Living Well and Letting Go

I have sat down to write this blog numerous times, the topic as well as my heart keep changing.  So, I am going to blend two topics that lead into each other. 

Recently I attended the funeral of a friend who truly loved the Lord and lived her life despite very difficult circumstances with hope, grace, love and above all faith in God and His love for her.  Those who attended the service were challenged to “finish well”.  This made me think about what it is to live well and ultimately to finish our lives well.  We must point to Jesus through all and share the hope and love that a relationship with Him provides.  So, the question I ask myself and maybe for you to ask yourself is:  Are we living well?

Psalm 27: 1  The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear.  The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

Part of living well and having faith is letting go.  As I take this journey towards full time missions I am striving to let God have total control in my life.  Please pray that I would be able to be His obedient servant.  Today, someone asked me “would you be disappointed if this did not work out with the organization you have applied”.  I tried to answer as I have so many times to similar questions; that I know God could close the door or place me back in a waiting period at any time and that I was ok with that.  As this person looked at me (honestly I got pretty emotional) I realized I don’t know how ok with that I am.  I know that I only want to go forward if it is God’s will, but if the doors close I will be disappointed.  So, please pray for me that I would let go of any agenda I have and solely be dependent on following Him WHEREVER and WHENEVER He leads.  The missions process is moving along, the agency has my 19 references and I will be taking an exam and psychological profile in the next few weeks.  It is in His hands.

Flood the Nations

 John 4 ¹³ Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.^[b] The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” ¹⁵ The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

This verse keeps coming up in my study and in my life.  I have been in John 4 in my quiet time, our pastor spoke on it last week and we are in the midst of planning a church event with this as our theme.  For those in North Carolina please consider attending our Global Impact Celebration Saturday, November 15^th 9am prayer breakfast, 6pm taste of the nation’s banquet with guest speakers and Sunday, November 16^th our service will be on this and I will be on stage for some questions as well as Sunday night 5:30 pm our dessert and worship celebration with guest speaker. 

PT walked through John 4 as a way of communicating the gospel and an example of how Jesus did this.  May we communicate His message effectively and to all; that is my prayer for you and for myself.  In John 4:13-15 Jesus appeals to the woman at the wells desire.  Jesus knew this woman was broken hearted and lost and He showed her the way to eternal life.  After my recent visit to West Africa and especially with the illness and death in that part of the world I am burdened to share this eternal life with them.  I remember when I was not a believer feeling hopeless and lost, I know I will never feel that way again.  I pray each of you reading this feels the hope and security of God’s promise to you, if you are struggling with this please contact me as I would love to talk and pray alongside you. 

As a response to this burden for the lost I have prayerfully and with much Godly counsel made the decision to begin my application for full time missions with ABWE more than likely in West Africa where I visited.  The application process alone is very lengthy, 17 steps.  If that goes well I will be invited to attend a candidate’s seminar in July 2015 at their headquarters in Harrisburg, PA for 10 days of training.  At the end of those 10 days I go before a board and if approved I am commissioned as a missionary with ABWE and the fundraising begins.  I will be living purely on faith, by donations from those who wish to partner with me in this.  As I mentioned this can be a lengthy process, more than likely at least two years.  God may close the door to this opportunity at any point, but for now it is wide open and I am stepping through in faith.  I am excited about this process and a little fearful of all the unknown but as PT says “do you know that you know that you know?”  I know in my heart without a doubt this is what God wants of me and I must serve Him in this manner.  Please pray for this decision, this process, my family and friends that they may understand this need.

Please pray for our Global Impact Celebration 11/15-11/16 that many would be touched and burdened for missions and that God would be glorified through this event.  Please pray for myself on 11/16 as I will be answering questions in front of the congregation and also for myself 11/12 as I will be speaking to our AWANA kids about my recent trip.  

