Sacrifice – As for me, I will always have Hope

It was hard getting home. Tim and I had such a good month away that I was sad to go home, and once home I was even sad to be home. I needed time to adjust.

It was interesting to see that in Burkina none of our concerns from home mattered. There are certain things we’ve been focusing on lately, even to the point it consumed me. When away the past month we spoke about all those things and how it all seemed irrelevant in light of what we were doing in Burkina. How would we respond when we got back? Would we just be consumed over those ‘things’ again? It’s certainly not what we wanted.

I don’t want to be consumed by anything but with the matters of the Lord. I have written before about heart’s desires going unanswered. In Burkina it didn’t matter. Tim and I have been consumed by wanting to move. We live too far from community and church and it is bothering us, it aches. In Burkina it didn’t matter. I desired to go home with a new passion… focusing on the things that truly matter and on things that are way more important than my ‘things’.

And yet, what I feared is happening. I am getting consumed by the things here. The old things pop back up and seem to matter. And it saddens me. There are better things to be consumed by, like focusing on making this world a better place, wherever, however, but that has got to be my focus. I have lived a past and God has used it to write a story of redemption through my life. Sharing that has got to matter. Seeing need all around me, that has got to matter.

The first morning home I couldn’t wait to sit down with God and just be. He showed up as such a loving Father. Guess what He told me? He told me that ‘my things’ matter to Him! The things I get consumed by are obviously important to me, and so they are important to Him. That was a beautiful first awaking.

God said something else, something He’s been saying to me before. He said: “Don’t pray, let me do!” Sounds familiar? He said: “Don’t worry about being back, don’t fear it. Don’t think about moving, about ministry, about what you will do. Just let me be! BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.”

I desire to live a life of sacrifice. I do pray, but I try not to be consumed. I try to pray and just see what happens next. My prayer sounds like this: “God, open my eyes to what You want me to see.” I can desire many things, but I cannot make anything happen. I want to acknowledge where God is at work, and I desire to join Him. How, where… only God can work out those details. It is not good to be consumed. It is best to be still and know that God is God.

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This was also shared at Holley’s Coffee For Your Heart. To read more personal stories or get encouraged, go HERE!

Tim and I just came back from a VERY good month abroad.

We both feel that this might have been the best month of our marriage so far. We enjoyed being together 24/7, we enjoyed working together, we enjoyed traveling and adventure, and we certainly enjoyed our overdue trip for Tim’s non-profit. I think the best part was working together. I love working with Tim on his work and he certainly is very talented when it comes to my work. I love how it overlaps and how we do not have separate lives. I realize that this is a blessing from God.

Burkina Faso

When Tim started to talk about going to Burkina, he mentioned me coming along. My mind quickly went to finances. We could not afford me coming along. I couldn’t just tack along for gigs and giggles, there had to be a significant reason – a job for me to do. Tim didn’t share my opinion, he felt strongly about me coming along. He said: “You are my wife, it’s time you start seeing what I, what we, do. You are part of this, you need to come.” One thing I find important in our marriage is that I know when to follow Tim, this was one of those times. I trusted he had wisdom I didn’t have and we booked tickets for the both of us.

We were really excited and at the same time we were a bit nervous because we just didn’t know what to expect doing this as a married couple. We tried to talk about expectations beforehand but one can just not prepare something that is unfamiliar territory. Well, any ‘worries’ we had were gone quickly once in Burkina because we turned out to be quite the team!

It was amazing seeing Tim at work and juggle the sum of activities. He was translator to many, often at the same time 😉 .

He led different organizations, explaining constantly about Burkina’s situation. He held meetings every day trying to connect organizations and their work. He built strong relationships with the Burkinabé. And of course there was me, his wife… he wanted to make sure I was doing well and at the same time I demanded a lot since I was filming. Tim juggled all those responsibilities and everyone’s different needs, without any sign of stress. He was like a fish in the water and, seeing that, I came to a stronger conviction that this is what Tim needs to do. As we visited his cousin, as we even got to see his brother Pete in Burkina, I also realized how for generations, this is what the Brokopp – Arnold clan does. This non profit work, to contribute to making the world a better place, is Tim’s DNA!

The filming

I had a great time working in Burkina. At some point I had to laugh… often people have mentioned how I would be a great asset to Tim’s ministry with my filming. I always laughed it off because I would not see myself do that. And here i was filming and photographing. Like God would ever let my years of experience in TV go to waste, why on earth would I think that?! So I was pleasantly surprised by what I was doing in Burkina. And here too, Tim and I turned out to be quite the team. Tim ended up doing most of the interviews as I filmed and he was so very good at it. At the end of the two weeks we had both grown a ton in this area. In the coming months it is my turn to juggle responsibilities and commitment and over time I will be excited to launch our Amoveo video.

My heart status

Going back to Tim’s wisdom about me coming along. Yes, I found myself a job while in Burkina but I am convinced that even if I did nothing… I needed to be there.

Someone pointed out to me that we sacrifice by doing what we are doing. Missionaries sacrifice money and the ability to buy what you want when you want it, or more so, to buy what you need. It’s a sacrifice we both bring and this friend pointed out it is good for me to see why we sacrifice. Looking back I couldn’t agree more. If I am so sure this is what Tim needs to be doing, than this ‘sacrifice’ comes with it. And is it really sacrifice? I feel God started a new process in my heart while in Burkina. Because aren’t we all called to a life of sacrifice?

With Tim, I started to see that this is a lifestyle, our lifestyle. We want to live a life of sacrifice to God. God made me into who i am, He created me with purpose, and I want to give to Him who I am and what He has given me. None of it belongs to me and it is my desire to look around me and sacrifice. In my daily living, with the people around me, if I make money I know it should go towards people, not towards things. Let’s just say that I came on board with Tim’s ministry like never before. I don’t have a picture yet of what that means concretely but I know God will show the way.

Amoveo

Some of Amoveo’s concrete results of this past month:

1. Amoveo received it’s first grant. A solar company donated a $ 100,000 solar system and the financing to get it to Burkina.

2. Money came in to buy more land for the agriculture center.

3. The first stone for this agriculture center was laid. What perfect timing since I got to film it.

4. We visited a beautiful but secluded village. Once a village of thousands, it is now home to only 200 people. People are leaving because there is no water, leaving behind the little they have to start all over again. Pretty disastrous. After hearing this story, one of our partner organizations has agreed to finance a well in this village.

5. Tim connected with many different organizations and is working hard for all of them to see how important it is to address of of the needs in a region simultaneously. So far we have water, schooling and food sustainability on board in regions in Burkina. Health is being worked on. It’s time for more project money to come in so we can go full force.

We give all glory to God for all this. We ourselves an do nothing, we merely give back to God who we are and what He has given us.