The Wright family is finishing their furlough and will be headed back to Uganda on Wednesday. Of course, this is making me itch to get back to Karamoja, too....
9 1/2 weeks left in America! Seems like forever.
As many of you know, I'm working hard to save money and raise money so I can go back to the Orthodox Presbyterian Uganda Mission. There is one particular way that someone out there may be able to help me.
If you have frequent flyer miles that you don't use, would you consider sending some my way to help send me to Uganda? Plane tickets across the globe are very expensive ($2,000 give or take) and even a little bit of help in this area could be a huge blessing.
There are many other short-term missionaries who could benefit from frequent flyer miles -- this is just one of many creative ways you can help RP Missions!
Monday, June 25, 2012
Monday, June 18, 2012
The happiest place on earth...
... WHITE LAKE!
I am beginning my yearly appeal that everyone go to White Lake. Also, because I'm a team leader for the counselors this year (RP Missions sends a team each year) I'm looking for a few more fun, kind, Jesus-loving, energetic guys and gals to join our team. If you love working with kids (7+) or teens and you've got a few weeks open at the end of July/beginning of August, this could be a great way for you to minister to the church, meet some lovely people and make lasting memories. Some of the kids who come have grown up in the church; others have never really encountered the gospel before.
Check out the WL facebook page
or the WL website
to learn more.
Who wouldn't wanna spend three weeks with these bundles of fun?
I am beginning my yearly appeal that everyone go to White Lake. Also, because I'm a team leader for the counselors this year (RP Missions sends a team each year) I'm looking for a few more fun, kind, Jesus-loving, energetic guys and gals to join our team. If you love working with kids (7+) or teens and you've got a few weeks open at the end of July/beginning of August, this could be a great way for you to minister to the church, meet some lovely people and make lasting memories. Some of the kids who come have grown up in the church; others have never really encountered the gospel before.
Check out the WL facebook page
or the WL website
to learn more.
Who wouldn't wanna spend three weeks with these bundles of fun?
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Friday, June 1, 2012
Singleness and the Mission Field
I want to write about an important facet of missions that I think isn't talked about too much. It's kind of a taboo subject.
The ratio of single men to single women on the mission field is 1:10. So, any guy going to the mission field has plenty of options as far as finding a spouse! But for a single woman who feels genuinely called to the mission field, we have to face facts. Most women who go to the field single will stay single. The rare exceptions prove the rule.
No one likes to talk about this. It's uncomfortable. But it's true - singleness is one of the things that has been the biggest stumbling block to me as I've tried to honestly say to God, "I'm in this for the long haul." This is not to say I haven't been content with being single. I think I have been; and I'm still young, so I haven't been too stressed about it. But I think most single women you meet who have committed to mid- or long-term missions work will agree -- marriage was always an assumption. We've grown up just expecting that it would happen eventually. Now we have to seriously face the prospect of postponed marriage, or never getting married, and maybe never having children of our own.
James 1:2-3 says, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness."
Count it ALL JOY.
I looked up the word steadfastness in the dictionary. It means unwavering, firm in conviction, fixed or unchanging. Keeping your eye on the prize, keeping the goal in mind, staying fixed on that goal.
As single women on the field, we face down the prospect of living alone in a hut or apartment for years and years. Many days this is fine, even exciting, and we KNOW it's worth it. Other days, it feels like a real trial. But just like any other trial, God puts this one in front of us and asks us to face it and overcome it through His strength so that we get to a point where we are more steadfast, unwavering, committed to the work of missions that He's called us to. And I think a part of facing the trial and getting to a place where you can "count it all joy" includes allowing yourself to mourn (for a time! not forever!) over your singleness.Mourn it, and move on. Don't linger over your bitterness, or constantly wonder if you should give up missions and go home to find a husband. Settle the issue once and for all.
This is something I have been fighting against for a while. I didn't want to mourn it, though some missions books I'd read had advised me to do so. I didn't want to accept it as a very possible part of the job description. But as I've been home in America for a while and so many people ask me about this, it's been hard for me to answer them honestly and say that I might not get married. It's been hard to honestly say that I'd be okay with that, if it's God's will.
So I prayed about it. I thought about it. I allowed myself to mourn my singleness and wrestled with God about it until now I think I've come to a place where I can honestly say that I am ready and willing to go to the mission field and stay single. I've settled it. I'm not going to fight with Him about it anymore.
I recognize that there may be work that I'm better able to do as a single woman. The fact that I love working with kids (which I always assumed meant I'd be a good mom) means that I can "mother" lots of kids overseas in a way that a married woman, focused on her own family, couldn't. That's a beautiful thing. I may also be able to go to places and work in settings that a family simply couldn't, or wouldn't.