My West African Adventure

For those that have not heard or want to hear again, I am going to give a rundown of my recent mission trip to a small country in West Africa.  It is lengthy, but a lot happened.   Please be praying for the people of this country and for myself as I seek the Lord’s guidance in the decision to take the next step towards full time missions. Thank you all for your prayers during our trip, it was truly blessed and God answered the prayers in mighty ways.  Any concerns I had before I went were taken away completely. 

Friday, 9/5/14 the adventure began.  Early morning arrival at the airport after a workout to start the trip right, thanks Lisa Foil.  I woke up at 4:15 am knowing I would not see a bed again for another 36 hours.  The first step of the journey was smooth sailing.  I was concerned about bags and security as I was carrying a laptop, two hard drives and other electronic equipment for the missionaries there; all of this with a broken foot.  God paved the way as I was given TSA pre check, did not have to take off my boot for my foot or take out any electronics J.  Flight one completed, Charlotte to Washington, DC Dulles without any difficulties.  Our team was to meet up in DC coming from three different airports.  One member was delayed and our team leader left me a voice mail saying PRAY!  For some reason her reservations had been cancelled and she was told the flights were full and they would not book her to DC until she had seats on all of the flights.  I sent out a text and many of you prayed; thank you and God showed up in a mighty way.  With less than 10 minutes to spare a seat “opened up” and she was able to be booked and on her way.  We all met and headed from Washington, DC to Brussels, Belgium for another layover and then on to Dakar, Senegal for a short stop and finally our final destination.  27 ½ hours of flying and layovers. 

9/6/14, we arrived.  We were picked up by some of the full time missionaries, their son had traveled back with us.  We were taken to the mission house in the capital, Banjul for soup, sandwiches and beds.  We were spoiled with beautiful accommodations and even had air conditioning, it was HOT and HUMID!  I delivered everything I had brought for the missionaries running the guest house in Banjul, they had been evacuated from Liberia and were trying to make a new temporary home in The Gambia.   I did experience the call to prayer that is heard throughout the country several times per day, it was an eerie sound but served as a prompting for me to pray for the lost in this country. 

9/7/14 more travel.  We were in the capital but needed to get to the village where the clinic is.  I had been warned this would be an adventure.  The country is small and divided in half by a river, we needed to be on the other side.  As the crow flies it is about 40 miles.  I always think of miles equaling time, not in Africa.  This river that divides the country runs 300 miles and has no bridges across it.  So, we had to take a ferry ride.  The ferry in the capitol is very busy so we elected to drive to another town over 100 miles away to that ferry crossing and then drive back on the other side of the river to our destination.  I learned quickly there is no fast going here as the police stop you every 10 miles or less to ask about your papers and hope for some bribes.  Took us a little while at the stops as our driver had forgotten his driver’s license and we do not pay bribes.  The fact that we were a car full of Tubab’s (white people) going to the NGO (non government organization) with doctors (1 nurse, 1 PA and 1 NP) helped our progress a lot.  The fact that we were covered in prayer made it a safe journey.  As we pulled up to the ferry there was a line of 125 (the 10 year old counted) semi trucks waiting to get on, we were escorted right on without delay.  By the way, the ferry only holds 2-3 semi trucks and a couple cars so the drivers will sometimes wait for several days to cross the river.  They do have hammocks under their loads to at least get a nap in.  After 6 hours we made it to the compound and met the other missionaries (remember, I said it is only about 40 miles).  We were shown our house which had all we needed including an elaborate system for power.  There is no electricity, so they have solar panels that charge car batteries and then each room has a 12 volt cigarette lighter in it that will allow you to run a fan (praise God) and charge things.  There is an inverter for some lights and other electronics, but you have to be careful not to use up the stored charge.  We had church with the missionaries and I was given the opportunity to share my testimony and what God is doing in my life as well as my prayers for the future. 

