Unseen fruit

I was recently asked, "How do you see God working in your service?" And though I have confidence that God led me to this work and that my skills are needed, my response is a bit unsatisfying. You see, when I was working in construction and maintenance it was easier to know how God was working because I could immediately see that my work benefited those who needed my skills. At least in part I measured whether God was using my work, in how my service benefited others.

A favorite image from Kenya and part of the Faces of Worship series I am working on

But working in communications it's a bit more difficult. Yes, I make lots of photos, a little video and help write stories to document Bible translation and it's impact on people and cultures. But just how they impact the viewer, is something I may never know.

So, my response: I work by faith that God is using me not only so the global church may see what He is doing in Bible translation, but that they also may get involved.

Yet, I am unsatisfied. Because I may never know to what extent my work brings these things about. I remember stories and photos that were instrumental in my own involvement in missions, but the author or photographers never knew it. Perhaps I can understand, at least in measure, what Abraham went through having never seen the fulfillment of the promises which he believed in.

But I am encouraged. I just learned that one of my images and text is now on the Wycliffe Slovakia website. I didn't even know there is Wycliffe Slovakia. So I am pleased to see a glimpse of people who see value in my work and are using it, especially in a place I didn't know existed. How are the viewers impacted? Well, I'll just have to leave the results to Him.