Thank You, God

Dear God, 

Thank you so much for last week. It was a huge blessing to be back in such a beautiful place: 

And to see so many good friends:

Thank you for the chance to help again with the Hold the Ropes Ministry- helping your servants further Your Kingdom through prayer- Thank you for letting us be a part from wherever we are!

 Thank  you SO much for kind people to help me pack up my little house so that I'll be ready for a new start as staff when I get back:

Thank you especially God for the good memories that happened in the Longhouse. Thank you for the things you taught me. Thank you for the dear, dear friends you gave me there. Thank you that though chapters close- You make us the better for them. 

New Prayer Team

Here are the lovely ladies who are now the Hold the Ropes Prayer Team (HTR). Please pray for them guys! There's a lot to do, and a lot to remember- we blitzed through a LOT of information last week, but there's just no way to cover everything thoroughly. So pray for them while they are getting settled in this awesome ministry!

Leah and  Crystal

And of course, it was wonderful to see Rosemarie, who's been my boss the last two years in HTR, and in the process also became a dear friend. It was so good to see her again and pray together about some of the incredible things going on around the world. God is surely up to some amazing things, and it was such, such SUCH a blessing to be able to be part of this amazing ministry God has put on my heart- even though it was only for a couple of days. 

Rosemarie and I

Not going to lie guys- it was really hard to leave. Super, super hard to leave seeing how desperately short-handed both ministries are. But God knows. And (whether I see it off-hand or  not) His timing is still perfect.

But please keep praying guys- I really, really, really want to be back both HTR and getting my kiddos ready to go as soon as possible! So keep praying for more monthly partners! and for me- that I would focus on Jesus and honor Him while I wait and serve in Philly.

Road Trip

And to make up for you  guys not getting any pictures the last few weeks- now you can have a whole pile!

Oh look- corn. There's a lot of it when you go across the midwest.

And construction....

and more corn: 

and traffic. There was also a lot of that on this trip

Woohoo! Made it to Missouri! (sorry about the bad picture. Silly traffic stopped in an inconvenient place.

And look now: NOT corn. Those hills put me officially back in the Ozarks:

And then.... at last.... 

It is so SO good to be back!

Road Trip

Heading out tomorrow for a week in Missouri to train the new Hold the Ropes (prayer team) staff. Also looking forward to be back in my own little house for a bit, and reconnect with people.
The new car I've been praying about will not be making this trip- so extra prayers for my poor little Bilbo-car to miraculously make not one, but two more 1,000ish mile highway trips. As you may know if you've been reading for a while, my current car is not supposed to be on the highway.... so extra prayers for the trip are greatly appreciated!

Please Pray:
-that I would be a blessing while on this trip and point people to Jesus
-that my car would be able to arrive (and return) safe and whole and functioning
-for training to go well, and be able to accomplish lots
- please keep praying for more monthly financial partners so that I can go back for real ASAP

Why Support a Missionary?

Why does somebody support a missionary, or how do they decide who to support? Well I could answer in prose- but that's no fun. So instead I'll quote my dad. You see, when I was about fourteen, I discovered that my parents were supporting other missionaries. Since we also lived off support, I thought this was weird, and  said so to Dad.  Dad told me something that day, sitting in the hot car in the Walmart parking lot, that I haven't forgotten. He said that support wasn't really about the money. He said that supporting a missionary was about saying that you believe in them, in what's God's doing through them, and want to be part of what God's doing through them.

Why Raise Support?

Lately, I've been getting some questions from people about why do I have to raise support. So I thought I would answer it here on the blog, in case some others of you are wondering and haven't had a chance to ask.

Well, I'll just start with the most obvious reason: because NTM doesn't pay me. I'm still sure this is the ministry God has for me. I'm also sure that I still have to do things like pay rent and buy food etc- so therefore: support raising. Wouldn't it be easier to get a job? Yes it would- believe me I thought long and hard about it. I even prayed long and hard about it- asking God if there was some way I could work a job and still do the ministries He's given me. But there isn't. There just aren't enough hours in the day. Actually that wasn't exactly God's answer. Well, that was part of it, but the end of the discussion was more along the lines of  "What? You don't like the way I'm providing?"*turns red* Right. Sorry, God.

Another reason I think God uses this time of support raising to raise awareness in the church. I remember after speaking to a group of college students, I had several people come up to me and say things like "Wow I had no idea there still were people who don't have a Bible." Out of sight, out of mind, I guess. But one of the opportunities God gives through support raising is the chance to bring least-reached people groups into focus. To highlight the need to get the gospel places it's never been before.

