God never ceases to amaze me. And bless me. And cover me with His faithfulness and provision. HE IS SO GOOD!
So
as you know, I’m planning on having a TAG SALE to raise money for the
Thailand Initiative. I was hoping to advertise the event in a few church
bulletins (Epiphany and St. Cecilias to start with), with signs around
the town, and anywhere else I could think of. A few weeks ago my mom
told me the local newspaper was looking for submissions and said I
should send them a message to see if they’d want to include a story on
what I’m doing. She left me the newspaper clipping with an address to
contact them, but in the flurry of busyness with the summer food program
I forgot all about it… until a few days ago. I was sorting through
papers on my desk and found the contact information. I hesitated for a
moment and then thought to myself, hey, why not?
I
sent out an email to the editor of the Wilbraham-Hampden TIMES as a
shot in the dark. I gave him a short blurb about how I grew up in
Wilbraham, where I went to school, how I got involved in missionary
work, what I did on the World Race, and what I’ll be doing on the
Thailand Initiative. I attached my support letter, a photo collage from
the World Race, and my fundraising tag sale flyer to the email. I
seriously wondered if I would ever hear anything back from him.
The
next day (during our last day of work at FFF), I got a call from an
unknown number. I answered and was warmly greeted by the voice of Janet
Wise, who immediately introduced herself as a reporter from the
Wilbraham-Hampden TIMES. She said Charlie Bennett (the editor) had
forwarded her my message and wanted her to interview me as the feature
story in the newspaper that week. The FEATURE STORY!! What?! I was
freaking out inside. This is insane! Is this really happening?! Thank you, Lord!! She
said he was going to run my advertisement for the tag sale as well. So
sweet! We set up a time for the interview and hung up the phone.
SUCCESS!! I was on cloud nine.
Two
days later I met with the fabulous Janet Wise. There is no doubt in my
mind that the Lord hand-picked this meeting and allowed her to interview
me. She was incredibly supportive and encouraging of everything I’m
doing and she kept telling me how wonderful she thought the work I was
doing was. Praise the Lord! She asked me all about how I grew up, my
family, how I got into doing missionary work, about the organizations
I’ve worked with, how I came to some of the revelations I’ve had in
life, what I did on the World Race, how it affected me, how I was called
to the Thailand Initiative, what I’m doing as fundraising, how people
can come alongside and support me, what my hopes and dreams are for the
future, etc. I would tell her story after story about God’s goodness and
faithfulness around the world and she would just look at me with
wide-eyes and say… “That’s amazing. I keep getting chills listening to
you!� That’s the Spirit of the Lord right there!!
It
turns out Janet is a member of a local church in town (United Church)
and said I should try to speak at one of their meetings/ services. It
was so nice to have someone interviewing me who loves the Lord and is on
the same page as me. Praise GOD! She also gave me contact information
for other churches and people I could get in touch with for other
connections and possible speaking engagements. I showed her my bracelets
and she gave me even more ideas of places to sell them and people to
talk to. Then she bought one herself! But this is what touched me most
of all.
She
told me the story of how she was led to become a reporter for this
newspaper and how divine it all had been. She said she wasn’t doing it
for the money but she knew God had another plan/ purpose behind it. She
told me I was the second person she had interviewed but they BOTH had
been about MISSIONS! Whoa! SO COOL!! (Her first interview was with
members from a different church in town that the Lord has been putting
on my heart to talk to. So when she mentioned them and gave me their
contact information it was even more confirmation that I need to get in
touch with them! Thanks, God!) She then said she gets $40 for every
interview she does, but that she was so touched by what I’m doing that
she wanted to give that $40 to me for this interview. So she took out
her checkbook and wrote a check to Adventures in Missions right there
and handed it to me.
Wow. Chills rushed up and down my spine. I cannot believe this is happening. I
was truly touched and overwhelmed with her sacrifice and support and
could not help but begin praising the Lord for this divine interaction.
Thank you, Jesus!!
So
now Janet and I are good friends and I am continually in awe of how God
unites and connects members of His body to lift up, encourage, and
speak life into one another. WHO KNEW that a shot in the dark email to
this newspaper would result in being interviewed as the feature story,
being able to share God’s goodness and faithfulness with thousands
around town, and being able to meet such a blessed sister in Christ. GOD
IS SO GOOD!!!!
So
moral of the story… you truly never know until you try. One of the
lessons God has taught me on the race (and is obviously continuing to
teach me), is to step out in BOLDNESS for Him and His kingdom. I truly
believe that as we step out in FAITH, God will be FAITHFUL to meet us
there and bless us abundantly more than we could ask or ever imagine. He
is going to blow our socks off. But are we going to have faith to step
out in order to receive that blessing?
“Look
at the nations and watch – and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do
something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were
told� (Habakkuk 1:5).
Heck yes. God is on the move. Let’s jump on board and enjoy the ride. 🙂
