Mission Training International

Will and I are about to begin our third week at Mission Training International (MTI) in Colorado. The first two weeks were language training and we are about to move on to two weeks of cultural training. Here are the top five things about our time here so far.

1. Colorado is beautiful! I mean, we already knew this, but man, living in the midst of mountains is breath taking! It is so gorgeous in this area! Here are some pictures of hikes we have been able to do in the area so far.

  2. Missionaries are great people. We are here with over 30 other adults (and lots of kids!) and they are really kind people. I guess you would expect missionaries to be kind, but we have been blown away by the love and compassion of the people we are here with. We are so grateful that God is sending these great people to spread His love all over the world. The people that are taking this training with us are going everywhere including the Dominican Republic, Southeast Asia, Austria, Kenya, and many other countries. There is even another couple here who is going to South Sudan! We are very grateful for the friendships we are building with people here and grateful that God is calling His people all over the world!

3.   Learning a new language can be fun and manageable. Over the past two weeks, we have been learning a method of how to learn a language.  I have to admit, learning a new language is NOT my favorite part about moving to a new country. However, after this training, I am looking forward to it a lot more and much more hopeful that it can actually be a manageable task if I am diligent and plan it out well. I’m so grateful for the new skills we learned for language learning!

4.  Pre-Field training is VERY beneficial! We are only halfway through the training and I already feel like it has been worth every penny. The staff here is extremely knowledgeable and all have a lot of experience in the mission field. This has been a great time of “filling our backpacks” with great knowledge that I know will be very beneficial on the field.

5.   God is faithful! Okay, we already knew that one too, but seriously, He is so good! We are incredible grateful for everything we are getting to experience here and know that it will lead to life-long friendships and great knowledge for our future in the mission field. We are also so grateful that we are getting very close to finishing support. We only need around $600 more per month to be fully funded! If you are interested in joining our support team, please go to http://www.whm.org/give/missionary?ID=51266. 

Perspective

Lately I have been consumed with all of the reasons that moving to Africa is difficult. Things like the difficulty of living away from family and how hard it is to sift through everything you own and narrow it down to 4 boxes have overwhelmed my mind and my actions.

However, God knows what we need to help us keep perspective- even it if seems to come in unexpected ways. The other day, I was battling with these thoughts of how difficult it will be to move back to Africa and interrupting my thoughts, I heard loud as day the line, “WHY SO SERIOUS?!” in the Joker’s (from Batman) voice.

I almost laughed out loud. This was God’s subtle (or not so subtle) was of helping me come back to reality. You see, I allowed my fears to trump my calling and the promises God has given me about Africa. I allowed my thoughts to be consumed by the things that will be difficult about leaving America and moving to a developing country rather than holding onto the calling God has given Will and I and the realization that God is good and in control of all things.

So today I am thinking about the Joker. I am intentionally interrupting my negative thought patterns with the realization that I do no have to be so serious. There are many, many things to be excited about and joyful in about life in Mundri and back in the mission field.

“And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age” Matthew 28:20

God is with me now, just as He will be with me in South Sudan. Yes, it will be painfully difficult to leave family and not watch out nieces and nephews grow up before our eyes. Yes, packing stinks. I am exhausted by it. However, God is with me in the midst of all of it. He will be with me on the days that it is painful to see pictures of family because I so badly want to be at the party with them. He will be with me tomorrow as we continue to pack up our house and narrow down everything we own. There is good in these painful things because they are part of what God is calling us to. They are part of being missionaries and following God’s calling for us. We can call them good because God will be in these moments and will help us through. No, that will not make them easy, but it gives them purpose. I want to walk fully in what God is calling us to, and that means facing the hard parts head-on- realizing that He is with me every step of the way.

Thank you, Lord, for reminded me of your truth by using silly movie lines. Thank you for helping me keep perspective and be reminded of your promises for me. Help me to run to you with my fears and be consumed with joy by from goodness. 

Treating Soil

I (Will) just got back from a week long training in Florida at ECHO (www.echonet.org).  ECHO’s exists as a resource for development workers in the field of agriculture as a resource for training and information. I learned all the basics about tropical agriculture development.

