I’m moving to Asia…
…someday.
My heart is in this little pocket of Asia. Southeast Asia to be specific. In a place where I began to come alive. Where I began to see Jesus moving, breathing and walking. I began to see His love for those around the world and His miracles work in the brokenness that was far to overwhelming for me.
Jesus asked me to be His hands and feet to those in the largest slum in Manila. To the girls and boys rescued from being sold into the sex-trade in Thailand. To the paralyzed woman who became an outcast of her village in Cambodia. And to the Burmese Muslim refugees oppressed in Malaysia.
Janie and I at the Charcoal Factory A beautiful, rescued, girl in Thailand!
These people are my friends.
As I wandered through these beautiful nations, among these beautiful people. I was reminded of God’s cry for the oppressed. His willingness and deep desire to stand up for the poor.
And it was in these nations, that I realized His calling on my life.
That as He desires to stand up for the poor… He wants do that… through me.
As His desire is to rescue the trafficked…. He is going to do that… through me.
As He seeks to save the lost by the graciousness of His Son…. He will do it, through my willingness.
I don’t feel adequate, and I’m not adequate. But, I’m chosen by a King of King’s and Lord of Lord’s who promises His strength as I follow His will.
And as much as I want to move to Asia tomorrow, that Lord of Lord’s and King of King’s has different plans. Plans to strengthen me and grow me as I seek His calling in my life.
God has led me straight to Bend, Oregon to do a missions internship with Antioch Church (founder of “The Justice Conference”), beginning in January of 2014.
I questioned this “nudge” from God to go to Oregon for months upon months. It made more sense in my head to just move to The Philippines or Cambodia. But the Lord kept bringing this internship to my attention. He continued to allow people I didn’t know from Oregon to contact me to encourage me to go to Antioch. I stumbled across a map of Oregon in a hostel in Kampala, Uganda. And He even sent a couple from Bend, Oregon to my house here in Bozeman, MT to only find out that one of them worked at Antioch.
The map of Oregon in a hostel in Kampala
And as I went to visit the congregation about a month ago, I begged God to speak to me. That He would give me one final confirmation. And this is what the lead pastor, Ken Wytsma said at the morning service,
All it costs you is, everything. All it costs you is your life. But it’s the desire that you always had, or didn’t know you had. It’s the place you always wanted to be but couldn’t quite figure it out. And that step of faith is oh so scary, but the minute you take it you realize you’re finding your true home.
He continued with giving example over example of characters from the Old Testament following God in hard callings. That no matter how irrational or dangerous it may seem, the power of God goes before us, with us and behind us.
This was a beautiful reminder for me.
Oregon didn’t make sense to me, and it still doesn’t always make sense. But, I cannot describe the immense privilege I feel when I think of working under this church who desires to be the hands and feet of Christ to this world.
So, I am moving. But not to Asia… yet.
I’m moving to Bend, this January to begin a new season. I will be discipled under a woman who lived in the Congo for four years. I will begin taking Masters classes in Social Justice at Kilns College. I will be planning events for the Antioch Community to do local missions in the Bend Community. I will encourage the youth in what it means to be the hands and feet of Jesus locally. I will seek solitude and prayer as I begin to walk in God’s calling in my life. I will learn under people who get what it means to love and serve others as Jesus would. And most of all, I will grow in my relationship with God as He continues to launch me into His plan for my life.
I am excited to extend the invitation to you… inviting you into this story. A story that is bigger than you and me. A story that seeks to bring hope to a world that needs it and to bring Jesus to the places He isn’t.
Please consider entering this story by praying for me and supporting me. Pray that the name of Jesus would be glorified in Bend and therefore, throughout the world. And consider being one of the 200 people to give $100 (or whatever the Lord leads you to give) by donating HERE.
Your support will cover the basic costs of living as well as the cost of the internship.
Thank you for surrounding me by your love and support. Thank you for believing in God’s call in my life. Oh, and here is my new blog! Follow and enjoy!