Monday started off with a special blessing, a gorgeous sunrise.  As I got up and looked across the fence to the vast flat lands around me I finally realized, “I am in Africa”.  I quickly felt at home with the missionaries and in the country and my prayer became “God, I don’t want to make things happen, keep me calm and show me what your next step in my life is”.  Please continue to help me pray that prayer.  The clinic ran much of the day.   I had the opportunity to work alongside Sara the only full time medical missionary who was there when we were.  The language barrier was indeed frustrating, the national language is English but most villagers do not go to school and do not learn English.  The majority of the people where we were spoke Wolof a verbal only language very difficult to learn.  The people are a very social and friendly people, but they are lost and my heart breaks for them.  As I returned to our home for a break I saw our house lady going to the house also, again so frustrated I did not know the language.  I had been told she was a believer and wanted to encourage her, I pray she heard my heart.  She  does speak some English and the first words she said to me were “I am a believer and I have learned to hug”.  Wow, what a blessing to be hugged by her.  Until that moment I had not even realized that they did not hug or touch each other, this is a huge step and an outward sign of her belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and savior.  She continues to grow in her faith and even has a group of ladies that comes to her house weekly that she shares with.  Please keep MK in your prayers.  As we finished up the clinic for the day a little girl came in after having fallen into a bowl of very hot food, she had bad burns.  Literally she was scooped out of the food to our clinic, after some Tylenol (the strongest stuff we had) and a bath in the sink we could work on her.  What a blessing we were there to help care for her.  When I left the wounds were looking much better and I felt more comfortable they would not get infected.  We also had a little girl with a leg wound from a donkey cart injury that was badly infected.  We saw her daily and she was tough; by the time I left I was confident her leg would be saved.  Not bragging on our work, just that God had us in the right place at the right time with the right supplies. After closing up the clinic and a late lunch and needed nap (it was Hot) it was visiting time.  Every afternoon from 5-7pm or so everyone in the village goes visiting.  We walked into the village and visited with some of the locals, they all wanted to see the Tubab’s.  I could really see how God could use this social time to share about His saving grace in a non confrontational manner. 

Tuesday was another clinic day with some very special opportunities including the privilege of praying with a man who has a chronic infection in his leg and has had it for many years.  He has been shunned by the community as they feel this is a demonic possession.  We spent time with him and I was able to wash his foot for him, all I could think of was Jesus washing the feet of the apostles.  I prayed as I washed and I believe he is open to the gospel.  We discussed the opportunities for him in terms of treatment and we realized and shared with him there was nothing we could do, but Jesus Christ the great healer could work it out for him.  We prayed with him and I ask that you would join me in lifting up I* in prayer.  We went into the village again in the afternoon and were treated to a ceremonial tea (the picture is of us drinking tang, the appetizer before the tea) and lots of time visiting with the ladies of the village and their children.    

The following day, Wednesday was a day off from the clinic.  We had the opportunity to spend time relaxing and enjoying God’s word and His creation.  We were especially blessed by a full rainbow over our compound.  We went into the market to spend time with the villagers and to do a little shopping.  I was very grateful for our 4 wheel drive as we did some serious mudding.  There is only one paved road on our side of the river and there were torrential downpours nightly.  I was a little worried we might get the car stuck in some of the holes as they were much deeper than they looked.  A little off roading into peanut fields helped us keep going.  Prayer time with the missionaries that night, what an honor to come alongside them and lift up to the Lord their struggles, their needs and their vision for the future. 

Thursday was another busy clinic day with prenatal checkups and childhood immunizations as well as some sick kids.  We said our goodbyes to the local staff and they all asked us to come back and to say hello to our family and “all of America”, so hello everyone.  We had the opportunity to have dinner with the missionaries that live in the village and see their different way of living.  They have limited water at times, so during the nightly thunderstorm their son was in charge of standing in the rain and gathering as much rain as possible in buckets.  We then had the opportunity to have dessert with Sara, the medical missionary.  She shared many of her struggles and joys on the mission field.  Sara is a young single woman so I was able to ask her a lot of specific questions about the transition to full time missions as well as the preparation and what daily life looks like for her.  It can be lonely, so please pray for all the missionaries. 

