Too Pretty?

By Mary Kamau

(From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I”ve Ever Received.”)

It is very easy for me to pick the worst advice I ever received. The heart behind the advice was pure, but the thinking behind it was opposite of the direction God was leading. The advice came from a trusted board member of our organization. He felt we were growing too fast. Somehow we needed to slow the growth and take more control. He wanted us to stop the growth until all aspects of the ministry were “pretty.”

This advice was offered in 2008, when we were ministering to 2,480 children. We talked and prayed with our teammates, and we all felt God was on the move. His plans were bigger than our plans. God was controlling the growth and the ministry”s outcomes, and although it defied human logic, God wanted us to keep it that way.

In the last six years, since ignoring this advice, God has added more than 10,000 children to this ministry””children we would not have reached had we heeded the counsel this board member gave me.

Mary Kamau is executive director of Missions of Hope International and a missionary with Christian Missionary Fellowship.