Luke 18:28-30 HCSB
“Then Peter said, ‘Look, we have left what we had and followed You.’ So He said to them, ‘I assure you: There is no one who has left a house, wife, or brothers, parents or children because of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more at this time, and eternal life in the age to come.’”
I opened the letter with the verses above to properly encapsulate what I have experienced this last year of serving and living here in Montebelluna. I left America March 26th, 2019 to come and serve for two years in Italy. Here is a story through my eyes of what Luke 18:28-30 has meant to me this last year.
You set off on a grand adventure to a strange land! At first, it seems exciting. Newness is afresh in the mind and in the eye in everything you see and observe. You adapt to the challenge of Italian by viewing it as a challenge to grow and learn through. Ministry begins and you learn different skills while being put to good use in areas of need. As you continue in service, you follow the Lord where He leads you. You grow and continue to make progress in different areas of personal, public and specific practical ministries. You are busied with work, life, adaptation and learning, yet the heart and mind miss the familiarities of home and family.
When preparing for the venture, you thought you understood what it would be like to be on your own, away from your loved ones, away from the comforts of surroundings in your home town, away from the normalcy of English speakers and culture. Yet, eventually, you miss home. You miss family. You miss being close to those you have always been close to. Your heart yearns for a hug from a loved one. Oh, what you would give to hear the voice of a loved one walking down the hall, just around the corner. And don’t even mention the food that you’re craving!
You are taking your life and serving the Lord in a foreign land, yet pulled in two directions of desire: The Established Home and The New World. You have the people, life and ministry in front of you in The New World, yet your soul covets the heritage, antiquity and familiarity of The Established Home. To quote the well-known adventurer and explorer Mr. Bilbo Baggins, you “…feel thin, sort of stretched, if you know what I mean: like butter that has been scraped over too much bread” (J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring).
You talk with others who do their best to console you, but ultimately no one can properly help you process the emotions only you can deal with. In your time of need, you cry out, “Jesus, look what I left for you! Do you see what I gave up for you? Do you see my struggles? Am I stuck alone?”
But then He comforts you: “No one who steps out for me, leaving home and family will be left alone. I will give you more family, more homes and Myself always.”
And how true this is: God has not stolen a home and a family from you. He has, like the fish and the bread, taken what little you had and multiplied it to be full and overflowing. He has led you from The Established Home, has brought you to the land you did not know like Moses and has given you The Promised Land – where you are introduced again to more of Himself, His Home and His Family.
These believers in the Promised Land are some of the sweetest people. They know you don’t know their language. They know you don’t know their culture. Yet, they know you love Jesus. And because of that, they open their homes, their hearts and their kitchens. Jesus, through His leading, has given you a new home and a new family. There will be times to struggle. There will be times to desire to be back in familiarity of language and culture. But you are here – in the Promised Land – where Jesus leads you.
How long will you stay in this new Promised Land? As long as the Lord leads, guides and provides. What will you do in this new home? Continue to seek God, love Jesus, walk humbly and serve this new family. To see the need and take part in providing an answer to that need.
This is my story. I hope it has helped you understand a bit of what I have experienced being here in Italy as a missionary. I have one more year to go on my visa in Italy and I am currently praying about what God would have me to do after this visa expires. Please join me in prayer for this desire to know the will of God for my near future.
Please continue to pray for me, and if the Lord leads you to provide for me financially, I am with Go! Ministries which manages donations. Link Here: https://goinchrist.com/missionaries/entry/5469/
If you have questions or desire to reach out to me, my contact info is below:
WhatsApp: (+39) 320-933-2262
Email: Nathaniel.hibbs@outlook.com
Facebook: facebook.com/Hibbsey4Christ
Instagram: @hibbsey4christ
