Follow Me

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"Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
Matthew 4:19

 I was asked to write about my experiences in Bolivia. But I feel like I could probably tell you a lot of stories, but to make sense of them I’d have to write a lot and it would end up being a story book. And I’m not ready for that. So instead I’ll share something that has become my everyday battle.

 How am I fishing?

 “Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing, is fishing for pleasure or compitition.
Subsistence fishing, which is fishing for survival.”
-wikipedia

 On the left margin of this page you’ll see pictures of different church activities. And they all have their time and place. But why do I participate in any of these activities?
Is it because I want to be a support of whatever is going on and am I willing to use my God given gifts to encourage someone that is weaker? We are called to be the salt and the light of this world. Matthew 5:13-16. Salt preserves and light shines. Am I living a life that will encourage the next christian, to preserve them? Does my light shine when I’m in a dark setting? Or are the church activities just a christian country club where I get clean entertainment and to check off my christian duties?

 I know people in Bolivia, they’ve given up their house, land, and family to follow Jesus. And live almost entirely from the milk of one cow. I never knew you could make so much from milk. They live with no more than we did when we used to go camping. In Canada, we went camping because it was fun for a couple of days. And I remember picking up milk from the Amish a few times to experience making different things from milk. I didn’t do any of it because I had to, therefore it didn’t last. So if you can survive without having to do it, it’s probably a sport.

 When we moved to Bolivia I felt like I had given up everything, but some people here think I have it all. And its true, I am blessed. Life isn’t always easy, but we lack nothing. Just to see the poverty and the sacrifices some of the people have made, makes my idea of me having given up everything to move to Bolivia seem foolish. And many of the things that we did in Canada for a sport are a way of a survival here. Jesus told Peter and Andrew he would make them fishers of men. He didn’t choose them because they already had all their God given gifts figured out. Lets follow Jesus so He can make us fishers of men.
“They immediately left their nets and followed Him.”
Matthew 4:20

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Anna Penner

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