IMB Commissioning

FPO ended with our commissioning service and reception on Wednesday, September 23. My parents and sister Karen surprised me by driving almost 1100 miles from Missouri to Richmond, VA to attend. I didn't know they were there until I was walking to the front and heard my sister say my name. I turned to see the 3 of them, and they tell me that my facial expression was priceless!

I never expected to have family at the commissioning, but their presence and the sacrifice and love it represented were a tremendous blessing to me. Of course, while I got on the airplane the next morning, they started the 1100 mile drive back home. I spent the night with a friend in St. Louis to wait for them to catch up with me so I could ride the rest of the way home with them.

TIckets

As we enter the last few days of FPO, everyone is beginning to look beyond commissioning to the next few transitions. Many of us will have a little more time at home before heading overseas. Please pay for all aspects of these transitions, inclluding goodbyes, visas, travel issues, adjustment to new cultures, etc. I now have both my ticket to fly home and my ticket to head overseas. I fly back to St. Louis on Thursday, September 24, and I fly to Guatemala bright and early on October 8! In Guatemala, I will be living with a local host family. Please pray for this family and my rleationship with them.

Nature Walks

I've mentioned the "quads" we live in: here's my quad, and then the next picture is the fountain near the library.Have I mentioned how blessed I am to have beautiful places to walk? Walking in the midst of God's creation is such an amazing setting in which to spend time talking to Him.

There are usually horses in this area, but there weren't any out the day I carried my camera on my walk.

Introvert

Have you ever taken the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Assessment? I got my results last week, and it turns out I am either an ISFJ or an INFJ, depending on the day. I suspect nobody who knows me will be shocked to hear that the I part represents Introvert. That's right. It's official. I am NOT an extrovert!

I've been thinking a lot about my personality and characteristics and what they mean in terms of my interactions with others, and therefore what they ultimately mean in terms of my ability to serve effectively. Obviously, God made me the person I am. He uniquely designed me with a perfect plan in mind. I think that means that God can use introverts to reach people but that He may do so in different ways than He uses extroverts. So, I think the first lesson in this for me is that I should embrace the person I am and the characteristics that God has given me. At the same time, I think I need to be sensitive to the ways He may desire to stretch me and help me grow. I want to let go of any part of me that is not of Him and be aware of how my personality impacts the people around me. Am I reflecting Him? Am I adequately communicating His love?

Please pray for me to be moldable and senstive to the needs of those around me.

Hot Water

It looks like I will be serving in Aguascalientes, a city of about a million people in the center of Mexico.

The name of the city (and state) means "hot water" and was given because there are/were some hot springs in the area. The elevation is a little over 6,000 feet, providing a climate that is more moderate than the coastal cities I have visited in the past. It is an industrialized city and includes the largest Nissan plant outside of Japan. The city also boasts of hosting the largest festival in all of Mexico, the month-long Feria de San Marcos held every spring.

I will be joining a couple already serving there, and I am looking forward to getting to know them and figuring out what role I will play in the work there. Please join me in praying specifically for the people of Aguascalientes!

Sharing Good News

I am very close to having an announcement about where I will serve ! I was told tentatively this morning but will wait until it is definite before I share to avoid confusion if it changes. I can hardly wait to share . . . so exciting to finally have a specific city to focus on!

Speaking of sharing Good News, here's something that was shared in a session this morning. We are all called to share the gospel from 4 different directions. We are called from above by God, we are called from below by those in hell who long for their loved ones to be saved, we are called from outside by the lost who need to hear, and we are called from within by the Spirit that longs to see others come to Christ.

I've mentioned feeling overwhelmed in previous posts, so I want to take a minute now to share that things are settling down and I am doing considerably better. Thanks for your prayers!

The Persecuted Church

We had some very deep, insightful sessions about the persecution of believers in our world today. From where we stand, it is all to easy to take our freedom for granted and to forget that persecution still exists in our world today. I know for a fact that it is very real and that we have many brothers and sisters worldwide who endure it every day. There was far more information in those sessions than I have been able to process yet, certainly more than I can share here. But, I would like to leave you with one thing to ponder.

*A request from a persecuted believer, "Do not give up in freedom what we would never give up in persecution: our witness." How humbled I am by that!

