Pictures 1 and 2) The kids love review time at Good News Club.
Picture 3) At Missionary Training School in Warrenton, Missouri, I learned how to prepare for my first term, along with friends and fellow new missionaries who all agree that Burkina Faso is number one (or were perhaps bribed to pose for this picture).
Picture 3) At Missionary Training School in Warrenton, Missouri, I learned how to prepare for my first term, along with friends and fellow new missionaries who all agree that Burkina Faso is number one (or were perhaps bribed to pose for this picture).
I started feeling old on my tenth birthday when I realized my age was in the double digits. Now, approaching the quarter century mark, I cringe to think it’s been a decade since my freshman year of high school and two decades since I gave my life to Christ. I’m exceedingly grateful God was working in my heart so long ago, but I’d rather not be able to use the words “long ago” to describe any part of my life. In college I stopped praying that God would slow down time and started thinking of each day as one step closer to Heaven.
Then I felt God’s calling into long-term missions and was so excited to go to Burkina Faso I had to force myself to finish college. And then I found out that with support-raising and children’s ministry training, internship and language school it would be years before I reached the field. But the other day, I woke up and realized that less than a third of a year from now I’ll be in Africa. My first reaction was closer to respiratory failure than joyful gratitude.
You see, it’s also been a long time since I’ve been to Burkina Faso (almost four years), and time can make you forget how much you love the children of a country, and spiritual battle can make you forget that the God who holds time in His hands not only walks with you but also draws you closer to Him through the hard things He calls you to. The funny thing is that the things that I don’t want to let go of here are all blessings given to me by the God I sometimes have a hard time trusting. Each of you who get this letter and pray for me are another reason that I don’t want to leave the country and do what you’re praying about.
So as I finish my internship in Kentucky, I’ve been crying along with some of my Good News Club® children who didn’t want their club to ever end. As I help prepare for Kentucky summer ministry before heading to Colorado for pre-language school and cultural training, I’m continually reminding myself of God’s promises that He’ll always be with me and that His strength is made perfect in weakness. I can’t thank you enough for praying with me!
Praise God for:
· Each member of the body of Christ who has blessed me through prayer, support, friendship, and love.
· What I’ve learned about ministry and for how God has strengthened me through my internship.
Please Pray for:
· Me as I prepare to head overseas, both that I will figure out how to get visas and ship things to myself and that I will joyfully put my trust in our Amazing Savior.
· The youth and young adults who will take intensive training in the next few weeks on how to teach summer 5-Day Clubs and for me and other staff as we teach them.
· Me as I prepare to head overseas, both that I will figure out how to get visas and ship things to myself and that I will joyfully put my trust in our Amazing Savior.
· The youth and young adults who will take intensive training in the next few weeks on how to teach summer 5-Day Clubs and for me and other staff as we teach them.
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