WorldVenture Archives - Page 14 of 17

Thinking Out Loud: Education Goals

My simple plan for lifelong education was approved last year. It’s a combination of free and affordable classes with a lot of reading. My long-term plan though after I reach 100% support is to set up an account where I can put aside a little each month to save for a college education.

The goal isn’t really a degree, but to challenge myself in classes that require homework and accountability. So, when I save enough in that account for a few classes, I’ll enroll. Once I begin a few classes, I can then apply for scholarships. Maybe by the time I reach 90, I’ll have acquired the credits for a degree in Biblical Studies.

I chose the first plan because becoming a missionary isn’t exactly a career that will pay off student loan debt in a short amount of time. I need to be a good steward of my time and resources so that I can have strong ministries with great volunteers. So pray for me as I spend this year and part of next determining that goal and school. Pray also for a great plan to pay for my education in cash without accruing debt.

I love learning. I love the accountability of college. However, debt would not, in this economy, help ministry.

Click here to help me get to a 100% in support!

Wilderness Trekking Update

The Wilderness Trekking Video series will be featured at the end of May, beginning of June. April was not a good month. We are working at scheduling an interview with a couple who has an incredible story to share with you.

Stay tuned…

Running and Ministry

Not every run will turn out okay. Running is a metaphor, an adjective, and a goal and discipline-maker. As a high school student, I wasn’t athletic. I hated running. All I wanted to do was sit on the bleachers under the warm California sun and read. Running happened almost three years ago when I so desperately wanted to do something different with my life; break the mundane. Do something crazy.

Running happened because someone believed I could do it (you know who you are!). It became part of my spiritual life, a creative expression, a longing to embrace the outdoors. On Saturday, I ran my peak run a few weeks from the Whiskey Row Marathon (20 miles) and it was the worst run ever.

If a friend had driven by and offered me a ride, I would have taken it that day, and called YMCA to downgrade my run from a full to a half marathon. When the emotions and pain subsided, I realized that I did finish 20 miles. The very act of just finishing a difficult task is worship. Following the Lord in what He has called you to do is like running that 20 miles. It is obedience.

Training requires consistency. You can’t train sometimes and only when you feel like it. For a marathon, you have a regiment of regular running, specified miles, so you are prepared for the real thing. When I think of bad runs, I think how ministry requires consistency and planning.

Many times a ministry will fail, not because the idea was bad or it was against God’s will, but because of lack of preparation, discipline, or consistency. A ministry cannot run on a few volunteers. Volunteers must embrace the vision and mission of the ministry and be “sold” on its message. Like running, ministry requires patience as you train to get there.

I’m praying that my run on May 14 will be good in spite of the struggle to train just like I pray your ministry will succeed with unlimited energy to produce great results, but not be results-driven.

Have a great day, friends!

Why Investing in Experiences is Necessary

In an article by Intellectual Take Out called, “Why You Should Spend More Money on Experiences than Things,” it said,

” While new things might make us happier at first, we adapt to having them, and their meaning to us changes over time. So rather than buying that shiny new Apple watch or shelling out for a brand new BMW, research suggests that you’ll get more happiness by spending that hard-earned cash on experiences like art exhibits, participating in outdoor activities, learning a new skill, or traveling..”

When we began moving from our mobile home to the home we now live in, we had watched too many home and garden television shows and began to clean through all the “things” that had cluttered our life. The rule was, “If we didn’t use it for a year, did we really need it?”

Lots of sentimental and other items went in the trash bin or donation bag. The result was an easier move and simple living. Our Christmases and birthdays in our marriage had begun with gift giving and have now become about gifts of experience. Our short term missions trip to Honduras taught us this, too.

While donations and prayer got us to Honduras, some expenses still came out of our pocket. We didn’t mind because this was another gift of experience. God was moving our life to another culture, and using that culture to prepare me for a life of missions in a new field. He showed us how happy and content the Honduran believers were with so little. I couldn’t help but think of the American culture at that moment, and how the culture wants what their neighbor has, and is never content to live with what God has gifted them.

We take for granted our home, our stuff, and our lives every day. A missionary in Phoenix recently shared in his newsletter how the refugees he sponsors were amazed at having an apartment, clothes, and the basics that are the norm for most Americans. A book I read from a Sudan refugee (now American citizen) was amazed at the size of the houses and his room when he was adopted into the United States. As I journey into this new direction and learn about the peoples on the move, people groups, and develop relationships online, I look forward to new experiences. Experience is the greatest teacher.

Your prayers and financial partnership will help me serve online, help other churches and missionaries, and work with others to use the gift of technology across the globe in very creative ways, because as I have learned, people want to support this kind of ministry, and are uncertain themselves how to do it.

LEARN MORE

Praise the Lord for Great Blessings!

