We had a visiting missionary in service on Sunday night. Bro. and Sis. Fonzell Marsh are missionaries to the Asia military district, based in Okinawa, Japan. Bro. Marsh was in the military for 26 years. The first 13 years they were not living for God, but they were saved in Germany at a military work there. He retired from the military in 2011 and they are now full time working with military bases throughout Japan and Korea. Their goal is to get every military personnel trained so they can be used wherever they go while they are still in the service and when their tour of duty is finished. Our U.S. military personnel can go places that U.S. missionaries cannot go.
During their presentation, one phrase really stuck with me. When talking about ministering to military personnel - "All will eventually leave." All. Not some. All.
Can you imagine dedicating your life to people who are going to leave? Yes, many will move on and do great things for God, but they won't stay with you. We are programmed to count - how many on our pews, how many Bible studies, how many baptisms, how many, how many. It's a beautiful thing when there are multiple generations in a family in the same church. But how would we respond if we knew that all would eventually leave? Thankfully, God's math isn't our math and He is an excellent record keeper!
I was so moved by the dedication and burden of Bro. and Sis. Marsh. They truly live 1 Corinthians 3:6, "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase." It would be easy to get stuck in the mindset of "I wonder who will leave this week?" But I think the Marsh's have the mindset of, "I wonder who will arrive this week?"
Pray for this couple as they travel, raising funds to support this great work.
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