by Caleb Southerland

MedRim Initiative Director, Executive Officer

“There is no success without sacrifice. If you succeed without sacrifice it is because someone has suffered before you. If you sacrifice without success, it is because someone will succeed after.”  -Adoniram Judson

We often remind ourselves that the beauty of the MedRim is that it is not about the MedRim. “MedRim” is simply a name we have given to capture our small sliver in a much, much bigger story. As we look across the region in which God has placed our teams, some of the cities and countries are hard ground - requiring huge investments in prayer, language learning, and cultural adaptation - with no immediate results. Others involve the thrilling work of harvesting. While that work is no less difficult, seeing those results is immensely motivating.

The beauty of this work is that each member of the team is called to play a unique role in the story. This is determined by gifting, talents, and relational connections in addition to all the truly surprising ways God tends to call His people.

The very best stories, the ones that hold our attention the longest, involve multiple stories on multiple fronts that eventually craft a beautiful, multi-layered picture as the author brings them together. On a far more serious and important Kingdom-level, this is how we view the story of the MedRim into which our Author has called us. We have stepped in mid-story, with much work having been done before us, around us, and to come after us.

We are humbly stepping into where God has placed us and experiencing our own story within the larger narrative God is telling. Join us in praying these things as our teams pursue their unique place in this story.

• Stamina and perseverance for those tilling hard soil and planting seeds through language learning and prayer saturation.

• Courage and confidence to see where each person fits in the greater story.

• Unity across the global church to see Kingdom wins and not ownership or individual successes

• Joy in playing the specific role God has entrusted to each person, no matter what it is, in His story.

• For the humility, unity, and love of this ministry to permeate and touch the hearts of millions of Muslims and lead them to follow Jesus.

Are you interested in sharing Jesus with unreached people of the world?

We can help!

Email start_the_journey@mrnet.org to talk about it.