Created for a Mission

Over the past week I have gotten to know numerous missionaries from all over the world who are in the US from home assignment.  Folks are here from Brazil, Argentina, Japan and the Philippines.   We have laughed together, eaten together and just fellowshipped together.  Yesterday we went on a bus trip about an hour away where we had a picnic lunch at a park by a lake, visited Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little house in the Big Woods home (i.e., Little House on the Prairie), a cheese factory and ice cream store with some yummy ice cream, and an eagle sanctuary.  Our trip took us across into Wisconsin, so I hit another state on this trip.  How exciting! 

I’ve been wanting to share with you since I arrived but we’ve had limited access to the internet.  It is beautiful here in the summer time.  I’ll qualify that statement because I’m not sure what it is like the rest of the year.  The Bethel University campus is great.  It is very peaceful.  There’s a wonderful lake with a path that goes all the way around it.  For the past two nights I have walked to the lake at sunset.  On Monday, Natasha, Katherine, and I walked to the lake.  Last night all appointees went for a walk together. Here’s a couple of pictures of the lake at sunset and some of the appointees.

It has been awesome to reconnect with old friends from the Denver Mac in October and with new friends from the past two MACs.  It is also very inspiring to meet the missionaries who are back in the US on home assignment.  They started arriving yesterday.  There’s a couple here from the Philippines who are retiring after over 30 years of service. 

Please pray for the rest of our time here in Minnesota.

I woke up early this morning to make final preparations for my next adventure to Minnesota.  I will be taking off today at 2:30pm.  I am going for additional training ministry partner development and the BGC/Converge Worldwide bi-annual meeting.  While in Minnesota we will work hard, play some and all the new missionary appointees (including myself) will be commissioned.  I’ll post highlights from the trip as I go. 

I found out this morning that I am at 68.8% of my funding support.  Yeah!!!!  I just want to celebrate the greatness of God.  I am continually amazed at the faithfulness of God in my life.  Thank you to all of you who pray for me on a regular basis.  I truly appreciate you!

Matthew 14:24-29 talks of Peter’s bold step of faith that allowed him to walk on water with Jesus.  I can relate to Peter in that, I am all the way out of the boat and walking on water myself.  It least that’s how I feel.  It’s been a week since my last day working on staff at First Baptist Church of Glenarden.  I am now officially a fulltime missionary appointee engaging in Ministry Partner Discovery.  I know that in the coming days, I will be able to relate more to Peter as he looked at the wind and begun to sink, but I know that Jesus has bid me to come!  I want to be a water walker for the rest of my life.

Today, God allowed me to have my first meeting with a church outside of my home church.  It was so exciting to prepare and to go and speak about God’s mission and His call for me to go to Ukraine.  I met with the Outreach and Evangelism Pastor for Zion Church here in Maryland.  He is a missions minded man of God serving in a seven year old church that is about to take the world by storm.  As I drove home from the meeting I was ecstatic about having such an awesome opportunity to dialogue about missions and God’s passion for the lost.  God just keeps blowing my mind with the opportunities that He’s presenting me with and the people the He’s allowing me to meet.  Praise Him! 

A Great and Effective DoorToday was the second and final day for the Annual Meeting and it was powerful.  The speaker confirmed that God has indeed opened a door.  I shared my testimony about how short term missions to Ukraine impacted my life.  The district also commissioned and prayed for Natasha and me.  All in all it was a very emotion filled day.  But through it all God was speaking and moving.  I truly do love Him for His goodness.  Here’s a picture of Pastor Jenkins praying for me with Pastor Crawford. 

I arrived in Cleveland OH today for the MBC Annual Meeting.  The flight was delayed a bit, but we arrived safely.  I attended a great session on Reaching Your Muslim Neighbors and then we were off to a dinner cruise on the river and lake.  Below is a picture of the Cleveland skyline at night from the water.  It is beautiful!

This weekend my sister graduated from Howard University in DC.  It was great because it brought the family together.  Here are some pictures of my family.

Praise God!  I want to take the time to acknowledge God for His goodness and celebrate all that He is doing in the earth and in my life.  I have a few new partners and praise God I am now 59% supported.  God is good and His mercy endures forever. 

This week is also moving week for me.  My good friend Karen has opened up her home to me and I am now officially living in my new space.  I still have to move the last few things out of my house but that will happen by the end of the week.  It has been a difficult process for me but God is good and His mercy endures forever.  Praise Him for His goodness!