Lottie Moon Christmas Offering: Losing yourself for the lost

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IMB medical worker Larry Pepper talks with villagers about current medical needs in a remote village near Kigoma, Tanzania. IMB photo
By Grace Thornton Larry Pepper thought he had been open handed. He had been praying through the missions book Operation World, and he had been thinking more and more about his impact on eternity as he sat in church every Sunday. But one day the words came clear as a bell right where he sat in Houston, Texas — “You’ve committed everything to me except your job.” Larry knew the thought had come from God. He took a deep breath, and he told God to put him and his family wherever he wanted them to be. “I was beginning to see the world through God’s eyes in terms of lostness,” he relayed. “For me, that meant seeing if I could use my medical skills in a way that had more Kingdom impact.” Larry’s current work was his dream job. He was a flight surgeon for NASA, providing medical care for pilots and crewmembers. But it soon became evident that God was drawing him to walk away and move his family to serve with the IMB in Africa. To step out in obedience, he had to stomach some major sacrifices — for one, he was selected as a finalist candidate for astronaut duty in space. That was hard to leave.
Larry Pepper (center) was a NASA flight surgeon before God put him on a different
trajectory—working with the IMB at hospitals in Africa. He’s now spent more than two
decades offering hope at the bedside of the hurting there. IMB photo[/caption] His wife, Sally, had some reservations too. “For me, the hardest part was just wrestling with the fears that kept creeping back in — mostly the fear of homeschooling my kids in Africa,” she said. “But in a moment, God changed those fears, and I had a complete peace that Africa was where we were supposed to be.” That peace followed her as she, Larry, and their three children moved to Uganda for 12 years, then Lesotho for two, and then Tanzania for eight more. Over the years, they have spent countless hours at the bedside of the hurting, leading them to the pages of the Bible and bringing them to lasting hope in Christ. They have discipled university students. They have helped brand new mothers get on their feet and find faith. They have started AIDS clinics and planted churches. They have seen people find life, and they have buried the ones whom death has overcome. And through it all, they have seen God move in amazing ways, Larry said. The sense of the Father’s loving sovereignty has never left them, from the early 1990s in Texas all the way to today. “It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to use weak, sinful human beings in Kingdom work, but that’s what God does in our lives,” Larry explained. “We have seen His faithfulness throughout all of these years as we’ve worked here. It has been humbling and incredible to watch.” PRAY FOR
  • Larry and Sally to maintain endurance in their medical ministry and have open doors to disciple the people they meet.
  • God to call out more workers to leave the United States and serve among the unreached overseas. Pray for them to be sensitive to his leading and obedient to the call.

2018 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering National goal: $160 million 2018 Week of Prayer for International Missions – December 2-9 imb.org/lmco  Generous giving to the 2018 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering® makes a massive difference in the world. Men, women, children, and entire communities are transformed as a result of this offering. Your gifts enable thousands of missionaries to live among, serve, and share the gospel with people who have never heard it until now. Every December since 1888, the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering has empowered Southern Baptist’s international missions work. At the beginning of this giving season, we start with a week of prayer dedicated to international missions, taking place December 2-9. Through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, you and your church: Support over 3,600 missionaries Enable disciples to be made and churches to be multiplied around the world Continue the SBC’s 173-year commitment to missions
Larry Pepper, Lottie Moon Christmas Offering