"An outhouse to a penthouse!"

Pete loved to go on mission trips! He loved seeing the world and meeting Christians from other countries who loved his Lord, too! He felt a desire to do what he was gifted to do in order for Christ to be shared with others. His gift was building! We used to laugh and say he could build anything from “an outhouse to a penthouse”! He was extremely smart about figuring out how to “do” construction! Pete loved construction work and his abilities were held in high esteem in his work world here in the United States! But one of his favorite things was to be able to go on mission trips here and overseas and support the Lord’s work by building churches for the worship of His Lord. Sometimes the materials he was given to work with overseas were not of the best quality or they may have not have been able to provide the material that would have made the job easier. I always loved seeing him figure out how to do it anyway! That was part of what I loved about Pete! His positive spirit and his belief in his ability to do whatever the Lord called him to do.

One of our most favorite parts about visiting other countries, whether we were on mission trips or trips just for fun, was to visit worship services while we were there. There is an incredible feeling when you are in another country and are in a church where English is not being spoken yet as they pray and sing, you know without a doubt that they are praising your Lord! The Holy Spirit would just fill our hearts and allow us to know we were worshipping the same Lord! It always made the world seem a little bit smaller. But what always amazed us was the passion we could feel from Christians in other countries as they worshipped. The congregational singing is always loud and heartfelt! The preaching is always delivered with a sense of passion! Here in America, we are so free to worship yet we go to our services and hardly lift our voices in song, often we act like we are just enduring the sermon and can’t wait to get out the door to go home. We can learn something from our Christian brothers and sisters in other countries about worship! Is it the fact that worship of Jesus is often not an easy thing to do overseas? Do they appreciate the privilege of worship more than we do? Makes me wonder and makes me pray for our hearts to be quickened to learn how to  worship in a deeper way!

Often on Sundays, Pete would pray “Father, may you hear the praises of Your people all over the world today!” He IS being praised all over the world. It may be fewer in number in other countries but He IS known and IS being praised! Hallelujah!

I challenge you to pray….for opportunities to “go in Pete’s place” on mission trips, for an open heart to learn to worship with more passion, for Jesus to be made known throughout the world. Pray for our fellow Christians throughout the world. Pray for their protection, for their encouragement and for their witness to others in their countries.

“Father, may you hear the praises of Your people all over the world!”