My Deep Concern for the Churches

In 2 Corinthians 11:22-28, the missionary life lived out by the apostle Paul comes front stage. The spot light shines on this man’s battered body showing all the battle scars from a life on the mission field. Verse 28 shows us where his mind was at daily, the deep concern for the churches.
Sometimes like Paul in 2 Corinthians 11:16 and 17 we missionaries and Pastors can get carried away in our boasting about what all we have been through in our work to get to where we are today. As missionaries we can relate to some of the hardships and trails that Paul boasts about even though he says it is foolishness.
We can feel his pain, but Do we missionaries and pastors have that same deep concern for the churches we pass by in the States and the little churches we leave behind in the dust of our success on the mission fields?
Friends, never let us forget who we are as New Tribes missionaries and why God raised us up. Church planting and leaving without discipleship is not in the Word of God. When we follow Paul as he suggests we will have trails and share in many tribulations along the way. We might even be given a thorn in the flesh to keep us from growing proud in our work in the states as well as on the mission field.
Do we have that same concern for the churches that Paul had in his day or do we find ourselves spending more time worrying about the light afflictions that get in our way? Yes, the trails will be there but the deep concern for the churches can slip away very easily.
Let us be able to say with the Apostle Paul; Acts 20:26 and 27, “Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men, “For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole council of God.”