Experiencing Cultural Worship

Sunday nights at FPO are cultural worship time. Each week features a different affinity group/region of the world. Last Sunday night was Latin American Worship, which was great! This week was scheduled to be Post-Modern European, and I wasn't sure what to expect. As it turns out, it was a great service! They integrated Czech, German, Italian, and lots of English into the service. The speaker mentioned how one of his favorite things about his affinity group is that it includes England and Ireland, which made it completely legit for him to speak to us in ENGLISH! The service was such a blessing, such a time of worship and reflection. I am so thankful. I think I am finally ready to face the upcoming week.

FPO

I want to post more often and share more of what I am experiencing, but two things have been preventing me from doing so. First, there hasn't been an abundance of spare time. The schedule has been pretty full, and we have a lot of extra things to do, like serve on teams, attend extra workshops, exercise, Bible study, assignments, small groups, accountability meetings, research, reading, etc. By the time I get it all done, plus check email messages, I'm tired. Also, the training has been so intense that I have just been existing in a state of mental exhaustion that leaves me a little too overwhelmed to try to formulate a coherent post topic. I am optimistic that things are starting to settle down a little, so I am hoping to do better soon. I'll try to share a few thoughts now.

In addition to having adult accountability partners, I am serving as an accountability partner/mentor for a teenage girl. The school asked each of the teens to find an adult to serve in that capacity, and I was honored to be asked. We are just starting to get to know each other, so I would appreciate your prayers for Amanda and for our friendship to grow enough for her to feel comfortable sharing with me.

Today we literally ran a marathon through the Apostle Paul's journey and church planting efforts. I can't believe we addressed 9 churches in 3 hours; no wonder my head is spinning! Before that, we studied Luke 10 and did some role plays that really cemented the lessons we needed to get from that passage. It was a very valuable exercise!

Tragic Impact

This past year, contributions to the IMB fell significantly short of meeting the budgeted goal. As a result, tough program cuts have had to be made. Among those cuts is an indefinite hiring freeze for 2-3 year term people like me through the Journeyman, ISC, and Masters programs.

What does this mean? For one thing, it means that I barely made it through before the opportunity vanished. This knowledge makes me even more in awe of the grace of God which enabled me to lose weight and meet all of the other requirements in the time that I did. His timing and His plan are always perfect, far beyond my understanding!

Another way that this could impact me is that if the programs are not re-instated, it is possible that I may not have the option to extend my service/return to the field after my time committment ends.

I share this with you to help you personally see the importance of contributing to the Cooperative Program and to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. Those are the primary sources of support for the IMB. Without this funding, people who feel called by God are being turned away at the door. Truly a tragedy!

First Sunday

This morning started with our quad holding our own "house church" service. We had planned to start at 9 am, but true to the Latin culture into which we are all headed, we didn't start until 9:15 or 9:20. Our service was a very meaningful time of praise, sharing, interactive Bible study, testimony, and prayer. Before we knew it, it was already 11:45!

My afternoon activities included the first sharing time with my accountability partners (two of the other females in my quad). It is such a blessing to already feel comfortable sharing with these precious new friends, and I know that we will only grow closer over the coming weeks.

This evening we had a mapping ceremony, where each unit (individual, couple, or family) shared who they are, where they are headed, and one prayer request before placing a small picture of themself on the world map. There are a lot of us here, so it took a couple of hours, but it was a really neat experience. Looking at the completed map now is amazing. God is truly sending this group across the globe!

This week a great deal of our time will be spent in spiritual warfare training sessions led by IMB President Dr. Jerry Rankin. Please be in prayer for us toward that end. Also, my prayer request shared at the mapping ceremony tonight was that, as God prepares me for service in Mexico, that He will also be preparing/working in the hearts of the Mexican people. Would you please join me in that prayer?

FPO

Just wanted to publish a quick post to say that I have arrived in Virginia and started orientation. The first couple of days have gone well. Even the medical information session that seemed destined to be boring was actually entertaining as the nurses put on a little skit/role play what NOT to do when we come to the clinic for immunizations.
Last night I stretched beyond my comfort zone and went with my roommate to play volleyball with a group of people. Later in the evening we had a wonderful time of spontaneous praise in the quad where I live. (The quad has a shared living area with 4 "apartments" that each consist of 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchenette. Everyone in my quad is headed to Mexico. I share an apartment with another single female, there is a couple in one apartment, and there are families in the other 2 apartments.) Three of the people in our quad brought guitars, so they were playing and most of the rest of us were singing praise songs . . . some in English and a few in Spanish. It was such a blessing! I am looking forward to many more of those times among our quad "family."