Take only a staff...

In the previous post, I wrote:

"So we're going to *deep breath* step out in faith and pray that if this is indeed God's will for us, then he'll also make a way for us financially, even if we cannot see how at this point. We'll sleep on it, pray on it, and see if the peace is still there as time goes by...."

We prayed about it, slept on it, woke and headed off to church this morning.

... and were blown away to find that God had already prepared his message of reassurance for us through our new interim pastor Laurie Perdy's sermon on Mark 6:7-13. I was so touched that it made me teary hearing it and even now writing about it.

It was a message on ministry.

In Mark 6:8-9, Jesus tells his disciples: "Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra tunic."

In ministry, we are to depend ONLY on Jesus and trust him to provide financially. God is 'Jehovah Jireh' meaning God provides. I really loved the quote Laurie shared by Hudson Taylor "God's work done in God's way will never lack the finances to be carried out.".

The next subtitle in the sermon outline was "Housing Arrangements". How is that for timely?? given that was one of our major concerns!

In v.10, Jesus tells his disciples: "Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town...." - God will provide housing when we trust him as we minister. Laurie spoke about how missions is not about us or our comforts. Jesus came to die on the cross... how's that for comfort?!! Ministry is not about OUR own needs and desires. We need to trust God and allow him to be KING. Sacrificial life and ministry is thinking about what God wants and not our own comfort.

I was rebuked and humbled, as only a mere 20 hrs ago, I was saying to Pete: "I don't want to live in a moldy college house with paper thin walls!!!" and I've been reluctant to move out of our comfortable townhouse and rent it out since we've only just finally done up our yard after years of wanting to do it. I love spending time out there. We were so excited that we can now finally invite people over to our yard for a BBQ and not have them wade through a jungle and kill their own game!

Sometimes I wonder why we struggle so much financially when friends our own age are living so comfortably. It is hard not to compare. Maybe God, in his wisdom, knows that it would be much harder for us to leave it all behind to serve him in missions if we had all the comforts we would like. As Laurie said in his sermon, if we are too comfortable, then maybe we'll forget what we're here for. Sure I'd love to have all the living comforts in the name of 'hospitality' - nice couch for our friends to sit on, great entertainment facilities... but somehow I really doubt that God only uses beautiful houses to be a place of blessing for people. Afterall, I have been blessed and shown the best hospitality in the slums of Ethiopia.

We recently experienced what Mum has once shared with me, that often it is not the rich who are the most generous but those who have been in need, like the woman in the Bible who gave all she had - a mere couple of coins - to God. For they know what it is to be in need and be blessed through others. Perhaps what we're going through now is a way of God preparing us to be generous in blessing others as we minister on the mission field.

So God, bless what we have, all we have came from you, it is yours to give and yours to take. Blessed be your name. Help us to use whatever we have as a blessing to others.

(To hear the sermon, go to http://www.duralbaptist.org.au/category/podcasting/ . It's the one titled 'Marching Orders')

~Jo

Applications submitted!!

A few significant things have happened in the past 10 days.

Firstly, our church published our story and plans to go overseas in the recent Missions prayer newsletter. So it's out there now. The whole church knows!

Secondly, *drumrrrrrrrrrrrrrroll* we submitted our SIM applications yesterday!!! *applause*

We are now onto Step 4 of the 13 steps involved...
so what happens now? The SIM Candidate Review Committee will look over our applications and make recommendations to the State Managing Director, followed by doctrinal, personality, medical, and dental assessments... and then another 5 steps after that before we can go.

Reality hits a little harder each time we take another small step towards take off.

Teaghan has just started preschool and she is not liking it. She doesn't like changes.
I think on the day we leave, I'll cry. I'll cry because I'll miss my family. But I'll cry even harder for Teaghan because I know there'll be big adjustments ahead for her, being the cautious little person that she is. I know she'll miss her Grammy and Uncle John terribly. I think Lucas will be fine because he'll be a little younger and he's more easy going in character... and no.3, if there is a no.3, should be too little to know what's going on!

We'll just have to trust that God will give all our kids the strength to cope. I think we need to start praying for that now. Will you please join me in praying for that too? :o)

Today Pete and I discussed some more about what's in stored for us in the next two years.
We've been considering the following:
- What to do with our house? When Pete is studying full time in 2011, how will we be able to keep up with our mortgage repayments? Should we move/sell/rent out?
- Should I go back to teaching when Pete is studying full time?
- Should we have no.3? We'd love to but can we afford to? Because that would mean I can't work. When is the right time for no.3??

