Saturday, June 21, 2008

Christ, Classes, and Manatee



Psalms 34:8 "Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in HIM!"

I am so excited to be writing you with all that God is doing in my life and what I hope He is going to do in the near future. I am sitting here at New Tribes Mission headquarters in Sanford Florida in pre- field orientation, thinking of what to write. I am almost overwhelmed. I can’t do anything but sit back in wonder at Gods hand in everything. I am in awe of how He shows Himself in the most unlikely times and places, bringing  my life full circle.

How is it I have come to be here? God truly is amazing in the way He works in our lives. Every day that goes by I am more and more excited at what He is doing. I have spent the past several days going through courses to prepare me for the ministry that I will be moving into this fall. The days here have been beautiful, and the classes informative, the food amazing, and the people wonderful. Oh yeah did I mention the manatee. The head quarters sits on Lake Monroe in Sanford and in that lake there are manatee, and alligators. It is almost too good to be true; I am sitting in a wonderful place getting ready for my new life in Papua New Guinea and I couldn’t be happier.

As I sit here and listen to the testimonies of different ones I can’t help but exclaim that my God is awesome. I keep seeing and hearing of ways that He has faithfully moved "mountains ". He is proving himself faithful in the lives of those who are serving Him around the world and in the lives of those preparing to go . It is so exciting to see Him moving in my life as well.

I am truly enjoying all of what God is teaching me here, as many are coming and teaching what we will need to know to fit into the ministries we will be a part of soon. It is almost information overload, but in a good way. My mind is being stretched as we look into issues from culture shock, international life factors, to ministry quirks for our specific countries. It is a great experience seeing so many who are faithfully serving in so many different capacities around the world and hearing their stories.

Please pray that my mind would soak all of this in and that I would get as much as possible from what is being shared with me. I am so excited to be preparing for this ministry but much has yet to be done. Please pray also that God would continue to bring people to me as partners in ministry. I have a long way to go yet in raising support and a short time to get there.

God is faithful and I am excited to see Him moving. Please pray for timing as well. I have been asked by the administration in PNG to try and get there in August. It is my hope to be able to do just that. I am also waiting for my work permit and visa as well please pray with me for that process to be swift. God is so good and faithful, I am passionately and patiently waiting on Him.