Friday was a down day, packing, preparing and reflecting with lots of visit and goodbyes to the missionaries and the villagers who all want us to come back.  We had been planning a bonfire for Friday, but every night had been full of thunderstorms so we were not hopeful it would happen.  God blessed us yet again.  After Friday pizza night, no take out here, all home made we had a bonfire.   Looking up into the sky with no clouds, no lights, no buildings, no mountains I felt very small.  I knew God was right with us and despite feeling small in His vast universe I felt overwhelmingly blessed.  I was tired and did not get good pictures, sorry.

Saturday started our journey home.  Again awoke at 4am to start a very long trek.  This time we were not bringing a car into the city, so we took the closer ferry direct to the capitol.  As we drove up to be dropped off with our suitcases there were many cars waiting and hundreds of people. I had been warned that it would be a mad rush onto the ferry with our stuff and that people would also be trying to steal our bags during this process.  Again, we were specially blessed.  By now my foot was hurting quite a bit and we asked if we could have a little special help.  We were allowed to be dropped off in the car line instead of with all of the other people and we got on the ferry before everyone else.  This allowed us to safely get on the boat and get seats with our stuff.  We got across the river and hopped in cabs to the mission house.  Then it was off to be tourists, a little shopping and a nice meal out.  We had a short break in the air conditioning of the mission house and enough time to shower and change before heading to the airport for our long journey back to the states.  As I checked in at the desk in the capitoll I found out I had an extra special blessing, a free upgrade to business class.  My seat reclined nearly flat and had a massager.  Needless to say, I slept well and the flight attendant had to wake me up when we landed in Brussels, Belgium. 

Sunday, we had an 11 hour layover so we took the train into Brussels and did some sightseeing.  Not a lot was open early Sunday morning, but we got some good pictures and a coffee and Belgian waffle.  The travel continued to Washington, DC and eventually Charlotte where I arrived in my bed at 12:15 Sunday night, well really Monday morning.  Thanks for picking me up Lisa Parrish, not sure I could have driven home, I was beat. 

What an awesome opportunity.  For those of you who read this far thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed sharing the adventure with me.  Each of you who prayed and / or supported were there right alongside me every step of the way. 

Spiritual Warfare

Ephesians 6 “¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. ¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” I am preparing to enter a country permeated with an ungodly influence and I need His armor and your prayers.  Please see the prayer handout in the email and feel free to share with any other prayer warriors, print it off and post it, whatever you wish.  So many times I fail to arm myself daily and lose the battle before it even begins.  Believers are to arm themselves first with prayer that will then give them truth, righteousness, peace, faith, rest in their salvation, and the word of God to combat the enemy.  One must stay dressed for the battle and be constantly on alert.  Pray that I may be ready.  From our team leader “You will definitely hear the call of prayer on a daily basis. You need to be sure you are wearing the armor of God as we are entering Satan’s territory. He continues to try to do anything to stop the Word of God from going out.  “

We leave Friday, September 5^th and return Sunday, September 14^th although one team member will be staying on another two weeks.  I have no idea what God has in store for our team, but I know He is a huge God and I am going as a willing servant.  Pray that I may be protected spiritually and physically, that words and means would be given to proclaim His name.    Pray specifically that God brings understanding to those I encounter, His word is never void. 

God’s Provision and the Test of Plenty

Exodus 16:4 (ESV)

⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.

            This verse speaks of God’s provision for the Israelites.  He provided for them daily and only the amount needed.   I have been praying and preparing for my upcoming trip to a country where many people do not even have their daily provision let alone the abundance we have here.  We studied this week about the test of plenty.  When our needs are met are we obedient to God?  Or, are we obedient only when we feel our needs are not being met and out of this unfulfilled need do we then look to be more obedient?  Please join me in praying that I may be obedient and thankful for the provision of plenty God Has loaned me.  May we never forget that everything we have is His and only on loan. 