And I know that the Lord is good. He's not punishing me, or my sisters in Christ who are serving alongside me. We're not defective or abandoned. We're not less worthy of marriage than our happily married friends. And who knows, maybe I will still get married someday. But if I don't, that's okay. I don't want that to get in the way of my steadfast following after God.
I'd love to hear how my other single missionary friends have dealt with this, and how I can pray for you. It's such an important topic and I think we should discuss it freely.
The ratio of single men to single women on the mission field is 1:10. So, any guy going to the mission field has plenty of options as far as finding a spouse! But for a single woman who feels genuinely called to the mission field, we have to face facts. Most women who go to the field single will stay single. The rare exceptions prove the rule.
No one likes to talk about this. It's uncomfortable. But it's true - singleness is one of the things that has been the biggest stumbling block to me as I've tried to honestly say to God, "I'm in this for the long haul." This is not to say I haven't been content with being single. I think I have been; and I'm still young, so I haven't been too stressed about it. But I think most single women you meet who have committed to mid- or long-term missions work will agree -- marriage was always an assumption. We've grown up just expecting that it would happen eventually. Now we have to seriously face the prospect of postponed marriage, or never getting married, and maybe never having children of our own.
James 1:2-3 says, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness."
Count it ALL JOY.
I looked up the word steadfastness in the dictionary. It means unwavering, firm in conviction, fixed or unchanging. Keeping your eye on the prize, keeping the goal in mind, staying fixed on that goal.
As single women on the field, we face down the prospect of living alone in a hut or apartment for years and years. Many days this is fine, even exciting, and we KNOW it's worth it. Other days, it feels like a real trial. But just like any other trial, God puts this one in front of us and asks us to face it and overcome it through His strength so that we get to a point where we are more steadfast, unwavering, committed to the work of missions that He's called us to. And I think a part of facing the trial and getting to a place where you can "count it all joy" includes allowing yourself to mourn (for a time! not forever!) over your singleness.Mourn it, and move on. Don't linger over your bitterness, or constantly wonder if you should give up missions and go home to find a husband. Settle the issue once and for all.
This is something I have been fighting against for a while. I didn't want to mourn it, though some missions books I'd read had advised me to do so. I didn't want to accept it as a very possible part of the job description. But as I've been home in America for a while and so many people ask me about this, it's been hard for me to answer them honestly and say that I might not get married. It's been hard to honestly say that I'd be okay with that, if it's God's will.
So I prayed about it. I thought about it. I allowed myself to mourn my singleness and wrestled with God about it until now I think I've come to a place where I can honestly say that I am ready and willing to go to the mission field and stay single. I've settled it. I'm not going to fight with Him about it anymore.
I recognize that there may be work that I'm better able to do as a single woman. The fact that I love working with kids (which I always assumed meant I'd be a good mom) means that I can "mother" lots of kids overseas in a way that a married woman, focused on her own family, couldn't. That's a beautiful thing. I may also be able to go to places and work in settings that a family simply couldn't, or wouldn't.
And I know that the Lord is good. He's not punishing me, or my sisters in Christ who are serving alongside me. We're not defective or abandoned. We're not less worthy of marriage than our happily married friends. And who knows, maybe I will still get married someday. But if I don't, that's okay. I don't want that to get in the way of my steadfast following after God.
I'd love to hear how my other single missionary friends have dealt with this, and how I can pray for you. It's such an important topic and I think we should discuss it freely.
Challenge... accepted?
Today was a good day.
God was kind of nudging me along all day, pushing me towards something. I couldn't tell what. I read my Bible, I wrote in my journal, I took a look at Operation World (which was getting dusty on my shelf). I read the new RP Witness magazine. I took a look at the Gentle Reformation blog.
Through a lot of different avenues, my thoughts today were pushed towards the unreached peoples. I often think about Karamoja, because I miss it, and it's become my home away from home. I often think about Sudan, because I have friends there. But today I kept feeling my thoughts drawn towards the Middle East.
I won't say I had any breakthrough moments or strange visions or anything. But somehow or other God got me thinking about this whole missions path I'm on. Where does this lead? Why am I doing this? How far am I willing to go? Am I using my resources and my gifts in the best possible way?
I know I'll be in Karamoja until next summer, but I really haven't thought at all about what I'll do after that. I keep challenging people to think about missions, to get involved, to go or send or support. But am I following my own advice? I'm quick to challenge others -- am I willing to challenge myself? Or rather, am I willing to accept any challenge the Lord might put in front of me?
