When our family began ministering in Russia, many students quickly accepted Jesus as Savior. But when we moved out to a village to work with native people, we had the exact opposite experience. The work moved slowly, and the results were almost non-existent.

One day, I recalled a conversation with my mom about the English & Literacy School she directed at our church. She shared that seeing students become Christians was rare during her first ten years of teaching. But Mom pressed on, and after a decade, the floodgates opened, and many students became Christians. She attributed the results to patience and perseverance.

I learned during my years overseas the importance of standing firm in the knowledge that God had called me to cross-cultural ministry. Sometimes, ministry results seemed easy, like plucking grapes off the vine. But other times, we spent years plowing the field with few results.

Patience is one of the fruits of the spirit that is often overlooked; it's not one of the more glamorous fruits. But when movement is slow in ministry, patience is often what we lack. As cross-cultural workers, we are doers and self-starters who long to make a difference and see quick results. But often, our call involves practicing patient perseverance.

We stand in good company in the practice of patient perseverance. Adoniram Judson worked among the Burmese for six years before he saw his first convert. David Livingstone, a global worker/explorer, only saw one African come to Christ during his thirty-three years in Africa. William Carey labored for seven years in India before he saw his first convert. Over the next 19 years of Carey's ministry, 1400 people came to Christ. Following God’s call with patience and perseverance paid off.

In Luke 9:62, Jesus speaks of the importance of keeping our hands on the plow and not looking back. We shouldn't look back and waste time comparing our harvest to a colleague's. Instead, we must keep our focus on obedience to God's call. Each of us has our unique journey in ministry, and we must keep moving forward with our hands on the plow, sometimes moving quickly and other times with patient perseverance.