Heather Riggleman—Sometimes God Plants a Seed and Waits Nine Years to Water It

Fifteen years ago, I was sitting on a pew in a small church in Kearney, Nebraska—sippy cups in the van, laundry waiting at home, three children who still needed me to tie their shoes and butter their toast—when the pastor opened the invitation to serve in the Philippines.

I didn’t raise my hand. I didn’t even look up.

A Stirring I Couldn’t Explain

I just sat there with a stirring in my chest I couldn’t explain.

I was a stay-at-home mom. I barely had enough energy to make dinner, let alone raise support, pack bags, and fly across oceans. Why would God ask for something that felt impossible?

But obedience rarely comes dressed in convenience.

It comes dressed like a trembling yes.

Three months later, I found myself on a plane—36 hours from everything familiar. I thought it was because a tsunami had washed away a church. I thought we were showing up to rebuild walls and hammer nails in Jesus’ name.

But God had something different in mind.

Something lodged deep in my spirit. A seed. Small and quiet.

Nine Years Later

Babies grew into teenagers. The house quieted. And then—one random afternoon—my phone buzzed.

“Would you help us tell our story? Would you help people in the U.S. understand what God is doing here?”

I felt the same stirring—the same gentle nudge from years before in that Nebraska pew.

Only this time, the call wasn’t to pack a suitcase. It was to carry a story. It wasn’t to cross oceans. It was to bridge them.

So I began working behind the scenes—sharing updates, writing articles, and telling stories of missionaries and leaders who are using phones like lanterns in a dark world.

What a holy surprise to realize I didn’t need to travel 36 hours by plane anymore. God simply wanted my yes, right where I was.

The Truth About Obedience

Today, my work is to help people here see what God is doing there. I help Asia Pacific Media raise awareness so that pastors in remote regions can access biblical training. So young believers can use media to disciple their own communities. So a widow, isolated in her rural home, can watch a gospel film and know she’s not forgotten.

You and I don’t have to get on a plane to be obedient.

Obedience is sometimes right here, right now—from the desk where we answer emails, from the budget we steward, from the quiet yes whispered between grocery trips and school pick-ups.

APMedia’s harvest fields are already ripe. Workers are already standing in the heat of day. But movements require senders. Ministry needs carriers of the story.

Your partnership becomes fuel in the hands of workers already on assignment. Your giving becomes hope delivered digitally into homes. Your yes becomes someone else’s miracle.

Not thousands of miles away—but right here, through the choice you make today.