My First Ninety Days: Roger Bergman in Spain

One of the best things we can do in the ministry is to recall God’s call- every day, if necessary. WE will not conquer the world in a day. WE will not reach our community in a week, or even in a year. Only God can do what God can do, and yet He chose to include us in the great task. The great task is His own glory. It is NOT just winning souls. It is also winning (other) souls; the souls of our spouses, of our children, our own.

We must find rest for our souls. Jesus said to come to Him to find rest for the soul. The believer must do this daily. We must not let the pressure-cooker life of the missionary “get to us.” Those who, albeit very meaningly, write to ask how many souls we’ve won to the Lord…right, with our newly-discovered lower-than-expected “handle on the language”…well, they are well-meaning no doubt. But they are woefully under-informed about the adjustments that have to be made to a culture where “they” tell you that your new washing machine will be ready in a week, and you find out that “in a week” really means “as soon as we get around to it.” And that, of course, depends on whether or not there is an intervening national, regional, or local holiday to be celebrated in the meantime. I am not just pulling these statements out of a hypothetical hat.

These all happened to us, in some measure or another, in those early days and years some 25 years ago. They are as vivid as my wife’s beautiful face every time I have to tell her that something ELSE isn’t going to happen exactly the way we thought it would, or should, or “how it did in the good ‘ole USA!” God bless His people in HIS work!

“And let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” (Galatians 6:9)

Roger Bergman
Spain
rogermaryb@esperatantzasendoa.com