One of the main topics we focused on was soil health. As a person who hasn’t ever worked in agriculture I was a bit surprised at how much of our time was spent on that topic. However, as they explained the importance of the soil it became evident it is where most of our attention should be.

The soil contains most of the items needed for the life and health of the plant. The health of the soil directly impacts the health of the fruit produced. If you see issues in the fruit you know something has gone wrong in the soil and to fix the fruit, you must address the soil.

As I learned all this and more, I couldn’t help but see the correlation between this and what God does in us.

God’s main concern is with my heart, not the fruit of my life. That isn’t to say He doesn’t care about what I do but His focus isn’t on actions, it’s on my heart. Just like if there is healthy soil the fruit will be healthy (generally) God knows if my heart is set on Him and believing truth, the fruit of my life will be healthy as well.

So, as I pay more attention to what is going on in my heart (the soil) the result will be more God honoring actions (the fruit).

“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”   1 Samuel 16:7

The End Goal

We have been asked a lot lately what we will be doing in South Sudan. Our responses are practically on autopilot at this point.

"I will be training teachers, Will is going to be doing community development through agriculture and possibly teaching at the local seminary." 

That's the truth. That is what we will be doing on a regular basis. However, this is the vehicle, not the final destination. 

The end goal of why we are going is to build relationships with people in Mundri so that, through the unending love of Christ, lives can be changed and hearts can be mended. 

Yes, we are grateful that we have skills that God has equipped us with to be able to share with the people in Mundri, but God is the one who will do anything of lasting value. We will teach, do agriculture, etc. and we will do these things to the best of our ability and work very hard at those things. However, if these things are where all of our efforts go, we are missing the point. The point is that God has the power to transform lives. God has the power to bring healing to hearts that have been in the midst of war for well over 20 years. He has the strength to breathe renewed hope and peace into hurting and broken hearts. We go and teach, do agriculture, etc. so that God can use the relationships we form through these activities to further His kingdom. We want the people we will be working with to learn what we are teaching and grow in knowledge and skills, but more than that, we want them to know that God loves them and that they are desired by the King.

One of my students from Nigeria,
Happy, with a Bible that she was
giddy over receiving.

Some of my favorite moments in Nigeria came when we could start to see fruit of the heart change in the people we were working with and when we could see their love for the Lord grow. Yes, I loved hearing my students' English improve and math skills increase, but more than that, it brings me so much more joy to see them praying out loud and worshipping God with song and dance.

Our hope for ministry in South Sudan is that we can use our giftings well and bring change through our skills, but more than that, we hope that the relationships we are able to build through our "jobs" will lead to Christ transforming lives and the South Sudenese people having a greater understanding of His love for them. 

Rest

"The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. The Lord protects the simple-hearted; when I was in great need, he saved me. Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you." Psalm 116:5-7

In this season of Easter, the concept of rest has continued to come up for me. Life is busy right now. Between teaching full time, raising support, and traveling to see family/ support raise each month, somedays I'm not sure which way is up. In the midst of this, God has been reminding me of the importance of rest. The importance of taking time to focus on what He is doing in the midst of my busy movements. 

Lately I have wondered what rest even looks like. What does it mean to take time to rest when it doesn't seem like the demands of the day allow for such a luxury. Webster defines rest as, "to cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength". 

To recover strength, YES, I need that. 

I am finding that recovering strength in the true sense of the word "strength" comes from the Lord speaking truth to my fears and reminding me of His power. I am also finding that in order to do this, in order to truly hear God in these fearful areas, it takes me being still. It requires me to take time to be quiet and not be afraid of going to those fearful spaces, in order for God to redeem them and replace them with His truth. 

In our culture and world right now, being still is foreign. We pride ourselves on being busy. I am starting to think this is because business and productivity is our way of escaping being quiet. It's our (culture's) way of not having to deal with how we are really feeling and what we are really afraid of, because that's too scary. We would rather fill our waking hours to the brim so we can sleep (too little) and then wake up to do it all over again- all-the-while avoiding what is really going on inside. 

