Big News and Timing!

Our department has been looking forward to today—it was Jessica and Susan’s first day back in the office since they left for Asia two weeks ago.  They left only a few days after I returned from Africa, and in the meantime one of our coworkers has been out for a week with his new baby and another is in Mexico and another is in Florida…it has been a busy place to say the least!  And weird to be taking turns holding down the fort and working in silence in a department that is otherwise always filled with banter.

Friday, I was gone, too, but on a much shorter trip—I was in Kentucky for my first visit to Asbury University!  I drove down to speak at Friday Night Live at the OMS house on Asbury’s campus. It was fun to see Wilmore and the campus after hearing about it for years from different friends and family. I spent Friday and Saturday with my good friends Mandi and Steven and their two little boys. It was a treat to see a little of their community and where they’re living while Steven is in seminary.

Before speaking at the Friday night group, I met a student on campus, who’s considering applying to serve in communications with OMS.  She’ll be coming to visit our headquarters tomorrow, and we’re looking forward to showing her the communications ministry and getting to know her!

This trip was especially fun for me, because it was a brief glimpse of what I’ll be doing in the coming year with OMS!  April 25—that’s right, a week from today—I’ll be starting a new position in OMS’ mobilization department!!  I’m so excited about this opportunity and think it will be a great fit!  God really confirmed this move for me during my time in Africa, and I can’t wait to come alongside applicants, candidates and our current missionaries as they seek God’s direction in their lives!  One of the things I’ll be doing as a mobilizer is building relationships and discipling students on a few different college campuses, and Asbury is one of them!

Isn’t it funny how this trip to Wilmore happened to be just a week before I start as a mobilizer?  Speaking at Asbury has been in my calendar for a while.  It was way back in the fall when I was asked to come April 15th.  While planning the trip to Africa, I remember thinking it was pretty convenient to be coming back right before I was to share in Wilmore, but little did I know, headquarters would be approving my first day in mobilization to be just one week after I spoke.  I didn't know, but He knew.

God knows me in and out, and He knows the timing of my life. He knew the timing of lessons I needed to learn in Haiti.  He knew that even though going to Africa in March seemed rushed to me, it was the perfect timing to be away, seeking His direction in changing ministry positions. And He knew in October, when the Colemans asked me to come speak at Asbury, that April was the perfect time to go and get to start a new relationship with them!

I’m reading this book right now, Sacred Waiting, and today, I read an example that really made sense to me. The author’s referring to a little league baseball coach, training kids on how to steal bases. (I used to love going to the ballpark to watch Steve play little league!) He writes:

“…it seemed to me that the training shared the three facets of waiting on God: (1.) recognize the voice of your coach; (2.) run immediately when the coach says “Go!”; and (3.) trust that the coach’s sense of timing is better than your own. The coach, after all, is watching the entire field and can see the whole play unfolding. The runner must remain focused entirely on the next base.”

I don’t know about you, but for me, sometimes the third one seems the hardest to get through my head, which is one of the reasons I just love when God lets me see, through things like this weekend, that He’s known all along.

"You know when I sit and when I rise... You discern my going out and my lying down... Before a word is on my tongue, you know it completely, O Lord... All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."  Psalm 139

Anyway, I'm so excited to be sharing with you about this new opportunity to serve Jesus.  Would you be praying over my last few days in the communications department and this transition into the mobilization department next week?  

If you have any questions for me about this transition or new role, please let me know! I'm looking forward to sharing more with you as I get started next week.

Thank you so much for being my teammate in this ministry!

Kids' hearts for Africa

It has been such a joy to share with people about my time in Africa.  Last week, I had the chance to share some stories and pictures with a few kids, and they were just soaking it up.  A few of them had seen some of the photos the day before and so whenever I’d ask what they thought was happening in a certain photo, they remembered!  I was so glad to just see their excitement and know that some of the stories were sticking with them.

One of the things they kept asking about was this little boy.  He was a smiley little guy at a YFC orphanage in Burundi.  You’ll notice his shoes are mismatched.  I didn’t realize until I picked him up that he’s wearing a tennis shoe on one foot because he has a prosthetic leg.

Another thing we talked about is water and how lucky we are to have running water and faucets in our houses.

While I was sharing with the kids, my friend Robin had one of them grab a milk jug from the fridge.  The kids took turns trying to carry it on their heads, and we told them to try to imagine carrying something 10 times as heavy.  I shared with them that I had seen kids smaller than the girl in this first photo carrying water jugs.

They were soaking it up and asking so many questions, which just makes me happy!  We finished the night by praying for the little boy from Burundi and missionary Aimee and the Mozambican women she serves with.
Would love it if you would pray for them, too, but pray also for these sweet kids who are already learning about other cultures and how big Jesus' heart is for the world.  Pray that He'd keep shaping their hearts and giving us the tools to help them find ways to serve (which they've been asking about a lot!).