When Serving Gets Tough: A Thirty-Day Devotional for Missionaries
Ebook
Help me, Lord! This is hard.
Life in the harvest fields is not for the faint of heart. Many who answer the call to serve among the nations will, at some point, hit a brick wall in their faith. In When Serving Gets Tough, veteran missionary and author Carol Ghattas shares her experiences, providing practical guidance and hope through Scripture. Each daily entry is designed to help missionaries reconnect with their faith, find strength in God’s promises, and press on in their calling despite difficulties. Ghattas acknowledges that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to ministry trials but emphasizes that there is one God always ready to help and heal.
Both new and seasoned missionaries will benefit from this book. It offers encouragement and wisdom for anyone struggling with the demands of cross-cultural service. Whether you’re facing doubts, loneliness, or exhaustion, this devotional provides a balm for weary souls.
Introduction
Day 1: Who Am I?
Day 2: Did God Really Call Me?
Day 3: I’m Struggling, Lord
Day 4: What’s My Purpose?
Day5: I’ve Lost My Way
Day 6: I’m Tempted, Lord
Day 7: I Can’t Handle This
Day 8: I Feel So Alone
Day 9: I’m Angry, Lord
Day 10: Do You Hear Me, Lord?
Day 11: My Marriage Is Suffering
Day 12: I Don’t Like My Teammates
Day 13: Why Am I Stuck At Home?
Day 14: I’m Not Cut Out For This
Day 15: I Worry About My Kids
Day 16: I Don’t See Any Fruit
Day 17: Why Is There So Much Evil?
Day 18: I Miss My Mom
Day 19: I Miss My Dad
Day 20: I Can’t Believe What I’m Accused Of, Lord
Day 21: I’m Homesick
Day 22: I Hate This Place
Day 23: I Can’t Afford To Keep Going
Day 24: These People Don’t Get It
Day 25: I Can’t Learn This Language
Day 26: How Can I Share If It Threatens Their Lives?
Day 27: I Feel Spiritually Abused
Day 28: Why Do My Kids Have To Leave?
Day 29: I Can’t Help This Bitterness
Day 30: This Loss Is Too Painful
Conclusion
About The Author
Buy at least ten copies of this book to encourage and strengthen missionaries you know! Written by my long-time friend, Carol Ghattas, this book is part ‘pull up a chair and let’s talk over some coffee’ and a robust Bible study. Carol is like that big sister who’s already been there, done that when it comes to international missions. She is unashamedly honest describing challenges and frustrations faced on the mission field. You’ll feel like she’s read your mind as she invites you to pray guttural prayers like I am not cut out for this life. Would God really call me to serve him only for me to make a fool of myself by trying to speak such a language? But then she swiftly ushers you into hope through a tangible injection of Truth. Carol is deeply biblical, and that’s what I love about this little book! Each day’s entry is bookended with Scripture and filled with more verses in the middle. You’ll move from raw conversation with a wise big sister to hearing directly from the Lord of heaven’s armies communicating with you, his beloved missionary servant, spurring you to keep running the race with endurance as he perfects your faith.
-Natalie (pseudonymn), Friend, colleague, global worker among Muslims for over thirty years
Carol is a long-time friend and colleague. When I first saw this book I thought, ‘This will be great for first-term overseas workers,’ but as I began to read it, I realized how wrong I was. This book is for overseas workers of any length of service. Almost daily Carol’s devotionals spoke to me and where I am in my spiritual walk and journey as an overseas worker of twenty-three years. I highly recommend that every worker have a copy of this book to help them with the daily struggles of life on the mission field.
-Elizabeth Graves, TCK Member Care Field Worker
Whether you’re new to the mission field or a seasoned missionary, Carol’s devotional will deeply resonate as you spend slow mornings with Jesus. Carol gets it. She understands the unique struggles you face as a missionary—problems with the kids, your spouse, the team, the culture, your spiritual walk, not to mention seeing little fruit as a result of your ministry. So before you decide to quit and go back home, you need to read this devotional. Grab your favorite cup of coffee or tea and soak in his presence as you read these pages. God will meet you as you abide in him, yielding eternal results.
-Dave Jacob , Founder and Director, Gospel Mobilization , Director of Mobilization, World Gospel Mission
In When Serving Gets Tough: A Thirty-Day Devotional for Missionaries, Carol Ghattas offers biblical truths and personal insights. Each day she asks questions and reveals concerns that resonate with my own twenty-seven years of experience of serving cross-culturally. She includes the resounding heart cry of missionaries walking by faith in challenging circumstances on the field: “Help Me, Lord!” then proceeds to offer Scripture and practical encouragement. I recommend this devotional to those serving across cultures—whether they’re new arrivals or long-term sent-ones.
-Susan Lafferty, Writer, Trainer, Mentor
As a missionary for twenty-nine years, I can attest to the fact that every entry touched on some experience or challenge I faced on the mission field. This is a valuable resource for a worker at any point of service and should be kept on hand as situations arise. Even now, as a retiree involved in stateside ministries, these devotions continue to offer wisdom and insight into daily challenges. In that regard, I would recommend this book as a resource for all, whether serving in an overseas setting or at any level of ministry stateside. It would make a great gift too!
-Nancy Browning, Emeritus Missionary, International Mission Board, SBC
When Serving Gets Tough is wildly practical and deeply personal. It is a gift of encouragement and blessing for any overseas Christian worker endeavoring to proclaim the gospel faithfully while also living the gospel faithfully. Though Carol has a tremendous breadth and depth of knowledge and experience, which could easily and gladly inform her counsel to others, she instead magnifies the Word and points readers to the sufficiency of the Scriptures in all areas of ‘life and righteousness.’ And she magnifies our Savior, the one for whom we have left all things so the nations might know him.
-Tim Hood, President, CEO, Shepherd’s Staff
As we prepare to go to the field, we believe we will be above any difficulties that will arise, but it doesn’t take long for the issues of others to become our reality as well. Carol Ghattas does us a great service in this book, When Serving Gets Tough. She allows us to rush head on into the problem and to struggle with our situation. We are directed to the Scriptures and not allowed to sweep the issues ‘under the carpet,’ but to really deal with them. Her suggestions to action, confession, and forgiveness will allow the reader to honestly understand the problem but also to move on in a fresh pursuit of the calling that God has laid on our heart.
On the field for thirty-seven years, there was a book that I kept close so that I would walk through it every year. It always seemed to speak to me at just the right time. That will be the role of When Serving Gets Tough. Take the time to read the thirty chapters before you go. This will prepare you for the realities you will face once on the field. Then each year take time to refresh your heart and mind and actions, as Ghattas uses God’s Word and real-life conversations to help you fall in love with the task that God has for you.
-Ruth Ripken, Author and Speaker
- Title: When Serving Gets Tough: A Thirty-Day Devotional for Missionaries
- Author: Carol B. Ghattas
- Publisher: William Carey Publishing
- Print Publication Date: 2024
- Logos Release Date: 2024
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781645085966, 9781645085942, 1645085945, 1645085961
- Resource ID: LLS:9781645085966
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-11-12T07:47:28Z
Carol Ghattas has spent over forty years living in six countries. Having served single, married, and now as a widow, Carol has lived what she writes. Her life is also reflected in her other non-fiction work and novels, written under the pen name of Um Daoud. A sought-after speaker on Islam, missions, and other topics, you can connect with Carol through her website: lifeinexile.net.