We've talked heaps about it already but always find it hard to come to a conclusion that we both feel peaceful about... a God-given peace that is....until today.

This is what we came up with today.

2010: Pete continues part time study at SMBC
2011: Pete commences full time study at SMBC. Jo studies part time at SMBC. Rent out our townhouse in Dural and move to college rental housing (Croydon or thereabouts). Pregnant and no.3 born at the end of the year. Teaghan attends preschool.
2012: Leave for Africa mid year...

The one thing that's had us a little unsure is How will we survive with neither of us working and no savings? But today we've decided to not be too worried about that now and just trust God. I mean, really TRUST God. We feel that it is important that we spent 2011 preparing ourselves spiritually before we head off, for we feel that we need to be strong in our faith and understanding of God if we're to be serving him overseas where our faith will be surely be tested. I'd like to do a little bit of study, not to earn a piece of paper, but to know God's Word better.

So we're going to *deep breath* step out in faith and pray that if this is indeed God's will for us, then he'll also make a way for us financially, even if we cannot see how at this point.

We'll sleep on it, pray on it, and see if the peace is still there as time goes by....

~ Jo

Vision

It’s been awhile since I last blogged and thought I’ll take this opportunity to do so before things get busier! 2010 is truly underway and much lies ahead of us! If all goes according to plan, this year will be my final year working as an engineer before going to study at SMBC in 2011. It’s exciting but scary at the same time! Exciting because a chapter in my working life will be coming to a close as I look forward to starting another chapter of my life to pursue what I’m truly passionate about. It’s scary because there are still some big questions that I do not have answers to at this stage. Questions such as: “Will we have enough financially to support ourselves in 2011 and pay college tuition fees? When is the best time to tell my parents about quitting my job and studying college? What if my parents object, and what can we do to help them to understand? Despite not knowing the answers now, I know God does and He determines our steps! It will be an exercise of faith to see how He answers and provides. Pray that these things don’t become obstacles but opportunities for God to be glorified through them.

Whenever I think of the challenges that lie ahead, I am also reminded of the need to have a sustaining vision to stay the course. There is a line from a U2 song which goes like this: “At the moment of surrender. Of vision over visibility” which I like because I am reminded that often we do not have a clear picture of what lies ahead of us in life and it requires eyes of faith to see what God is doing in our lives, and surrender ourselves fully to His will. We can find comfort in this because He knows what He is doing and what He does is for His glory and for our good.

While I was in Ethiopia, I remember a conversation with the missionary I was staying with about my future plans. I remember Jonathan asking me “What are you going to do to keep the vision alive?” At that stage of my life, I had just finished uni, I was jobless... had no secure income... not yet married let alone engaged... no theological training... so serving God overseas long term was going to be a very long road ahead. I knew it would be so but what struck me about that question was did I need to do anything or will everything just fall into place eventually? As I reflected on the past decade of my life, I can honestly say that without vision, I would not have continued on this journey to this day. So what kept the vision alive? I would say it was the very same thing that got me started, and that was the God-given and God-infectious vision of other missionaries who have a passion to declare God’ glory among the nations. I had the privilege to attend a mission’s prayer group for a year after I returned from the short-term trip to Ethiopia. It was run by a retired missionary couple to Ethiopia, Bob and Joy. I got to admit it felt really weird being in group of older folks but I loved their prayers! You could tell these guys really believed the SIM motto “By Prayer”. Despite their old age, they did ‘Missions’ by prayer. Their passion was infectious! I stopped attending that prayer group after a year, but Bob and Joy continued to faithfully send me the newsletters of SIM missionaries that they prayed for. It didn’t struck me until recently when I reflected on this that they had been sending me prayer “packages” almost every month for the past 7-8 years! And over those years, they have helped kept my vision alive as I journeyed with other missionaries through their prayers letters... reading of their struggles and joys as they experience God in their ministries to the nations. These letters were to me windows of opportunity to look into the world of missions and see what God is doing in the world. It was exciting stuff and made you want to get in on God’s plan for the world!

I once read in a Mission’s magazine that we need to ‘catch and ride the waves’ that God gives us or else we’ll miss out or get dumped by the waves! God makes those waves not us. We revolve around His plans not Him around ours. He just wants us to trust Him and ride them. Many of the missionary families that I have been following through their newsletters over the past 8 years, some of whom started on the mission field then, are now returning from the field for various reasons. As I reflected on this and think of friends who have recently gone out on the mission field this year, I cannot but feel a sense that as the wave of the generation before us are now returning, that God is rising up a wave of a new generation to go! Each generation leaves a legacy. I wonder what legacy this generation will leave with the next.

~Pete