“God is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble.”
This is a verse that my little sister wrote out for me on a piece of cardboard before I left home. It has been sitting on my desk since I got to Gospel For Asia but it was only today – more than a month later – when I realized that this is what God has been teaching me for the whole time I’ve been here. Whenever I mess up or feel homesick, God is with me. I think that He has let me mess up so much while I’m here simply so I will rely on Him and remember that I am here for His glory – not because I am qualified. He is always so near to me. I am learning to listen to His voice and to accept His grace and peace.
His grace is His loving favor even when we continually mess up. He cares for me so much that he made a way for my sins to be forgiven. When I would be guilty before His throne – unable to have a relationship with Him – doomed to eternal hell, He sent a sacrifice. His son died for me that I might stand before him even with my imperfections. He can no longer see that I am not perfect.
Matt said in class this week that often we go before God and ask Him “How can You love me when I have done this sin?” He said that God just looks at us and says “Why are you bringing that up again? I distinctly remember forgetting that.” Our God keeps no record of our wrongs or our shortcomings. He only wants us to be able to live life to the fullest through being made into the likeness of His Son.
So, right now I am raising my support so that I can come back to Gospel For Asia as a staff, and I would like to share with you the amazing day God blessed me with yesterday and from that you can see some of the reasons why I feel God is soooo amazing.
Yesterday I went with one of my friends from my church Calvary Chapel Chester Springs to go meet one of her pastor friends of Calvary Chapel Antioch in Philadelphia. When I got there, I felt like I was amongst family. Their love of Jesus was practically oozing from the walls of that small church. After the service, I was introduced to this homeless guy named Daniel (One of the guys from the Homeless ministry that I’ll share about later), the thing about Daniel is that his marriage is like that of Hosea from the Bible. He adores his wife, but she is being unfaithful. He prays for her daily, but because of this, he is out on the street. Please be praying for him, he is totally on fire for Christ though, and I praise God for that.
After talking with Daniel, I met the pastor of this Calvary chapel, Aaron Campbell. This brother is dedicated to spreading the Gospel of Christ. His message was practically dripping with how all of us are called to spread the Truth, even if we all aren’t called overseas, we are called to our families, our work place, and our community. It was neat talking to this brother and about Gospel for Asia. He wasn’t opposed to me sharing with him and the elders about the need for me to raise support.
After Church, Dana (my friend from church), Jonah (the leader of the homeless ministry) and I took Daniel out for lunch at a Chipotle. It was a great time of fellowship. After eating, we headed over to the park area where a whole bunch of the homeless people in Philly live. Before I share more about what we did there, let me say that this is an answer in prayer. I had been praying about getting involved in a ministry at my church here while I was support raising so that I can still be actively serving God, and evangelizing, while I’m not in the office. My mom then mentioned this Homeless ministry that had started a few years ago by a group of the 20’s-30’s in our congregation. I had always been interested in getting involved, but then God called me to Gospel For Asia and so I left. So when my mom presented to me this opportunity, I prayed about it and decided to try it out. And boy was it an answer to prayer! I was there and I was so blessed by these Homeless guys and God spoke through me, there was no fear because God placed this overwhelming love for these guys that could have only come from Him. And God’s perfect love casts out all fear, and boy is that a true statement!
So we are at this part talking to these guys, three of them Drew, Johnny, and Angel are believers, and mr. Black and Ali were not. So it was an interesting mix. After a few hours talking with them (they gave me the nickname “green-eyes”) we headed over to another church (Tenth Presbyterian Church) with Drew and Johnny (I think that’s his name… I’m really bad with names, but I’m trying to memorize them for the next time I see them). We met up with this guy named John. I got talking to him and then one of his friends Josh, came up and talked with us too. We somehow got on the topic of the south and I brought up that I live in Texas now, and they asked why, so I told them about Gospel For Asia. Well, John knows all about Gospel For Asia and pretty much freaked out he was so excited that I actually worked there! He has read the Revolution in World Missions and the The Road to Reality and loves Bro. KP tremendously! Then he asked about which church I go to down there and I mentioned the Village Church, and he knew about Matt Chandler! How crazy is that?! I’m in the middle of Philly, talking to these two college guys, and they know about Gospel For Asia, and the Village church! So John asked what I was doing up in PA, and I mentioned that I was in the School of Discipleship and that I’m now on staff and then he asked if I was support raising, I of course said yes, and I gave him and Josh my prayer cards.