Three Ways to Better Your Friendships

Most of the time, social media has been a blessing to me. Not all relationships can withstand social media though. Sometimes, it is better for friends not be “friends,” and in light of missionary work, today I took some steps to build some healthy boundaries and keep healthy friendships well. Here are my three ways to build better relationships:

My personal Facebook: This is for friends, family, co-workers, and those “grandfathered” in over the years (because, well, we’ve become great friends from a distance). Oftentimes, I will ignore Facebook friend requests unless I know them as a personal friend. If you are a ministry contact, please “like” my Facebook page or request via email to join our Technology and Missions Page. I do want to connect with you, but Facebook limits the amount of friends one can have on their personal profiles. This is why I created a page. I have 22 social networks. I am active on most of them; and all of them, when I am 100% supported.
Healthy Discussion by Example: One of the things I have done over the years was to create a comment policy so discussions and disagreements can be civil. This applies to all my Facebook accounts and some other social media where I can monitor the thread. I believe we can treat each other with love and not agree with everything the other person stands for. In doing so, I delete comments that are name calling, a put down to the person’s character, or come off as angry and sound confrontational. There are 52 Bible Verses talking about “self-control.” James 1:19-20 says, “Know this, my dear brothers and sisters: everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to grow angry. This is because an angry person doesn’t produce God’s righteousness.” I believe we can be loving to others with any confrontations done in private message, text, email, phone call, or face-to-face; never in the public eye.
Refraining From Being Right: The church I work at is doing a sermon on the tongue, and James really hits it hard on the power of the tongue and its consequences. When perusing my social media, I may disagree with someone, but I only respond if it is a misrepresentation of the truth or if there is a chance they are open to discussion. Politics can be a stumbling block to some in seeking Jesus. It is such a hard balance to maintain. Share my politics and become that stumbling block or say nothing? I believe a happy middle ground exists. I think people can share their views if we all practice tolerance towards those we disagree with (and I’m not talking about the tolerance in the accepting way). Tolerance in being kind as we disagree. This goes back to point number two. Or if a conversation is going badly, refraining from further discourse to preserve the friendship. Make sure you are relying on the Holy Spirit’s guidance as you navigate social media and relationships.

What have you found in your relationships that work?

How do you monitor your social networks?

He’s Not a Terrorist

Periscope is an application that works on Android or iphones. You download the app to your phone and create your profile. At anytime during the day, you can turn it on and connect to any country in the world. Personally, I love it. My friend from the United Kingdom is Bob. I have also enjoyed a conversation online with a Kurd from Iraq.

The Kurd knew some English. He was a Muslim. Because he was in Iraq, every other question on the chat was, “Are you a terrorist?”

We’ve got to come up with a better way of connecting cross-culturally other than asking someone who happens to live in the Middle East and who happens to be a Muslim, “Are you a terrorist?”

Periscope offers us an unlimited opportunity to go online and converse with people from other countries. Not all of them know English. If you want to get your teenagers or kids involved, and they are taking a second language in school, consider visiting a country that speaks that language so your child can practice her skills with someone from that country.

The joy of technology is how you can cross cultural lines with a simple app and be anywhere in the world. With that in mind, consider taking a missions course online or in person. I promise you, it is applicable in your communities and through your online relationships.

Night Thoughts

When it’s dark and quiet as your head rests on the pillow, and gone are the nagging day-to-day to-do-isms that have kept your feet moving, your mind awakens.

Another ministry leader falls. Scandal shows up on your newsfeed from another person who claimed to be Christian. Our kingdoms on earth are built on foundations of sand instead of Stone. Or on normal nights, noting the comments online or thinking about the people who can’t see clearly how their words can build up or tear down; it’s their right to say and do as they please publicly regardless of the consequences. And how I pull back my fingers from the keyboard, choosing to walk this walk upright as best as possible.

Then, there’s the diaspora.

With so little time during the week, how do I reach them? How do I connect?

To connect, I need to learn about their culture which requires a whole lot of listening first and asking a lot of questions. To make connections online, you have to invest the time.

So as I think about walking the walk and my own deficiencies, I think of these verses always:

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

– 1 Corinthians 13

Embattled and Healing

“Good stewards need to adapt to changing circumstances, but that’s not all. They must also be on the alert for outside threats that could undermine their work. External challenges can come in the form of outright attack, as the Israelites feared in Nehemiah 4, or they can be spiritual in nature like demonic attack or despair.” Pg. 585, Exploring Stewardship, The NIV Stewardship Bible

Embattled, I woke this morning to the sound of rain pattering against the windows and a pain free morning. A week long battle with Diverticulitis is finally easing. With renewed focus, I began to get caught up on work after rescheduling my appointments for next week.

First order of business was time with God. This morning I read this devotion (quoted above). My assigned reading was Nehemiah 5:6-19. A lot of Nehemiah, read in light of today, is relevant. According to the commentary on page 586, many Jewish families had to mortgage their properties to pay for food, farming had slowed because of reconstruction of the wall, greedy Jewish creditors seized properties and enslaved children, and taxes were extremely high. With exception of enslaving children, do you see how we can call relate? Many people in my community struggle economically and we are no different as outlined by what happened on Tuesday.

I had to make a tough decision Tuesday. Do I go to the emergency room or weather through the excruciating pain? It’s a gamble. We couldn’t afford more medical bills with a colonoscopy bill that just came in the mail. I didn’t want to cause my husband more stress. By evening, I had no choice.

It was a good decision. I am gaining strength and getting better. My head is clear. So many people prayed for me. They sent me messages on Facebook. I was so encouraged. This week’s battle with illness and other things taught me about adapting to changing circumstances.

Building More Than Ministry

David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished.

1 Chronicles 28:20

When I left the meeting on Friday, I felt incredibly blessed. I am raising financial partnerships as a missionary with WorldVenture, and God helped me see how I can invest back into people’s lives. People don’t leave without leaving something behind, and Friday I left learning something new. I’m not just building ministries and service, but relationships.

This whole weekend has been amazing.

God has been involving me in real world solutions. Every day I wake up and wonder what adventure God will bring me on next. Who will I meet? How can I help?