GoWeek training is coming to an end, but what next? Will I venture out in the spirit of support raising? Will God provide for me, so I can finally begin a ministry overseas? A ministry which I have thought and prayed about for the last three years? No. Ministry is a part of our everyday life. My adventure is beginning, but my ministry continues.
Scripture says:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” (John 15:1-4 ESV)
I wish I abided in the vine and walked with Christ my whole life, but like all humans I’ve fallen short of the glory of God at some point or another. The good news? God never gives up nor abandons us. He is there in the good moments and bad. I praise Him for the fruits He has given me and the fruits of life to come.
He was with me 22 years ago in a Davenport, Iowa hospital when I was born to a loving mother who thought she was incapable of having any more children. In my most recent years at Olivet Nazarene University and up to this point God has remained. His blessings helped me through college ministries and my studies. Over the summer, His love and passion for all people was revealed to me as I ministered to men involved with survival prostitution in Chicago. His finger prints are part of my story.
Now He is stretching my perception of ministry. Changing my perspective of those who need Him. The “unreached world,” the Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist nations of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa are important, but so are the other counties. God cares about all people, and that includes those in countries like South America, Europe, and even North America.
Jews and Gentiles, we are all His children. We all are called to abide in the vine.
“For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.” (Romans 11:24 ESV)
God is our olive tree and from Him all peoples of all nations receive life in every season. As I begin my journey of support raising for France will you join me in this ministry? Will you come with me? Will you abide in the vine?