We chatted for a bit longer, and then Jonah, Paul, Drew, Johnny, and I went out to dinner. During dinner, I was asked about art, and I mentioned that I was studying in Highschool to do something with graphic arts or video stuff, and then Paul and Jonah asked if I would work on illustrating Paul’s children’s book he was working on. I said I’d work on it if I have time before I get back to Gospel For Asia. But I was completely blown out of the water of how providing God is. Seriously.
After dinner, we walked back to the park where Drew and Johnny sleep. We talked for a bit more, and I got to share with Jonah about my trip to India, which was awesome. Then we headed home and got back to my house. But that whole entire time I was so comforted to know that in this season when I am support raising, I am where I need to be. And God’s got my back!
Thanks for bearing with me through this long post! Just wanted to share with you all how amazing God is, and how’s He’s moving all over the world! 😀
For graduation, our class was told to prepare something, whether it be a skit, a presentation, video, slide show, etc. Here is what my class and I put together. I hope you enjoy!
It sure does feel strange to be graduated from the School of Discipleship and right between coming back on staff with GFA, and not gone yet. I’m glad for the chance to stay here longer to help out in the office during the craziness of the new data change, and to help train the new student that will take my place in the Volunteer department. But it doesn’t leave much time for processing all that has happened this year and the last few hectic weeks of class. So I was re-reading my latest Owley Report (Newsletter) and here are the things I wrote about.
The Bonsai House! This is my last newsletter while living in the Bonsai house. I’m going to miss my roommates that became like sisters. I’m sure glad we will spend eternity together! Check out some stuff we did on Youtube! Just search “Ninjacat12890”
We went evangelizing for the third of July.
My entire School of Discipleship class. We had a bunch of fun together and learned a lot from God this year. I’m glad I got to go through it all with them. I’m never going to forget this year that we spent together.
We got the chance to challenge ourselves by participating in a ropes course together. Some of the challenges were trust exercises, jumping off a 25 foot pole onto a trapeze bar, and climbing a 30 foot rock wall followed by a zip-line. It was awesome! Not to mention the fact that we saw an armadillo! Alive!!!
We have one more week of classes left! Recently we finished the book Stoked, by Danny Lehman. It was very challenging, and I enjoyed it. Next we go through one of Uncle KP’s booklets called Stay Encouraged. Before we go through that though, we had to give 10 minute speeches on a verse or passage in the Bible that God used in our lives this year. I gave mine on Romans 8:28.
On July 20, 2010 the August School of Discipleship class of 2009 graduated. It was an amazing ceremony, Uncle Gayle Erwin, author of The Jesus Style spoke, and the students each shared a parting gift of encouragement and thanks to the staff and families of GFA. This has been an amazing year full of growth, laughter, and love. Four of us are coming back on staff after we go back for support raising. The other three are all going home to see what the Lord’s plan is for them. Please be praying for each of us in our journeys with God. 🙂
Even though those last weeks were packed full of lessons from God, fun activities, and lots of cleaning, it was awesome to spend it with my class. Our class really did become like a little family unit within the GFA family, and I will continue to pray for my amazing friends/brothers/sisters.
Tonight we (the School of Discipleship students) went to go evangelizing. We arrived at our destination and were turned away because a storm was coming. We did get a few tracts out before the rain hit and we all made a dash for our cars, then drove for ice cream. We all chose our flavors and then occupied two booths.
A random fact about me 🙂 Wherever I am I always stop and just watch the people or things around me taking in all that’s happening. Sort of like storing away a precious moment.
So there I was in a chair just watching everyone. They were smiling and laughing. Sharing random stories while working on their ice cream. (One pretended her straw was a dinosaur, while another pretented she was a walrus with the straw in her mouth.) It was such a beautiful picture of the body of Christ. It made me smile knowing that I had the blessing of being a part of that. Later we all watched a movie together and laughed some more.
We had gone out intending to share the gospel, then the rain came and we had to change our plans. Another thing I see so clearly through this is – God cares about the little things in our life. Even if it is just talking with friends, ice cream in hand and the rain in the background.
Recent Comments