In 2021, my husband and I had the privilege of taking a short mission trip as MAPS (Missions Abroad Placement Service) volunteers to Madrid, Spain, to collaborate with International Media Ministries.
It was a journey awaited, longed for, and provided for by God after a four-year wait, attempting to undertake the journey as Missionary Associates. The pandemic came, everything came to a halt, and we couldn’t raise the budget to carry out the two years as initially planned.
Originally, it was discouraging for us not to be able to fulfill the commitment to come for two years, but as with everything God does, it was perfect. It was a very enriching experience to be in Spain working with IMM for three months, and, like the spies in the book of Numbers, chapter 14, we explored the land to recognize it and saw that the land was exceedingly good. And as verse 8 of the same chapter 14 says, “If the Lord is pleased with us, He will lead us into this land.”
We spent those three months working on projects in IMM and were filled with faith and hope. We returned to the United States with even greater conviction of commitment and mission to spread the gospel to the nations, fulfilling the mandate that Jesus commanded us: “Go and preach the Gospel to all Nations.”
It was inspiring to see that over forty years of IMM’s service, men and women have dedicated themselves to spreading the word of God through unconventional instruments such as movie and television screens, phones, computers, broadcasting via satellite and the internet to the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
Lives of servants dedicated to the ministry, filling their days with perseverance through adversities, setbacks, struggles, and sleepless nights to share the gospel with nations that do not have easy access to the word of God. Thousands of testimonies of conversions that, in silence, humility, and commitment, flourish in the heavenly field to the sound of angelic trumpets.
God allowed us to return after three years of waiting, praying, fasting, and persevering in the word of God and talking to people about our passion to serve. It is a pleasant aroma of love that we breathe as we share these thoughts, overflowing with faith in the future, even in the time we live where pain has grown in the world.
The vision for the future is to continue persevering, waiting on Him, confident in His provision for funding while sharing the message of salvation and the beautiful and exciting stories of the Bible with those who do not know it and pursuing the goal of one day being called into the presence of the One who called us.