So we've been officially invited now! It might sound a little late to be invited to you, but this is a formal invitation that gives way for the rest of the process to proceed. Progress is being made, that's the update, and my funding is at about $1800! (that's about 70%) I'm so thankful that God works things out and that I have wonderful support from all you donors out there. Thank you!
My current state is: tired. Not actually physically tired, but emotionally tired of this world. Last weekend I co-planned a church service with my good friend, Becky Perdew, based on how much we need God to have meaning in our lives. The church service went quite well, even my sermonette that God completely took over - it was great. :) Now, in the aftereffects of being so spiritual I feel like I always have to live up to that level of intimacy with God, even though I know I'm not ready for it. This is emotional exhaustion. I am ready to be so close to God that nothing can separate me from him... wait that's the way it is... sometimes I just need a little perspective. ;) [Romans 8] But still, it takes a lot of rising and falling to get maturity and my spiritual maturity is farther behind than I would like it. Unfortunately this means to be closer to God I have to go through a few more trials, but this is hardly a sacrifice when I think of the endgame.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
The Latest
So for a while there I was considering a position in Malawi, which was teaching and a little more official since it was already set up, but I pretty much think that option is gone now. (Especially because I would have to be leaving this week and I still don't have my visa). I did however receive an answer to prayer in the most recent email from the doctor in Nigeria. He told me that I was an answer to prayer because they had been needing someone to fill a position! I was so excited (I still am) - all I hoped for was to be needed somewhere and now I am. So hopefully the rest of the plans will be worked out smoothly and timely. As for my funds I am technically at $1,500 so only $1,000 more! It's coming close and I am getting very excited.
In the meantime, while I wait for the trip to come, I am busy working at Toys R Us and babysitting my sister's two kids. I also participate in a college-aged youth group called F.L.I.G.H.T. It feels good to be busy and earn a living - I feel really blessed to be kept busy by doing things that I really enjoy. If anyone hasn't heard, my good friend Becky Perdew and I will be putting on a church service this Sabbath talking about the meaning of life with and without God. You are all welcome to come! Sabbath school starts at 9:30 and church starts at 10:50. It's at the Springfield Seventh-day Adventist church in (duh) Springfield. Hope to see you there!
In the meantime, while I wait for the trip to come, I am busy working at Toys R Us and babysitting my sister's two kids. I also participate in a college-aged youth group called F.L.I.G.H.T. It feels good to be busy and earn a living - I feel really blessed to be kept busy by doing things that I really enjoy. If anyone hasn't heard, my good friend Becky Perdew and I will be putting on a church service this Sabbath talking about the meaning of life with and without God. You are all welcome to come! Sabbath school starts at 9:30 and church starts at 10:50. It's at the Springfield Seventh-day Adventist church in (duh) Springfield. Hope to see you there!
Friday, June 22, 2007
So you want to talk to me?
I have come to realize that there are some people that did not receive a special-dilly envelope in the fundraising letters I sent out, and that maybe perhaps, there is someone who is reading this that didn't get one at all. If that is the case, and you would like to send a gift to help with my mission year in Africa, here is the information for that.
For a CHECK: Make check out to "Student Missions Fund" DO NOT PUT MY NAME ON IT!!!! - For CREDIT CARD: Specify company (choose from Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express); Write card number and expiration date; sign piece of paper all this lovely information is on.
- For CASH: Put in envelope. :) No special instructions here.
- For ANY DONATION: Put my name on a SEPERATE piece of paper not directly attached to paper, if my name is on the form of payment, this will not be tax-deductible; Put your name, address, phone and email (somewhat optional) - it will assure that you get a tax-deductible receipt in the mail and so I know who to send my thank-you notes to. :)
- To send: Make envelopes out to: Office of Student Missions; Walla Walla College; 204 South College Avenue; College Place, WA 99324-9986
If you would like to contact me otherwise, let me get back to you on that. I don't really want to put my email address for the world to see, so I'll see how I can fix that. (If you received a donation letter, it should be on there.)
As far as the update on the mission, there is no update. I have not heard back from the doctor still and I have sent in the last piece of information that WWC needs from me. Now I just wait and pray for progress that the doctor is making over there. Thanks for your prayers!
