The past couple of months have sped by as if I were in the Kentucky Derby rather than just my normal life. Maybe using the word normal is a stretch, my life certainly isn’t normal. I just finished my dual enrollment classes for high school and I officially graduate January 2nd. Starting a new season of life will be such a relief and honestly, I am thrilled to have finished high school. I got the news a while back that my family is moving up to Wisconsin in the spring, and I with them. My dad got a job pastoring a church near Milwaukee, about 2 hours away from my extended family, and this is the path God is sending us on. I’m making weekly trips to my local thrift store to find clothes to fit modest standards in Thailand and Cambodia, which has been quite fun. Of course, the holiday season has also been extremely busy with our first-world, American festivities. God has, as always, been showing up throughout every part of my life, guiding me on his path through the great waters (Psalms 77:19-20).
Recently, I started going through Acts in my personal devotions and it has really opened my eyes to what ministry looks like. The way God works through his disciples in Acts 2 amazes me. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and, through him, began speaking in languages foreign to them. Others in Jerusalem heard them speaking, and it wasn’t just that they understood, the Lord provided their own language for each of them to hear. I think one of the most beautiful things about the way God cares for us as his children is how he speaks our own language to us. He isn’t limited by vocal or visual language, he created all communication, of course he can speak to each of us.
Another passage that stuck out to me was in Acts 8, where Phillip is spoken to by an angel of the Lord and, key factor, immediately obeys what he hears. He meets a man trying to understand Isaiah’s prophecies (which I relate to hah) and he’s able to share the good news about Jesus. This man is so enthused about his understanding that he sees some water along the road and has Phillip baptize him right there. What I see most in this story is how both Phillip and the other man immediately obey what God or Scripture tells them. Phillip left as soon as the angel spoke to him and the man was baptized as soon as he heard the truth. I want to live my life with the immediate obedience of these two men, listening to what the Spirit is guiding me to do. I want to live my life by, “Holy Spirit, what’s next?”
Moving on to some good news about my trip: I got my ministry information! As my squad and I will be in two different countries, we will be doing different ministry in each place. In Cambodia, we have a bunch of options which will be determined closer to the trip. A few are teaching Bible and English classes at the University of Nations, house visits in nearby villages, and prayer walking in the area. In Thailand we will be working either with Place of Grace, doing children’s ministry, or working in the slums. You can be praying for the people we will be reaching that they see Christ in us and our work and that their hearts are open to His love and truth.
As for this move to Wisconsin, I’m a tangle of different emotions. I’m glad to be moving closer to Jonathan, away at college, and closer to relatives as well but it is so hard to leave the people God has given me here. I have been blessed beyond measure with my friends and I hope they know it. Each one of them is an answer to prayer and it breaks my heart to be the one leaving again. Psalms 77 has been my go-to passage when thinking about moving. It explains how hurt I feel and then points me back to the Lord even in my pain. As I mentioned earlier, the last two verses, 19-20, show how God’s path for us might be through the sea and we may not see his feet beside us but he leads us like a flock, caring for us in the unknown. God’s also been revisiting my commitment to him with my life and the fact that I’ve given him everything, relationships, possessions, control, it’s all his. Again and again and again, I will give everything I have to him and each time it will be hard but each time it will be worth it. Giving to him my friendships with the girls who are like sisters to me does not feel good but I know that my God, who cares for me, will provide for these relationships just as he did when he gave them to me. So, friends, if you read this, remember how much I love you and how much more the Lord loves you and he’ll provide for us.
Of course, as departure gets closer and closer, I am starting to pack up and get my fundraising completed. A very generous friend heard I’d need to purchase items to bring and instead of sending in money, gave me money to use specifically for preparation and packing. It’s almost a weird thing to do, but I’ve been praying over every trip to the store I make that God would provide exactly what I need to buy that day and he would make it clear what I need and what I don’t. I figured that since the money is his, not mine, he should be the one deciding what to spend it on. God has really shown up with my support raising by sending in money from old friends and slowly but surely getting me closer to 100%. Currently, I am just above 50% and my deadline for all the funds to be in is January 10. Thank you so much if you have given already, you are being God’s hands and feet, and if you haven’t yet, prayerfully consider it because there’s still time.
I hope you enjoyed this update and thank you for your prayers for me and my trip!