            On this note, I thank God for some extra financial provision lately.  My mission trip is paid in full as well as some other expenses that were a surprise.  I have a complete peace about our upcoming trip; especially now that I have a plane ticket and a visa.  I am preparing myself physically and spiritually in the upcoming weeks.  Please join me in praying for this upcoming trip that God would guide me in the preparation.  Please pray for God to be preparing the hearts of those we will be ministering to. 

            Some of you have expressed your concern about the Ebola Virus and I am sure others of you are thinking about it.  Yes, I am going to West Africa but there have been no confirmed cases in The Gambia.  I have a peace about the trip and I am not concerned although of course I will be cautious.  This outbreak has been ongoing since March and only hit the media with such force recently because two Americans have the disease.  I ask that you pray for those with the disease and for the healthcare providers in these countries.  The hospital treating all of the cases in Liberia is run by Samaritans Purse, pray that God’s light would shine during this difficult time and many would come to know Him through this. 

            Please take some time to watch the video I sent in the email it will give you a better vision of the ministry I will be partnering with and help you to pray specifically. 

            May God bless all of you and may we all pass the test of plenty remembering the source of our provision and following Him obediently.  

Change

            Most of you who know me understand that I am really not a fan of change.  I am recovering from a long drawn out sinus infection and I had to embrace some change during this process.  I could not do all I wanted to do, I had to sit different places as I could not hear or speak and I had to cancel some commitments.  All things I don’t like and truly minor things, but it was still change. 

            Life really is about change, our walk with God is change as we draw nearer to Him and change to be more like Him.  The only constancy is God, Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.  I am so grateful for His unchanging love and my relationship with Him. 

            My mission trip to The Gambia is rapidly approaching and I know this will be an experience full of change, uncomfortableness and challenges.  I pray this will be an experience that honors God; where He uses us mightily.  The “plan” is for us to leave on Friday 9/5/14 and return Sunday 9/14/14.  Most of you know that I am a “planner”, I have to laugh as I type that.  Please pray for our trip and for the details to come together smoothly, we are less than 60 days out and do not have plane tickets or visas yet (pray specifically that this goes smoothly).  Pray for me so that I may have  peace and calm as we go forward. 

            I know that God is stretching me, because anyone who has ever been on a mission trip knows the overall theme is always CHANGE.  “Plans” are never what we think they are, but God and His plan always prevails.  The leader of our team recently sent out a prayer email and I am copying part of what she sent about change.  “Change is needed at the Health Center in The Gambia. Change that brings new health care personnel to that ministry.”  Pray for wisdom for myself and our team. 

            I pray all of you will embrace the exciting changes that come when you walk with the Lord.  

Ministry is Hard

Ok, any of you involved in ministry on any level know that it can be challenging and messy.  The month of May started off with a wonderful sermon by pastor Chad Miller on the difficulty of ministry. In his great way he allowed God to speak through him and I certainly was convicted.  We studied John 6:66 and that when faced with the hard questions many turned away and no longer walked with Jesus.  So, I was challenged: What do I do when the questions, the choices, the decisions and my walk with the Lord gets tough?  Honestly I am still struggling and praying over that one, please pray with me.  I hope I stick closer to God and that is my desire.

God in His grace gave me many experiences over the last month to see ministry working well and to see the need for complete surrender when doing His work.  I first had the opportunity to visit my church family in Nicaragua.  The Perry’s and the Harbinson’s are serving God there in a mighty way.  I went to see what their transition was like and to get a glimpse of how God is using them.  It was a quick trip but a very special experience with my Nicaragua family.  It was a sweet and precious time that God ordained for me, including sitting next to a young woman moving to Nicaragua to be a full time missionary with ABWE (the organization I have been looking in to partnering with).  It was also a painful time, resources are limited and the need is great.  Pray for Rosa Emilia a woman in the village with a very serious medical condition.   I had the opportunity to visit and pray with her, but my medical skills could do her no good. (Did I mention God wanted me to surrender all to Him).  The beautiful smile she gave through her pain when we prayed was such a blessing and sweet reminder of what is important in life. 

