Joy for the Journey

On my first day of service with CMDA in 2016, I attended the annual Healthcare Missions Leadership Summit. We were welcomed by Dr. Joshua Bogunjoko, the International Director of Sudan Interior Mission (SIM), who challenged attendees to carefully monitor their joy levels in ministry.

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Pursuing Joy

Most of us seek joy and peace in our lives. Many of us seek Jesus so that we might find these sometimes-illusive treasures. Sometimes we might even make Jesus a means to an end, using Him for the good He can bring to our lives: good such as eternal life, peace, joy, delivery from troubles, etc. Certainly, Jesus is the way to such treasures.

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Joy

Joy May 15, 2018

Ramazan was sitting on a sea side chair when I returned from my early morning jog on the beach at Durres, Albania. I had offered to wait for him, but he had been up late the night before and missed our appointment. I asked him if he would still like to run a couple of miles and we did so slowly. The run gave me the chance to ask him, “Are you any closer to following Christ?” He said he was not quite there. As we were walking into the hotel I asked him, “If you could have one thing in life, what would that be?” He answered, “I guess it would be happiness.” “What does happiness mean to you?” “You know, more good things happen to me than bad.” “Do you know what joy is?” I asked.

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Sustaining Our Joy in Practice

My eldest child left for college this fall, having chosen to attend school in Scotland. Yes, that’s right. Scotland. It’s a long way away. It’s also a place I had never previously visited. We went on a family trip to Scotland in March—partly to visit the school he now attends, and partly to have one last bang-up family vacation before we became a family that no longer lives under one roof. On that trip, we had not one, but two, flat tires on our rental car. A consequence of our struggles driving on the left side of the road, perhaps?

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The Supernatural Joy of the Lord

This edition’s Impact Story is brought to you by Mike O’Callaghan, DDS, a CMDA dental member practicing in Michigan. Mike has led several GHO short-term mission trips and serves on the Dental Advisory Council. He recently published two articles: one was on the topic of short-term mission trips and other titled “Human trafficking and the Dental Professional” was seen in the most recent edition of the Journal of the American Dental Association. ADA members can view the article online here or in JADA print form.

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