Reflective thought for the day: We all try to better our lives and fix our problems by buying new and improved gadgets and toys. Sometimes I wonder how people could live without movies, cell phones, airplanes, refrigerators, stoves, washing machines and diswashers. But God doesn't think about these things as necessities. If they were, then he would have given them to us. Instead he gave us the things we truly need to live a wonderful and worthy life. "By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life." 2 Peter 1:3. So before you start going to the store to get that ultimate chopper, cutter, slicer, dicer to make your freezer-burnt dinner fattier and sweeter, think about what you really need in your life and thank God for his truly amazing power to provide.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Still Waiting
It has been almost 5 weeks since I decided to take to pursue the call to Nigeria, and now I am almost completely ready to go. For the amount of work that it takes to do such things, I have completed I'd say about 80% of it. With the help of all my family and friends I have just about 70% of fundraising to go already! Thank you so much to anyone who has helped.
Unfortunately the things that take the most amount of time to complete cannot be finished yet. Visas generally take a long time to process, but I cannot start an application for a visa until I have specific instructions from the Adventist General Conference. I cannot get instructions from them until my call is confirmed, and my call is not even completed as far as I know. Right now the fate of what I will be doing next year, along with if I'll be able to make it over there in time lies in the hands of a very busy Doctor in Ife, Nigeria. Prayers will be very much appreciated, especially as I'm reminded of how insignificant I am to making this work after I can no longer seem to get ahold of him.
For lighter news, I discovered yesterday how easily I burn. There is a massive public library in downtown Eugene - my hometown - and after visiting it, I headed straight home with the windows down in my car. As an experiment, I left my left arm on the window ledge the whole way home, where it was constantly in the sun while my right arm was not. When I got out of the car, I held my arms next to each other to discover that, yep, my left arm was sunburned after only 10-15 minutes in the sun. Needless to say, I will be taking a lot of sunscreen to Africa. :)
My favored verse recently is found in Ephesians 4:1-3
"Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love. Always keep yourselves united in the Holy Spirit, and bind yourselves together with peace."
Unfortunately the things that take the most amount of time to complete cannot be finished yet. Visas generally take a long time to process, but I cannot start an application for a visa until I have specific instructions from the Adventist General Conference. I cannot get instructions from them until my call is confirmed, and my call is not even completed as far as I know. Right now the fate of what I will be doing next year, along with if I'll be able to make it over there in time lies in the hands of a very busy Doctor in Ife, Nigeria. Prayers will be very much appreciated, especially as I'm reminded of how insignificant I am to making this work after I can no longer seem to get ahold of him.
For lighter news, I discovered yesterday how easily I burn. There is a massive public library in downtown Eugene - my hometown - and after visiting it, I headed straight home with the windows down in my car. As an experiment, I left my left arm on the window ledge the whole way home, where it was constantly in the sun while my right arm was not. When I got out of the car, I held my arms next to each other to discover that, yep, my left arm was sunburned after only 10-15 minutes in the sun. Needless to say, I will be taking a lot of sunscreen to Africa. :)
My favored verse recently is found in Ephesians 4:1-3
"Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love. Always keep yourselves united in the Holy Spirit, and bind yourselves together with peace."
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
And the preparations continue....
Hello to all,
This is my first post on the site I designated to track my mission service within the next year. (Hopefully I'll get to use it!) Currently I haven't even sent out the letters yet, but I figured I should set the site up before I did.
Here you can see what I'm doing in my daily life with a little more detail then I would include within mass emails. Also you can come and check out the updates anytime you want! If you want to be subscribed to my blog, just click on the "Subscribe to: Posts (atom)" link at the bottom of the page, then you'll be sent an email any time I post a new blog!
For now I won't be posting a whole lot except for finalizations on what I'm doing, how my fund-raising is going and maybe a list or two. Of course I am known to go off on things sometimes, so perhaps there'll be a few thoughts here and there, but just so you know, those other things will be on here too in case you want to check.
Ta-ta for now,
MJ
This is my first post on the site I designated to track my mission service within the next year. (Hopefully I'll get to use it!) Currently I haven't even sent out the letters yet, but I figured I should set the site up before I did.
Here you can see what I'm doing in my daily life with a little more detail then I would include within mass emails. Also you can come and check out the updates anytime you want! If you want to be subscribed to my blog, just click on the "Subscribe to: Posts (atom)" link at the bottom of the page, then you'll be sent an email any time I post a new blog!
For now I won't be posting a whole lot except for finalizations on what I'm doing, how my fund-raising is going and maybe a list or two. Of course I am known to go off on things sometimes, so perhaps there'll be a few thoughts here and there, but just so you know, those other things will be on here too in case you want to check.
Ta-ta for now,
MJ
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