Today I received my TEFL certification "diploma" in the mail. I took the TEFL course because I had been planning on teaching English in South Korea. That plan fell through, but now I have this certification that opens up a world (literally) of possibilities.
There are billions of unreached people in this world. Unreached. They are born, live, and die without ever hearing the name of Christ. There is NO local church to evangelize them. They know just enough about God to be condemned (Romans 1). They have an awareness of God, but they don't know the way to escape His wrath. They have never heard that there's a Redeemer. They have no idea and they never will know unless some go to tell them.
The fact is, the places that are still unreached are dangerous, and they don't want Christians. But that is NO excuse not to go.
I could get into difficult countries posed as an English teacher. But am I willing to go? Do I trust God enough to follow Him to a place where I will face persecution? Would I follow that road and face that challenge if He asked it of me?
Those are hard questions that we ALL need to ask ourselves.
I want to say yes, I'd go, but I have to be honest with myself. I'm not sure I'm at the point where I could do that. But I want to get to that point where I could follow such a challenge. I don't want to settle for a mediocre faith that allows me to be comfortable in America, or Uganda, but that couldn't stand up to the rigors of life in Pakistan or Nigeria. I can't put provisos on this call to missions. I can't say -- "God, I'll serve you faithfully, but not in these five countries." It's all or nothing. Because for the unreached peoples, my decision about this, and YOUR decision about this, could mean eternal life or death.
Don't brush this aside. If you're not specifically and clearly called to STAY in America in order to fulfill a ministry God has for you here, then you should seriously think about whether He wants you to go.
I was blessed by this sermon on missions by David Platt. It's worth a listen.
http://t4g.org/media/2012/04/divine-sovereignty-the-fuel-of-death-defying-missions/
God was kind of nudging me along all day, pushing me towards something. I couldn't tell what. I read my Bible, I wrote in my journal, I took a look at Operation World (which was getting dusty on my shelf). I read the new RP Witness magazine. I took a look at the Gentle Reformation blog.
Through a lot of different avenues, my thoughts today were pushed towards the unreached peoples. I often think about Karamoja, because I miss it, and it's become my home away from home. I often think about Sudan, because I have friends there. But today I kept feeling my thoughts drawn towards the Middle East.
I won't say I had any breakthrough moments or strange visions or anything. But somehow or other God got me thinking about this whole missions path I'm on. Where does this lead? Why am I doing this? How far am I willing to go? Am I using my resources and my gifts in the best possible way?
I know I'll be in Karamoja until next summer, but I really haven't thought at all about what I'll do after that. I keep challenging people to think about missions, to get involved, to go or send or support. But am I following my own advice? I'm quick to challenge others -- am I willing to challenge myself? Or rather, am I willing to accept any challenge the Lord might put in front of me?
Today I received my TEFL certification "diploma" in the mail. I took the TEFL course because I had been planning on teaching English in South Korea. That plan fell through, but now I have this certification that opens up a world (literally) of possibilities.
There are billions of unreached people in this world. Unreached. They are born, live, and die without ever hearing the name of Christ. There is NO local church to evangelize them. They know just enough about God to be condemned (Romans 1). They have an awareness of God, but they don't know the way to escape His wrath. They have never heard that there's a Redeemer. They have no idea and they never will know unless some go to tell them.
The fact is, the places that are still unreached are dangerous, and they don't want Christians. But that is NO excuse not to go.
I could get into difficult countries posed as an English teacher. But am I willing to go? Do I trust God enough to follow Him to a place where I will face persecution? Would I follow that road and face that challenge if He asked it of me?
Those are hard questions that we ALL need to ask ourselves.
I want to say yes, I'd go, but I have to be honest with myself. I'm not sure I'm at the point where I could do that. But I want to get to that point where I could follow such a challenge. I don't want to settle for a mediocre faith that allows me to be comfortable in America, or Uganda, but that couldn't stand up to the rigors of life in Pakistan or Nigeria. I can't put provisos on this call to missions. I can't say -- "God, I'll serve you faithfully, but not in these five countries." It's all or nothing. Because for the unreached peoples, my decision about this, and YOUR decision about this, could mean eternal life or death.
Don't brush this aside. If you're not specifically and clearly called to STAY in America in order to fulfill a ministry God has for you here, then you should seriously think about whether He wants you to go.
I was blessed by this sermon on missions by David Platt. It's worth a listen.
http://t4g.org/media/2012/04/divine-sovereignty-the-fuel-of-death-defying-missions/
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