Operation Cameroon Yard Sale
That’s what the advertisement read. The Church was helping to send our family to Cameroon in a practical way. For the past eight months people have asked when we would have a yard sale. The idea of organizing a huge yard sale was scary to me - scarier than uprooting ourselves and moving overseas. I was glad that others volunteered to organize one when we were ready.
But somehow God had other plans for me - plans to bless me and grow me and teach me about Him and His sovereignty and goodness and blessings.
We are moving in December, which would not have the best weather for a yard sale. When I finally felt ready and started looking for dates, the best option was only two weeks away. Unfortunately, for that particular date, many of my volunteers couldn’t do the whole thing. Many couldn’t even come to the sale! God allowed me to be angry, scared, and finally fall on my knees and pray – which is what I should have done first. God showed me that he was in charge and he would provide in ways I couldn’t even imagine.
The blessings flew in during those two weeks. There was a lot of support from friends to write ads and post them, donations beyond belief, people willing to teach me what to do, a lot of help organizing and pricing hundreds of items, and all of it coming at the right time. With little sleep and frayed nerves, this was definitely becoming God’s work, not mine. Psalm 37:7 says, “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him… “ Reading that helped me to sleep. My husband and kids, helping and putting up with my crankiness, and praying with and for me, blessed and pointed me upwards. I wasn’t doing it by myself. It was His way, not mine!
We arrived on the morning of the sale in the dark and God had sent sweet, dear friends to help. Friends whom I didn’t know were coming came. They helped and asked for nothing in return. A family cleaned all the Sunday School rooms where the donations were stored. They were not asked, but they saw the need and they acted. Thank you friends! And people kept coming: helping, buying, asking questions, encouraging. What a blessing!
But Operation Cameroon was not just about another yard sale on a Saturday morning among dozens of others that will happen in our city during the Fall. It was about connecting with people in a new way. It was about developing a new friendship with someone that came to work MANY long hours. It was about reconnecting with old friends as they brought in their donations. It was about the newlywed who brought a couple of small items to sell, but shared her heart and offered help for my parents. It was about little talks with individuals who didn’t know about Wycliffe or Cameroon or our church. It was about the opportunity to share the vision God has given us about serving him in a most unlikely place. It was about being a part of a group that cares if we get to Cameroon or not. It was about having to trust in Him when I knew it was impossible for me.
My own sinful heart shone through as I struggled with exhaustion after the sale. I woke up dreaming of coffee cups that should have been priced lower to sell or conversations with someone who wanted to buy furniture and I wouldn’t go much lower. It was my fault more didn’t sell. My mind worked overtime on my faults and possessions. I feel like the rich young ruler who was asked to go and sell all he possessed and follow Jesus. The man went away sad. That’s where I find myself. Sad over losing possessions that will burn up someday; possessions that are as insignificant as a coffee cup I haven’t used in ten years.
I heard a story once of a man who called himself a backpacker in this life. All he needed he carried around with him on his back. He said that we don’t really belong in this world. We are just traveling through and don’t need any ‘stuff’ that will slow us down in our pursuit of service to the One who created us.