I then had the amazing opportunity to go to ABWE (Association of Baptists for World Evangelism) headquarters in Harrisburg, PA for a medical mission’s conference.  I was humbled even before I got to the conference by a severe cold, fever and chills that almost made it not possible for me to attend.  The power of prayer prevailed and I made it there, a little worse for wear.  Within 10 minutes of being there I knew this organization was where God wanted me.  I was welcomed with open arms and one of the first speakers challenged all of us to provide “the kind of healthcare worthy of the name of Jesus Christ”.  Wow, talk about being humbled.  That speaker is correct; we are all called to live in a way worthy of the name of Jesus Christ.  Please pray I may be a better example of His love, compassion and grace in my everyday life.  Anyone can provide healthcare, but when it is done in His name with His power the gift is so much more.  The goal is providing first and foremost for the spiritual needs of others.  As the conference continued the challenge and honestly the fear came out.  I spoke with people and watched presentations about the extremely limited resources in some of these healthcare facilities.  I heard of people’s medical skills being stretched far beyond their training and I said to the woman leading my trip in September “it is a good thing God told me I am supposed to be on this trip before I came here because I might have chickened out”.  I admit I still have a little fear, but I know that this trip and wherever that leads is God’s plan. As the president of ABWE said “our life assignment is to remain with Him and bring people along and when the assignment is larger than life and unnerving we know He is with us (Emmanuel)”.

So, yes ministry is hard but the reward is great.  I pray for all of you as we each have a ministry in our day to day life that can be ugly, messy and difficult sometimes.  May God’s light shine through you and may you follow Him closely.    

            

Discipline

It has been a busy few months. I am sitting here reflecting on how blessed I am.  I have had the opportunity to go on a relaxing wonderful vacation to Colorado where I truly was in awe of God’s glory and I have been able to complete my class on World Missions and learn so much.  Most importantly, this class has confirmed over and over my “call” to world missions.  During our last class we watched a video with a panel of amazing missiologists who talked about the process of becoming full time missionaries.  They stressed the importance of being certain that this is what God wants you to do, as you will be attacked.  I sat there watching this and tears were in my eyes, because I truly am certain that this is what God wants for me and I am going to continue to move forward.

 Discipline; that is a hard word to even type.  We live in a world without a lot of discipline but as Christians we are called to be different.  Part of the process and transition towards full time missions is learning discipline and I believe I need a lot of work in this area.  I am tempted to write self-discipline as I know I need to discipline myself, but it is really God disciplining me and giving me the strength to make the right choices as well as forgiving me when I make the wrong ones.  I was extremely convicted when I read this in one of my textbooks:  “One key qualification of missionaries who have made an impact is self-discipline. It takes discipline to maintain an effective devotional life, it takes discipline to develop regular Bible study habits. That discipline carries over into other areas of life: the proper use of time and money, etc. The word discipline comes from the same root as “disciple.” Ultimately the key issue is discipleship. Six times in the Gospels we find the Lord’s emphasis on this imperative for all believers, but especially for prospective missionaries: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (Lk. 9:23). This could not be referring to salvation since it is a daily matter. He is talking about the necessity of self-denial and putting self to death in the life of the true believer. This is basic to preparation for missionary service. Much of missionary failure goes back to inconsistency in this issue.” 

I am really humbling myself here; I struggle with discipline in all of these areas, devotional life, bible study, time and money.  So, my prayer request is that you would pray for me to have discipline in these areas of my life and for God to reveal to me when I am lax. 

Another prayer request is for the trip to The Gambia, West Africa.  Pray for God to put together the team that He desires and will use.  Pray for funding.  Pray for the fulltime missionaries there and the people we encounter.  Pray for God’s word to penetrate that small country.  We are still several months away, leaving 9/5/14 but preparation is in full swing.  I will be going to Harrisburg, PA the headquarters of ABWE (the organization I am going with) in June for a medical missions conference and I look forward to having the opportunity to meet many of their missionaries including those leading this trip.  Pray for that trip as well as my trip in May to Nicaragua to visit with the Perrys and Harbinsons who are full time missionaries there. 

