God's Reminders

Sunday night I was reminded of what God has done in my life and of the burden that he has placed on my heart for Peru. Local churches sent a short-term missions team to the Dominican Republic on Memorial Day. Their desire is to see people come to know Jesus Christ as their saviour. The team consists of men and women ranging in age from the 70s to the recent HS graduate teens. They arranged to pratice their children's ministry program and lead worship at a local hispanic church in Lexington the night before their trip.

Gillian and I were asked to come and help with translation during the service. Gillian translated for the children's ministry and I translated the English speaking pastor's (from the missions team) message into Spanish. As we were on our way to the service doubts entered into my mind. It had been one year since I last taught a Sunday School lesson in Spanish or translated a service in real time. Would I be able to translate well? Would the Holy Spirit annoint me and the pastor to convey His message clearly to the church? How would it all work out? Well, God answered my questions positively. The translation was a success and the message was well received. The message was out of Judges 6 about God being able to do more with a few obedient believers than anyone can imagine.

This night gave me great encouragement. I reflect back on how I used to be cynical, rebellious and hard-headed and see how God has changed my heart. He took my Spanish training, something that in high school I would have never seen as important, and turned it into something that could be used for His glory. God gave me an amazing wife who also has a burden for ministry. Only through his miraculous provision was I able to escape from the chains of my sin and be changed to the person that I am today. God continually quells my fears and doubts and assures me that this is the path that he has put me and my family on.

God has blessed us with the opportunity and desire to serve him in Peru. He has given us skills that 6 years ago we would have never dreamed about using. God can do alot with us, all we have to do is have faith and be obedient to his word.

Life on the Plateau

Our monthly support is at 40%. We need to be at 100% by November to leave in January, and I find myself having to pray out the anxiousness brought on by waiting. About 10 years ago, when I was in high school, my mom was going through medical testing, and the waiting was wearing us out. It was so intense, in fact, that it inspired our senior pastor to write a series of sermons on "waiting" and what God can do during those times. Each week he'd end his sermon with an interesting question, and then he'd say, "and for the answer, you'll have to wait until next week." I wish I could remember those sermons now. We are in a definite season of waiting...but it's the busiest waiting I've ever encountered. First support rushed in, and now it's slowed. So we're working hard to put plans into action, mail out more letters, make some calls, set up some events, sell the house, sell our stuff, and get ourselves ready to go.
Yeah, this is a tough process, but I never question whether we're meant to go anymore, like I did 2 years ago in the beginning. Now it makes so much sense that I can honestly say I've only been this certain of four other things in my life 1. Marrying Justin, 2. Having Alex, 3. Having Nathan, 4. Finishing college...and now, 5. Serving in Peru with Food for the Hungry.
So why do I question the rate at which the support comes in? Because I like to have control, and I don't get to have it right now...Little Gillian, Big God. We praise God HUGE for the funds that have come in already b/c it's evidence that prayer is working, and we're now at the first milestone just in time to go through training in Thailand in August. It's hard not to get discouraged anyway because 40% means we're not done yet. It'd be easier if we could just work for a regular company to do our dream job in Peru, but this type of work just doesn't happen that way. In fact, I've come to realize what a faith-building element support raising is, and how critical it is for our training for the field. This is not just our dream job in Peru...we're leading a group of supporters who are now part of God's great work on the poverty issue in Peru. If we were just employees we'd never have the strength in our jobs as we will with all of our supporters back at home praying for us and the people we work with as well as funding the programs that will change the world one person at a time. All that to say - we made the first milestone to go to Thailand for training in August, WE WILL MAKE THE NEXT ONE...I'll just have to wait until then for God's answer.

God grant me the serenity....

Gillian

Zion UMC - Blythewood, SC

Susan & Rev. Bob Vincent, Brian & Angie Cooper, and Us at Zion United Methodist Church in Blythewood, SC. We had a great time presenting to this church and fellowshipping with friends.

Wow, Ditto

I just read my last post and it says exactly what my heart feels again today -- BUSY, except, today I feel motivated...we have even more on our plates today than we did for the last post, but I feel excited about it. And clear about it. God has answered our prayers! I still have overwhelmed moments, but that's usually when I'm avoiding the work. One major thing that I realized was that I was avoiding all this work by watching tv. So we've disconnected cable. Yeah, no more regular tv. We've tried this once before by putting the tv in the attic, but that was just insane. This time we've just cancelled the channels, but we still have the VCR and DVD player for us to enjoy movies and whatnot. I've had some withdrawal so I picked up the Chronicles of Narnia again and I read a little when I need to relax. It's nice because, unlike with tv (unless you have cable on demand or whatever) I can close it and come back later without missing anything :). It also helps that summer is here (yes, temps in the 80's already), so the boys and I are spending more time outside.

Before I go, I just have to say what a relief it is to have our new website up and running. I am so excited about it! It's very basic right now, but Justin's busy scheming with another missionary computer guy who's headed to the field, and I think together they're coming up with some awesome stuff! I'm all about communication...I just wish more of our friends and family had websites or emailed more pictures. I love hearing the stories, but I love to SEE the events!! I want to know what's up! K, the boyz have invaded the office, so it's time to close before disaster strikes. God is doing great things in me right now, and I totally love this learning process...today :).