Hello! My name is Arielle and I am joining a creative arts team in the middle east! My fellow GoCorps Goer and teammate, Erin, and I are in the midst of the final stages of our support raising with the goal of leaving the states by November 15th.
This season of support raising has been such an important and stretching experience! I like to refer to it as "missionary boot camp!" God has used this time to point out to me that I am not in fact perfect. Surprising as that was to me, God planned this perfect amount of fundraising time to teach me new lessons about boldness and trust.
Having been raised in the church and decided to follow Jesus at a young age, I've been familiar with the story of Moses for a long time. I always used to scoff at Moses when he questioned the "I AM" who spoke through the burning bush (Exodus 3-4). Who did he think he was? Why didn't he just say "Yes!" when God told him to go back to Egypt and to free His people? Hello? This was the Creator of the universe talking to him! Instead Moses has a whole list of excuses, what if's, and requests. I could never understand how Moses could be so insubordinate and hesitant when he was hearing the promises and seeing miracles. Why would God use Moses when he was resisting? Why did Moses need Aaron when he had God on his side?
I always assumed that if I had the same straight-up call from God to go and do, I would immediately say "yes!" and go and do! Then I joined GoCorps and signed up to travel across the globe. So far, so good. God called me to missions, I said, "Yeah! Totally! I love travelling! Let's do this!" God called me to Turkey. I was like, "Cool! I'm not sure where Turkey is... but yeah! Sounds great!" God brought me to the training conference with GoCorps. I responded, "Wow! Look at all these neat people learning how to raise support alongside me! Sweet!" Then I actually had to start the fundraising process. I was like, "Wait, I have to call people? Are you sure, God? Wouldn't it be easier to just tell people I'm going and hope they decide to support me on their own? Do I actually have to ask??"
Suddenly I understood Moses a lot better. Couldn't I have my own personal "Aaron" to go around and speak for me? Couldn't I just be the tool for God's miracles and not be required to step too far out of my comfort zone? Suffice it to say, these last months of support raising have taught me about humility. I'm not better than Moses. I was just as afraid as he was to follow God's call into unfamiliar territory. Yet, despite my weakness, God has brought in my support in big ways. Currently I have about 70% of my support in and the end of this fundraising season is in sight!
So as I pursue the last 30% of my support, I'm doing so with a renewed sense of purpose. Who am I to question the Almighty? Who am I to second-guess the calling He has given me? Instead I am seeking to have faith like a child --- to stop pretending I have control over my circumstances, to stop worrying about 'grown-up' things, to stop questioning the integrity of the path set out before me--- and to trust implicitly. This is the "I AM" we're dealing with folks. He can handle it.
This is only the beginning of a life-long journey towards the Savior. I expect the next two years specifically will be full of new lessons and challenges. I hope you'll stick around as I share with you the peaks and pits of this trek!
Blessings!
*I found the image of a burning bush through a google search. It's not my picture but I thought it was a neat representation of the burning bush Moses saw.