From the last post about our trip in July, well it has been postponed! All is well and God is in control and has a reason for everything.
Let's start back in April when I informed my employer I would be moving to Belize as a missionary later this year, I was mysteriously fired about 2 weeks later! What a blessing in disguise it truly was, a burden had been lifted. I had to seek out the words in red and remember where Christ was preaching and reminding the people, "Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" Wow, well yes He does! And has He ever shown us a new level of faith and to truly rely on Him and to not be anxious about tomorrow for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. This has been a valuable lesson for us, not that we haven't been here before, but I can honestly say I have been and am at peace with everything going on. I had interviewed with a company and got strung out for 2 weeks waiting to start, then on to another opportunity, then on to another. Finally after continuing to pray for His will to be done and asking for His direction, He showed me to just do odd jobs for people and He would provide for our NEEDS!! All of a sudden my aunt has a laundry list of "honey-do's," our church family in Pearland graciously helped with our moving needs, and friends have been helping me find little odd jobs and even helping to get me long term work. Our home church Ridgewood has opened up their "missionary" parsonage to us for the few months we will be here so we didn't have to sign a lease and to allow us to have a place to set up for our largest yard sale EVER!!
I was able to attend the Southern Baptist Convention in New Orleans with Pastor Dustin and felt honored to be able to attend. I know for many pastors it is just run of the mill and a small vacation for some, but for me, I was enlightened to an entire new side of the "business" side of church. I use the term business loosely but truly it is what it is and I must admit, it changed my view of being affiliated with a larger group of churches. The networking that is available is amazing and very helpful. You get a good picture of just how many organizations are all there to help each other with everything from seminaries to disaster relief. I had questioned the "need" for the SBC and why be affiliated with them? The main reason I got most of the time was for missions, okay, but why? Can you not support missionaries on your own? Are there not numerous organizations out there that you can support with the money that is sent to local and national SBC groups? Well sure there are, however, scripture does tell us to be good stewards of our money and if you just pick random groups or missionaries, you are not always certain exactly what you are supporting. I had heard this before and thought it was a lame explanation, but it is now the same answer I would give. While I feel churches should operate within a budget and do everything debt free, it is not always the case and sometimes gets passed on or even unavoidable, and being a part of a larger organization opens doors for help and advice that otherwise could be hard to come by.
In other news, Lord willing, we will be making our annual trip to NC to see family for the last time for a while. Now that my trip in July has been cancelled for this year, we will be using that money to go say our goodbye's to our family and friends and share our vision with our church friends up there. They go to Belize each year so we look forward to continuing our relationship with them and seeing them when they come down to work in the villages they are already a part of down there. Jana's sister is pregnant with her first so to see her will be exciting as well. After we recover from that trip I will be planning to fly down to Belize to make some final preparations before moving in late October/ early November. Yes that's right, we will be gone before the holidays! Which let's face it, after we sell everything we own, what's the big deal with leaving before the holidays anyway, right?
To close the post, I ask anyone here to please continue to pray that God will continue to provide our immediate needs as well as our upcoming needs to move and travel. Also to continue to pray for me as I prepare to speak to various pastors and churches that have shown interest in what we are doing and potentially help support our mission. The Lord is already preparing the villages down there for our coming and we pray and ask you to join us that He will continue to open the doors to His will and close the doors to our will. Pray for His will to be done in your own life as well, I feel God moving in His people and preparing His people for what lies ahead, are you ready? Walk the walk and Glorify Him daily! What have you sacrificed for Christ's sake?
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