God's giving His people a chance to participate in something that's very dear to His heart- even though the work He's got for them is somewhere else. Isn't that cool? For instance, I know that God wants me in Missouri (eventually. Apparently right now He wants me in Philadelphia) But through prayer, and through giving, God lets me be part of translating the Bible in Burkina Faso, and planting a church in the Philippines. And there are so many, many places where I can't go, but I can still be a part of the awesome stuff God's doing.

Honestly I think probably the biggest reason is that it teaches me to depend on God and my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Being of the stubborn independent persuasion.... I don't like depending on people. Nope. Don't like it. BUT- that doesn't mean I don't need to do it. In fact, God's designed things so that I have to do it. Because actually, learning to depend on people (in a good way) is based on trusting God's sovereignty over people. Trusting that His way is  best. And after all - that's the point of....everything.

"No ill befalls the righteous"

WHAT?!?!?!?! Yeah that's what I thought the first time I read that too. But that's what it said. Right there in my Bible. Yours too- Proverbs 12:21. Look it up- that's really what it says.
When I first read it I was tempted to gloss right over it. You know those verses that you read that don't make any sense, and your first (or at least my first) thought is just to keep right on reading and ignore it because its hard. But God had just been reminding me via a sermon not to be lazy about reading His word. So clearly I needed to stop and think about it. And the thinking about it went something like this:

Bother. "No ill befalls the righteous." ???? That can't be right.   What about all those passages about "all who would live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted", and loads of others.  Hasn't this guy ever read the New Testament? Oh wait- God wrote them both. But they look so opposite! But God never changes. So the standard for righteous never changes, so that's not the difference- either way we need God to make us righteous. But bad things DO happen to God's people so...... what is going on with this verse?
And then God brought to mind a different passage, from Romans 8 "God works all things together for the good of those that love Him" and  then to "for I consider that our present sufferings are not worth being compared to the glory that is prepared for us" and then to " for our light and momentary afflictions are working in us an eternal weight of glory...."
So hard things, hurtful things, things we hate, DO happen to us. But here's the difference: they're not bad. You see, the last half of Proverbs 12:21is about how bad things happen to the wicked.  And for the wicked- that's all they are. Bad. But for the righteous- they're not just bad. They're difficulties that are worth getting through because the good that comes from it is so, so great that the hard thing will seem more than worth it. It's not just bad- it's hard, but it's worth it.

And you know what? I really needed to remember that this week. You see.... today is the day I had hoped to be finished Partnership Development and return to the  Missionary Training Center. And God said no. And that is very, very hard. But after several weeks of moping and more days than I care to admit spent moping on the couch trying to think about something, anything else- God has finally got my attention. And He is reminding me that though it is hard- it's not worth comparing to the good He's got planned to come through this.

A Chance to Help

As you know from my last couple of entries- I do not have enough monthly support to return to the Missionary Training Center this fall. As you also know, there are two ministries that are going to be short handed as a result. I can't really do anything to help childcare, but as it became evident that I was  not going to be able to return for the fall semester, I was particularly burdened about the Hold the Ropes prayer ministry. You see, Rosemarie, the lady in charge, also helps teach classes at the beginning of each semester- such a heavy load that it is vital to have one previously trained staff member be there to train the new staff member. So me not being able to return leaves Rosemarie with the unfortunate dilemma of trying to train the new staff when she already is working 10 hour days.  SO - a few weeks ago I was praying about what I could do to help- and this crazy, insane little idea started to hatch....what if I could get back out to Missouri- just for a few days, to train the new staff? Obviously I can't stay (can't exactly live long term on 14% of your monthly expenses) so it wouldn't be as good as having someone full time in the office- but at least I could help them get going. Also, since it appears that I will not be back in Missouri for quite a while, it would be super handy if I could pack up my house more thoroughly, get a few things for the winter, and at least say 'hi' to my kiddos and their parents. Well I started to pray about it- thinking , of course that it would not work because- where was I going to come up with an extra $700? But I really, really wanted to help! It took some time, but with some encouragement, I decided to run the idea past Rosemarie. And it's a go. So- yay! I do get to go back in August (oh the irony)- but only for a week. Dates are, of course, still rather fluid, but the plan is to be on the road/at the Training Center for the first week of classes (Augst 17th ish to August 27th ish). Yay! It's not as good as being able to be back long term... but I am SO glad to be able to meet this critical part of the need at least. 

So please pray:

-that I would focus and use my time well up until this trip

- I'm in the process of replacing my poor little car. Please pray that would all go through before the road trip- this would save me loads of money on oil, and my parents a lot of worry about my car leaving me stranded on the side of the road. 

-For the rest of the money to come in for the trip. God's already provided about half of it- hurray! 

-for more monthly partners so that I can go back for real ASAP. 

-Praise that I get to do something to help! Pray that I would be a blessing while I'm there  (and here) and point people to Jesus.