Copy of my support letter.... here's my heart.
In January I embarked on an adventure that took me to Australia and East Timor. For a long time I have had a heart for missions but had no idea what that looked like. I dreamt of taking off a month to build houses in Africa or work with lepers in Nepal. God had different plans. The more I prayed about it, I felt like God was saying, "I don't want one month of you a year; I want all of you all year."
I spent 6 months doing an intense course called the Discipleship Training School with Youth With A Mission (YWAM). Never could I have imagined the way God would move. For the first time in my life, I woke up everyday and knew this is what I was created for.
In my first months there, I had three different people (two I did not know personally) come to me and tell me God gave them the word "Refinement" when they prayed for me. I suffered for 15 years from panic attacks; some so bad I was hospitalized. I was insecure in my faith and in my self-worth and walked in pride. In this time, God renewed my mind and refined my heart. I can, with absolute assurance, say I am free from anxiety! I know that I am a conqueror and coheir with Christ! And, that none of this is possible on my own strength.
My Outreach team spent time in Ayr working with children of all ages putting on programs to teach them about God. In Airlie Beach, we went into the streets sharing the Gospel with backpackers and BBQing for them. In Darwin we worked with churches, homeless shelters, and in aboriginal communities. Our work ranged from making hundreds of sandwiches for the homeless to running entire church services.
Finally, we spent 3 weeks in Seurtulan, East Timor (a tiny village literally built on the side of a mountain). We lived in a shed, took bucket baths, used a squatty-potty, and were awoken by rats almost every night. We built houses, taught English, basic health care, and Bible stories and would meet with people in the village to talk and pray. Every night, faithfully, people would come for worship and the Word. (If you want to know what real worship sounds like, have a guitar and about 30 kids singing at the top of their lungs all squished in a tiny room!)
Seurtulan taught me many great lessons. These people had little more than a bowl of rice and the clothes on their backs, yet they had a joy I've never experienced. They hungered to know more. The adults started showing up to the kids' lessons to learn more about the Bible! I got to glimpse the wholeness of the Gospel. We can't feed their souls but leave them uneducated and starving. Just like we can't give them a home but not give them a chance to know God. An incomplete Gospel still leaves them needy. James 1:22-27, "But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves... Pure and undefiled religion.... is this; to visit the orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world."
Our speaker for our lectures on missions asked us, "If money and ability were no issue, how would you spend your life?" My answer: use my gifts for journalism and photography to travel the world making God known, being a voice for the voiceless.
That same week, I found out our YWAM base in Townsville was one of a few in the world, spearheading an international news organization called "Grassroots News". The goal is to report on what is really happening around the world in order to inform and mobilize people to take action.
Years ago, I thought my dreams of journalism and photography were just that.... dreams. After months of prayer, I know God is asking me to pick them up and spend my life using them for His glory. He gave me this life verse: Proverbs 31: 8-9, "Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all the unfortunate. Open your mouth, judge righteously, and defend the rights of the afflicted and needy."
Long-term mission, living in jungles with mosquitos and no A/C had no appeal to me. In refinement, I now cannot wait to be doing just that!
Matthew 28:19 says, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all that I commanded you..." In this God doesn't give us an option. If we are followers of Christ, we are given this command. We all have a role to play in seeing the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth.
I would like you to stop and pray. Consider what this looks like in your life.
I am putting together, or rather God is orchestrating, a team of people to walk with me into missions. This will include support through prayer, regular contact, and monthly expenses. This is not an "either, or" but an "all of the above". I feel called to commit at least 2 years to this program and the rest of my life to missions. This will not be possible without God and without the community He has placed around me.
I know there may be more to be considered and would love to have a conversation with you to answer any further questions.
