Fear and complacency. I think that is what stops so many people from pushing themselves out of their comfort zone. Today we live in a culture where sadly our priorities start with ourselves and safety is paramount. Therefore it isn’t a surprise that we are becoming content to accept living as lukewarm Christians who pick parts of the Bible that suit us, watering down the gospel so that it can be accepted by everyone.

‘A ship in port is safe but that’s not what ships are built for.’

The truth is that when Jesus is calling us he is asking us to do something difficult; taking up our cross daily (Luke 9:23) and putting aside our own interests and instead worrying about the interests of others (1 Corinthians 10:24). We are called to go to the hard places. Wouldn’t you rather live a life filled with risks, adventure and purpose over a life of predictability and safety?

When you study the history of Christianity, it is packed full of followers of Christ embracing risk. From the Old Testament – Saul preaching what he had before been prosecuting and Esther risking being executed to fulfill her purpose. Fast forward thousands of years and people still think it’s a worthy cause to die for – John Bunyan spent 12 years in prison away from his blind daughter because he wouldn’t sign a statement saying “I will not preach” and Christians in the Middle East are risking being captured and even beheaded by ISIS because of their beliefs.  All these people weighed up the risk and reward and decided Christ was a worthy cause even to die for.

A risk is an action that exposes us to the possibility of some kind of injury or loss. They could be small risks but I suppose everything is a risk in some way. When you put your opinion out in public you’re risking being laughed at, when you make yourself a cup of tea you’re risking getting burned, when you cross the road you’re risking your life. Most of these risks don’t stop us from doing these things.

‘The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore.’ – Vincent van Gogh

For me that is what overseas mission is like. We are living in an orphanage with HIV+ children and although we have been trained and are always cautious we are still in an environment exposing us to the difficulties of this disease; but when you start to love these children you stop seeing that because the joy that comes from getting to know them is greater. Here in South Africa we have to take more precautions than at home but the desire to experience this beautiful country overshadows the small chances of danger. The rewards are greater than the risks.

Life isn’t always easy here. When a child gets angry they can be unpredictable and lash out. When you know that at any point they could flip and decide to be aggressive it can be scary. But none of this matters when you realise that what you are gaining is so much better. None of this matters when you have experienced the fulfilment that comes from seeing that child improve, or learn something, or make progress, however small it seems at the time. At the end of the day I never regret putting myself in those situations or feel unsafe, even if they don’t always turn out the way I was expecting.

Life has a habit of surprising us, and let’s be honest we can never be prepared for everything. We travelled to Africa after having our vaccinations and being warned of the health risks: Malaria, HIV, diarrhoea, rabies etc. So what are the chances of our lovely Laura getting appendicitis and having to have surgery here right? Even in the suffering there are rewards though – it has been amazing seeing our team grow so close as we have supported and cared for Laura and each other. We all knew we were taking a chance coming on this trip, but we are letting it change our lives. We didn’t expect it to be easy, but it will definitely be worth it.

Let’s be ready to take the risk of the gospel and pray ‘not my will but yours God.’ Who knows where it will take us but with Jesus those hard places aren’t so hard. And the reward that’s waiting is so much greater than any of the risks.