You are all in my prayers, please email me specific requests. 

Family

A friend and I were recently discussing my call to missions and me possibly moving out of the country in the near future.  She said, what about all the people; all the relationships you will leave behind; you won’t know anyone there……  Well, it is not like I thought I could bring all of my “family” with me but I guess I kind of blocked out that part. 

First of all when I use the term family, the reason I put it in quotes is because for me many of the people who I think of as “family” are those that I do everyday life with.  My biological family, my church family, my work family, my charlotte family, my neighborhood family.  For those of you that do not know I really do think of all of you as part of a family that God has chosen to give me and I cherish each of these relationships. 

Part of my “family” is preparing to head to the mission field full time in Nicaragua, 16 days from now if I am counting correctly.  Of course I wish them all the best and know they are following God, but I will still miss them.  As I was thinking and praying about them leaving and maybe me leaving in the future at first I was sad.  I kept praying and God in His perfect timing gave me some answers.  I have had the amazing opportunity to interview two full time missionaries for my world missions class and one of them without knowing I was having this struggle showed me the answer.  Mark 10:29-30 “²⁹ “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel ³⁰ will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.”  This missionary shared that as he was teaching this verse in a bible study on the other side of the world he shared with those around him that he looked at them as family that God had given him to replace those left behind in the United States.  Now, I am not saying my family here is replaceable, but what God has shown me is that I need not fear.  He will provide for me a new family wherever He places me. 

Thank you for all your prayers and please keep them up.  I have been accepted to go with a medical team to The Gambia West Africa this September  with Association of  Baptists for World Evangelism.  Please pray for the trip, for those that are leading it and for the full time missionaries there that we may serve them well.  I will keep you informed on fundraising and the trips progress.  I had the honor of serving with the 4 year olds at West Cabarrus Church today and we all survived.  Yesterday, I started volunteering with part of Charlotte Rescue Mission and some of the people they serve.  God is so good and I am feeling very blessed. 

I am praying for each of you that God will show you where He wants you to be and will use you in a mighty way.  

The Fullness of God’s Promises

 (This is a long entry, I tried to put most of the information in the first part so if you don’t have time you don’t have to read it all)

God gives those who follow Him promises, just look at all the opportunities He gave Israel over and over again to be His chosen nation.  Heck, I need to look at myself look at all the opportunities and blessings He gives me over and over again.  The breath I take each day, my salvation, His provision are all gifts from Him.  God wants to use me, He wants to use all His people to expand His kingdom.  He invites us to join Him in His work.  What an amazing God that is.  I believe He promises us blessings as we are obedient to him; I am not saying life will be great but when we attempt to see the eternal picture those that know the Lord are truly blessed. 

As part of His plan, I believe God gives specific promises to specific people and I believe this “call” (more about the quotation marks in the last paragraph) I have to missionary work is a promise from God.  I hope those of you that follow this blog know that I have never doubted this, I have just been wondering when, where, how, etc (ok, He created me as a planner).  I do feel that He has had me in a period of waiting, after lots of prayer and guidance as well as confirmation I think I am supposed to start moving.  Right on God’s schedule, in the fullness of his timing and in the middle of His will (from Experiencing God by Blackaby). 

In the last month alone so many things have started happening.  I have mentioned before that I feel I am supposed to go somewhere very different than I have ever been for my next short term mission trip.  After much prayer and now much confirmation I am in the process of applying for a short term trip to West Africa for the fall.  Please pray for this opportunity, for God’s guidance, for the application process and if it is His will for the financial provision.  I have also been given the opportunity to serve and teach in the 4 year old classroom at church.  Pray for myself and more importantly for those children that God would speak through me and through the church into their lives.  I believe these serving opportunities  are specifically to prepare me for the mission field.

