that the team thought I was in charge. She was a living example of what a servant of the Lord should be. She was faithful to the end–in fact, she just reached the end of her journey. She passed this past week faithful to the end. So how do we honor those that inspired us? We honor their example that made us what we are today. How do we further the cause that they lived before us We do the same–we live it as they did. Be an example to others and hopefully, someday, it will be said of us that “we got it.”