Patience

"Don't mistake God's patience for His absence. His timing is perfect and His presence is constant. He is always with you!" 

If you know me, you know I am not a patient person. Sorry! I'm continuing to working on that, but you will need to keep praying for me. Do it now, please!  :-)   Over the past few months I have been wondering about God's plan for my life and when he would let me in on it.

At the end of November I met with members of Christian Missionary Fellowship (CMF) in Indianapolis. I had met some of their employees and missionaries at the various meetings I attended during November and I felt God was leading me to that group. After talking to them and learning about possible opportunities,  I met with a missionary serving in Kenya, who is home on furlough. I learned that it would be possible for me to do a vision trip in January. So, with less than a month of planning I will travel to Kenya on January 1st.




I will be going to Turkana in the northwest corner (west of Lake Turkana).  I will spend about 2 weeks learning as much as I can about the people and their culture and how God could use me to work with Him in that area. I hope this will be the place I will end up serving and the group that I will work with. I have started the application process with CMF, but I am not guaranteed acceptance. I have been praying about all this and I hope that you will continue to pray also.

Please pray for:

• God's blessing on the missionaries and Kenyans I will meet, let me not be a burden to them
• For me to always show God's love through my interactions with everyone I will meet 
• For me to have patience as I learn about a new culture and experience new languages 
• For me to be still and listen to God as he lets me know of His plans for me in this place
• Safe and on time flights, I have short layovers in Washington and Zurich
• Timely arrival of my luggage
• Minimal jet lag and good health during the trip, there is an 8 hour time difference
• Peace for my family at home while I am gone
• For my CMF application

Thanks so much. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Shannon

Conferences, prepositions and Gilly

Conferences are great. We come back enthused and ready to conquer the world, but it can be hard to talk to others who don't share our enthusiasm. However, I've heard more than one speaker say:

We should never apologize for being excited about Jesus!

So, no apology and I am going to share with you a few things about the prepositions "with", "for", "to", and "upon" as they relate to missions.

In Community Health Evangelism (CHE) we talk a lot about working "with" the people and not doing "for" or "to" the people. In other words, ask them about their needs, help them discover the assets available in their community and let them work out the solutions. This empowers them, creates ownership, and decreases their dependency on outsiders. 

This is a radical approach to missions. It makes us reevaluate the way we have done things in the past, admit our mistakes and consider how we will do things differently in the future. It is great to see how things are changing in missions.

In a similar way, I have been reminded that I need to live my life so that I am working "with" God and not "for" God. After all, He is God. He doesn't need me to do a check list of things "for" Him. He wants us all to be "with" Him and He tells us He is "with" us in this work for the Kingdom. How often do we forget that?

 "Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."  
The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.  
(Psalm 46: 10-11)

So when you think about being "with" God, have you ever considered being "upon" His shoulders? I hadn't, but how much more "with" God could we be than "upon" his shoulders. The words below are not from a famous conference speaker, but from a 10 year old boy named Gilly who will soon be on the mission field in Kenya with his parents. Each month he shares his thoughts in their newsletter and this month his words really spoke to me, so I asked his mom if I could share them.

"I want to be one of the best missionary kids I can be!  I’ve felt God laying His hands upon me, pulling me up to safety, lifting me upon His shoulders to let me see the world. Thank You, Lord for all Your love."    -Gilly
  
I thank God for the gathering of Christians who are passionate about missions and who don't apologize for being excited about Jesus. I thank God for the chance to listen to, learn from and share with people from all over the world. I thank God for the opportunity to visit with old friends and make new ones. But most of all I thank God for Gilly who helped me see what being "with" God looks like. He is going to be a great MK!

If you want to know more about the Griffiths' Mission check out their blog at  Griffiths' Mission.

Pray for the Missionaries

Do you support a missionary? Have you ever read a prayer letter from a missionary? You are reading my mission blog now, but have you read others? Do you have Prayer Cards from missionaries stuck on your bulletin board?  This is my prayer board with missionary letters, cards and notes to remind me who and what I need to pray for each day.  

I want to ask you to pray for missionaries all over the world. They need prayer as they work for the kingdom in the areas where God has “sent” them. They also need prayer when they gather together to worship, share what God has been doing through them and learn from each other.

During the next two weeks there are two large missionary conferences in our area. The Global Missions Health Conference is in Louisville and the International Conference on Missions is in Indianapolis.  Your prayers will be needed as many missionaries and future missionaries come together at these conferences. Pray for safe travels and good health while we attend. Pray that we will learn much from each other. Pray that we may network and make connections that can help advance the kingdom. Pray that everything we do will be for God’s Glory. 

Check out the Prayer Room upstairs at Lincoln Hills. You can see where the missionaries we support are located and read their prayer letters and pray for them. 

^“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18)

Prayer and Support

Missionaries need a lot of support and sometimes it can be hard to ask for support. I know that everyone primarily considers support to mean money and that is needed and an important component. However, this also includes, moral, logistical, communication, and re-entry support. 

There is one important component of support that hasn't been mentioned yet. Prayer! It is likely the most important support need of every missionary. Spiritual battles are fought everywhere daily and we must pray for missionaries and Christians everywhere. Using Ephesians 6: 10-20 is a great way to do this. The Armor of God is powerful.

 “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people."  Ephesians 6: 18

Right now I want to give you the opportunity to support me through prayer. I need prayer for God’s leading to the right mission agency, area of the world, people group and program. Please join me in this adventure and it will be incredible what God can do through all of us. 

Job Opening

I was recently reminded that even in this tough job market, there is someone who is hiring. He has job openings all over the world and He needs your unique background, skills and personality. But you really don’t even need to relocate; sometimes He brings the job right to your neighborhood.

Of course I’m talking about God and it was nice to be reminded of this. He calls all Christians to be involved in his work. It’s not enough to become a Christian and keep what we have learned to ourselves. It is our responsibility to share. It is our job!

Not everyone is called to leave their family and home and that’s alright. God still needs you to be a missionary. He may bring the people to you and need you to do it right where you are.  At Lincoln Hills we have committed to partnering with Endeavor Ministries to work with the Somali Bantu refugees living right here in our area. This is a wonderful opportunity that no one should miss. Every day, we should pray for,  look for and use the opportunities that God provides to share our faith. Imagine what could happen if every Christian did this.

“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,”  1 Peter 3:15

What do you do when God closes a door?

What do you do when God closes a door?

You can get angry and try to keep opening it yourself. But after a while you feel rather silly and realize there is a reason it has closed. Then you redirect your focus and begin looking for the door that God is opening.

For me that open door is serving Him in long term missions.

So now you are asking the obvious questions... 

Where will I go? What will I do? Who will I work with? How long will I be gone?

I don't have the answers to these questions yet. I have been researching mission agencies, attending training sessions, networking, reading missions books and praying. I know that at the right time God will provide answers to these questions. In the mean time if you could pray for me to have patience and know his leading.

The tale continues........