God is so good, both of these opportunities have truly come in somewhat miraculous ways.  My prayer for a while has been that I not make things happen and certainly I did not make these doors open.  I was doing a little research on missionary agencies, actually just curious about one someone had mentioned.  This search led me to their website and after some clicking their short term medical mission’s trips.  I did not even know they had medical missionaries with this organization.   I looked at the list and prayed over the opportunities and there was one that kind of jumped out at me.  Of course, this was the one with no further information and as much as I wanted to know more I couldn’t at that moment.   So, I started filling out my application and of course me, in my flesh was kind of frustrated because I just wanted more information.  I love as I type this how often I and me come about; yes I know that was the problem.  I emailed the organization for something not at all related to the trip, a paper for my world mission’s class.  The email I got back was from a wonderful woman, a nurse practitioner who has been a full time missionary to the country I am looking at going to and who happens to be the person leading that trip J.  I had to laugh out loud when I got that email.  As far as serving with the children, I got an email from our preschool director stating she had been praying about someone to fill an open slot in the 4 year olds and my name came up.  She had no idea I used to work with 4 year olds at my previous church and that age is my absolute favorite age, let alone that I was praying about more opportunities to serve. 

Now, back to those quotation marks around the word call.  I am taking a world mission’s class which is absolutely amazing.  Despite the crazy work load I am loving it (yes, my instructor may be reading this I am just being honest here.)  Some things in the class have really got me thinking and I am going to attempt to summarize a bit of what we are studying just because of the impact it is making on me. One of the interesting topics early on has been looking into a biblical “call” to missions.  The word call in the bible is usually used as a call to salvation, there are no clear missionary “calls” just confirmations.  Interesting and something I had never looked into.  The authors of our text and several other writers / educators describe more of a burden or a guidance than a supernatural experience of a call.  This really got me thinking and to me it makes sense.  Our text also outlines 7 steps to the mission field and I was kind of blown away that when I took an inventory of those items I am already doing them; confirmation of this journey?  Only God knows and I am striving to be near Him and be obedient. 

 Please pray for ongoing guidance and wisdom for myself and I pray the same for all of you.  Sorry about the length of the entry, for those that know me well when I get really excited you just cannot shut me up……

COMPLETION

Ok, I sat down a few days ago to write about a different topic and today this topic kind of slapped me over the head.  Or God sent me the flashing neon sign as some of my friends refer to these moments. 

I was doing some reflecting and really getting down on myself as I feel like there is not a lot of movement or progress in my life.  I have many struggles and I feel like I have not made a lot of headway in them.  Do you notice how many times I used the word I there?  Of course I know that I have no power over the temptations and struggles in my life, but am I allowing God to use His power.  Am I living victoriously; to be honest probably not.

 Most of you probably know what a planner I am, a little overboard at times (yes, you may laugh).  As I have shared on this blog before God is really teaching me to let go of any agenda I have.  I do fail miserably at that some days and then my initial reaction is to beat myself up.  So, my challenge to myself and maybe for some of you is to live DAILY.   The bible speaks of this daily living repeatedly; taking up our cross daily, seeking God daily, delighting in God and His word daily, our daily bread, His grace and compassion that are new each morning.  I will also borrow a silly statement that did speak to me.  Stop looking in the rear view mirror! 

Back to the title of completion, this means lacking nothing.  I cannot complete any work in my life, my salvation is complete in Jesus my Lord and Savior but I will not be complete until the day I meet Him face to face.  Paul wrote to the church at Philippi his prayer for them in Phillipians 1:3-6 ³I thank my God upon all my remembrance of you, ⁴always in every supplication of mine on behalf of you all making my supplication with joy, ⁵for your fellowship in furtherance of the gospel from the first day until now; ⁶being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ: ^[1]  This is my prayer for myself and each of you that God will make us complete and perfect lacking nothing. 

I am praying about what opportunities God will provide in 2014, but more importantly I am praying that I will grow nearer to Him in the upcoming year.