Learning and Growing
Honestly, coming here really shook my faith, which was needed. I think for so long in the back of my head has been this fear that I would give my life to the LORD out on the mission field or just living at home and wake up one day no longer believing in His goodness. This has been something on my mind for quite some time that I’ve just shoved aside and tried not to think about. However, this past week the LORD brought it back up. We have a culture of Christianity. To just believe God is this genie in the sky who lets us do whatever we want as long as we attend church on Sundays or read our… Read more
My Support Raising Story
I am a young adult who worked full time for over a year with a steady salary, benefits and PTO. One of my toughest obstacles when transitioning to become a goer was swallowing the support raised paycheck pill. But, the fear behind support raising, that people won't give or they will think of you less, it's most likely a lie from the enemy. Even if somebody doesn't give or somebody does think differently of you I want you to remember, and I say this with love, it is not about you. Support raising is a way for the Lord to show His power over finances and for your supporters to be sacrificial… Read moreLessons from Becoming a Goer: What does it mean to be a missionary?
What comes to mind when you hear the words mission, missions, or missionary? Personally, I didn’t grow up hearing these words very often. My parents took me to Sunday school and instilled spiritual rhythms like praying before bed and meals. However, I didn’t have much exposure to global missions. Before becoming a missionary, I honestly felt a certain distaste towards global missions because I didn’t understand it. I didn’t understand how it could be sustainable. I didn’t understand what a missionary actually does day to day. I didn’t understand much, but now I know significantly more so let’… Read more
You've Got a Friend in Me
Friendship. What a valuable lesson to learn throughout any stage of life! You may have heard Genesis 2:18, "it is not good for man to be alone." For singles, we feel left out of that verse in the context of marriage, Adam and Eve, and all that. But really it means that we are relational creatures, built to fellowship with our creator and other creation. This is good news! But what does it look like today? In John 15:12-17, Jesus commands us to love one another as He has loved us. His example of this love is as He says, "greater love has no one than this, a person who will lay down his… Read more
Lessons from Support Raising
When I knew the Lord was calling me to go on the mission field, the idea of raising support was one of the biggest hindrances. But now having gone through the process, I am beyond thankful for the experience! Here are several things I learned during support raising: Focus on building relationships. Although we need funds to be able to go overseas, it is even more important to have relationships that keep you rooted in truth. When you are facing a challenging situation and need encouragement or prayer, having a team of ministry partners in your corner is invaluable. Remain confident in God’s… Read more
Is He Worthy?
A.W. Tozer has said, "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us." It is a pretty great quote and I have heard it quoted often. Mostly because it is so true. What is inside you comes out. Whatever teaching or knowledge or experience. They shape us through our thoughts and how we process things, and thus they shape our actions. Whether consciously or unconsciously, what we believe slips into the way we do things. Take an example from teaching. Before I got into the classroom, the professors always warned us about how we discussed… Read more
Lessons from Becoming a Goer: We are all different…God can still use us
This week marks my second week of support-raising full-time. At the beginning of the month, I attended GoWeek during which I had the pleasure of gathering in Minnesota to meet all the other Goers from around the country and learn how to launch into my current season of support-raising. I went into GoWeek feeling excited to be surrounded and supported by folks who are making similar decisions with their lives (i.e. people who love Jesus so much they said yes to going into international missions), but I was also nervous that I wouldn’t fit in with the people I would meet. I love Jesus with my… Read more
Lessons On Humility Learned from a Violin Teacher
In this new unexpected season, I decided to use some of the time to relearn the violin. I say 'relearn' because I took classes from 6th grade through my junior year of university, but I haven't played or done anything with it since them. It's been three years since I have touched my violin, which is sorely out of tune, and my hands are sorely out of shape. However as I picked up the violin, a few things did come back quite quickly. Mostly memories. I had five different teachers throughout the years. The first was my elementary schools music teacher. She did extra curriculum classes after… Read more