I thought I would share part of our ministry newsletter that my hubby wrote–he explains better than I ever could why we’ve moved and are living in the inner city.
Well, here we are. We had just been home from the Ukraine for ten days, had packed our house, loaded a 26-foot Penske truck, and driven six days to Richmond from Colorado.
Again, the answer to the question, Are the Salems crazy?, is a definitive, YES. But when God is calling, does His child ever have an excuse? (Okay, don’t answer that. We’ve been guilty of that many, many times!)
Because of the speed of a loaded truck and because there were eleven family members in tow (including Adeye’s dad and his friend from South Africa, who came to help), it took a while.
We were welcomed to Richmond by some dear friends who helped us unload AND by the hottest day of the year—98 degrees and humid! God has a sense of humor. We can’t always expect weather to be like San Diego everywhere we’re called, now can we?
Where we live is right in the inner city, downtown Richmond. We love it because there are four universities right here! I won’t have to travel far to meet and develop relationships with key Christian students in those universities so that we can get things going for Powerfive (see my website at www.powerfive.org).
I’ve learned a lesson in surrender. Surrender means not thinking too much about “implications.” Implications get our minds going where they shouldn’t. Implications mean God is not in control of our lives—we are. Implications take us to places of fear, doubt, and self-reliance. I am learning (and you’d think I’d get it earlier in life) that sometimes it’s just right to go with what you earnestly believe God is saying.
We Salems have a family saying when it comes to sorting out what’s from God and what’s not. It’s called, Let’s start with the “givens.” What has the Father indisputably told us already? What has He told us about timing that we’re sure about? Once we use those points as benchmarks, and remain very sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit, then it’s time to dive in without thinking or doubting. I cannot look at my bank account to be obedient. I cannot look at my family situation to be obedient. I can only be obedient…period.
Friend, without sounding dramatic, I’m in tears right now as I write this. I cannot describe to you the freedom there is in Christ—knowing that when we’re obedient, He WILL take care of us. He WILL provide. When we Matthew 6:33 our lives—“seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to [us] as well”—we can rest! Too often we have done Matthew 6:33 and fretted. But that’s not seeking His kingdom FIRST. It’s declaring His kingdom first with our mouths, but our hearts are filled with fear, and we eventually go to another, safer alternative for God to bless, haha.
Still, we have our moments, friend. We are frail. We are useless in and of ourselves. God has not blessed me with a wonderful business mind to be able to have three or four side businesses going to “change the world.” God has not blessed us with any inheritance from wealthy parents to be “freed up” to minister with financial freedom. I put “freed up” in quotes, because that is what I’m trying to convey to you now. We become freed up, not when we are financially secure, but when we are obedient, when we truly do “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.”
Thank you, dear, dear friend, for allowing me to pour my heart out to you on paper. Me and my precious family need you. We need to know that you’re not only behind us but at our sides, holding up our arms in this spiritual battle. We need to know that in your prayers, you are saying, “Go, Salems! Go do what God has called you to do. And do it with the living fire of the Holy Spirit.”
We truly, truly do love each and every one of you. Thank you for being “family.”