It is easy for me to think rest is something I will do once we get to the slower pace of life in South Sudan, once the support raising is finished and I have completed this year of teaching. However, I think I would be missing the heart of rest. I don't think rest is just for certain seasons of our life. I think to truly live fully and experience life well, we need to rest even in the busy seasons. Even if it just means taking ten minutes to be still. 

I pray that in the midst of this Easter weekend, you will find time to rest. I pray God will start speaking to the scary areas of your life that are difficult for you to go to alone. I pray you will find rest and peace in those places as He walks you through those areas. 

Praise the Lord, my soul;
    all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
² Praise the Lord, my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits—
³ who forgives all your sins
    and heals all your diseases,
⁴ who redeems your life from the pit
    and crowns you with love and compassion,
⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

                                ~Psalm 103:1-5

Establish our hearts!

“Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” James 5:7-8

Oh the process of raising support! It is a roller coaster for the heart.  Days are made good or bad based on the response from people about support. Some days are made good just by getting any response!

As I read in James yesterday the verses above stuck out. “Be patient” and “establish your hearts” in particular were (are) convicting. My patience grows weak as we wait on responses from people. My heart so often wavers from the truth as it is established in my external circumstances, which are so often changing. 

But hope is coming. God will bring the “early and late rains”. He will provide.

My hope often stops here, in the coming. I hope God will come and intervene in the physical circumstances of my life and provide for the things I need (do I convince myself I ‘need’ things I really just want? Yes.). It’s as if hope is something further down the road I’m waiting to arrive at which magically coincides with the provision I’m not so patiently waiting for.

However, Hope is here. My heart can be established in the truth of what God has done through his death and resurrection. My patience can be renewed by the hope of a savior who was and is and is coming again. Hope isn’t something down the road, it’s here waiting with me. The real hope isn’t just in provision for the things I need. The real hope is in “the coming of the Lord.”

May our hearts not waver in the circumstances of our day, which are so often changing. Rather, may our hearts be established in the truth that we have a Savior who is here with us now offering hope for today and reminding us “the coming of the Lord is at hand.” 

Updates

It’s been a busy few weeks for Theresa and I as we continue to work, meet with people and take care of all the other responsibilities that come with life in the US as you prepare to move to Africa. Here are a few updates we wanted to pass along!

I, Will, have registered for a tropical agriculture training in Ft. Myers, FL April 6-11 with ECHO (http://echonet.org/). I’m very excited to gain this new knowledge that can be applied in South Sudan. Several months ago Theresa and I spent time praying about how my time should/could be used to prepare for Africa. We both sensed God saying He would bring opportunities my way that would be practical “hard” skills. This training is one of those things. One of our team members has already been applying the teaching from ECHO in South Sudan and I look forward to joining her in that work.

One of my best friends from Nigeria, Daniel, came to the US for a work trip and we were able to spend a few hours with him here in Bloomington. We showed him Indiana University campus, went on a quick hike and had dinner together. Daniel introduced me to development and was patient with me when I failed. We were able to have great conversations during his visit about the difficulty of development. In particular, we talked about development being about people not programs/projects, the need for long term commitment and patience/vulnerability from both the community and development workers. As development workers we don’t go with answers to problems or programs that won’t fail. We go offering relationship and a willingness to work and suffer alongside a people to bring the change they want to see in their community and the hope of Jesus (who has been there long before we arrived and will continue to be there long after we leave). Our conversations reminded me of these things.

The conversations we were able to share with him also reminded Theresa and I once again of how much we love this work. It’s people like Daniel who inspire us to push through the difficulty of the work (whether that is here, raising support, or once we get to South Sudan) and pursue wholeheartedly the people God puts in front of us. We’ve both learned so much from him and are so grateful we had the time to simply be together.

Finally, please continue to pray for South Sudan. The ceasefire that was signed at the end of January is no longer in place and fighting is continuing. Please pray for peace. Pray for the leaders of both the rebels and government to be humble and seek what is best for the people. Pray for the people to be peace loving and seek what is best for their neighbor (regardless of tribe) over themselves. We recognize we don’t understand the difficulty of these tasks but put our hope in the One who can make all things right. Come, Lord Jesus!