Here's a great mission trip that AIM just released, beginning next fall. If you're familiar with the First Year Missionary Program, it's a revamped version of that:
Do you ever find yourself wanting more than just a mission trip?
One week to Mexico during spring break was enough in high school, but not any more. You can live off of that memory only for so long. There comes a time when you're ready to go deeper, to commit longer, and to build stronger relationships.
What if you could go somewhere for more than just a week or a month or even a summer? What if you had an actual missions experience that changed the way you saw the world?
That's what the Novas Project (an 8-month mission trip) offers.
Find out where you could have a missions experience by clicking here.
Lately my job has become filled with spreadsheet and meetings. Making short term trips happen can become less relational than I would like.
It helps when I read things like this blog from a former disciple in South Africa. This is from Bri...
For as long as I can remember, my heart has been for children.
Specifically the hurting, the broken, the outcast, the neglected, the
orphaned. But really, any child steals my heart. I have pictures of me,
no older than three years, holding babies. It continued to be a passion
of mine and still is. Something God completely laid on my heart, and is
pressing into now more than ever.
Since I was little, I have also
loved to sing. I would grab my sheet music stand, put the lyrics to
songs on it, put a cd in the living room stereo system, and give
"concerts" to my mom and dad (and sister if she would listen). I would
sing to every song on the radio, and, when no one was home, hook up the
microphones and record myself on a blank cassette tape (thankfully most
of them disappeared over the years!). I secretly wanted to sing, tour,
be "famous".
And now it seems I have a choice to make. Both options are in
front of me. I have been admitted to Judson University for a degree in
Music Performance, two concentrations being voice and guitar. Accepted
on multiple scholarships, everything seemed to fall completely into
place.
But my heart has been stopped recently. My mindset changed. All my
life, every decision I have made has been based on me. Where will I go, what should I do, what will be the best way to better me?
I'm realizing the great opportunity I had that seems to have passed me
by, not completely, but I know I didn't take full advantage of it.
South Africa. I had the chance to live out my heart, to give of myself,
and to really reach out to some of the most hurting people. And all I
could think about was my comfort, my stability, my dreams.
And thinking on that made me wonder. Why am I wanting to follow my
dream of music and not the one of helping children? And the answer hit
my heart like a dagger. Which one would better glorify me?
In my heart, I cannot honestly say that my priorities are right in
seeking this degree. Yes, I love music, yes, it has touched my life,
and, yes, singing and song writing has been my dream. But there's
another yes, one I don't want to so readily admit but need to. Yes,
following that path would be all for me. My wants, my desires, my life.
And so, I'm unclenching my fist. And praying surrender, praying
for open eyes, open heart, and open mind. I'm letting go of everything
that I thought was in my future, and giving it to God completely.
So, the plan I had laid out: Chicago, Music Performance, Singing,
Songwriting, Recording (yes, even that was very open through Judson).
I'm letting go of. If that's the path God has for me, I'll follow it.
But unless He completely rips me apart, humbles the crap out of my
flesh, and breaks me, that's not where I will be this fall.
I'm tired of living my life for me, for the moment. I'm tired of
seeking comfort and stability. I'm tired of allowing my heart to harden
to where it used to break. And I'm tired of not following my Lord with
every breath of my fleshly body.
So, I'm praying for direction, for guidance, and for my heart to
be broken again. Praying for humility, that God would break down the
thickest wall of pride I have ever known. And praying for strength in
it all, that I will continue to seek after Him and continually, day by
day, surrender my heart, soul, and mind completely to Him.
I asked Him what He wanted me to do. I heard one word (so clearly, never clearer). It was:
The past few days have been immensely painful for me, and
the weight of it all is more than I can bear.
On Sunday morning I received a phone call from one of our
leaders telling me that 3 of our students were in an auto accident. A few
minutes later I received word that one of them did not survive.
She was beautiful, and her smile made the room melt. I will
not post her name until a later date to honor her family. But you should know
that the Kingdom of God lost a mighty and courageous warrior on Sunday. I had
the honor of walking with her through some really tough times in the fall, and
I grew very fond of her open heart and caring personality. She had an easy way
about her that made her wonderful to talk to. You would often find her in the
corner playing with the kid that no one liked, and making silly faces to get
past the awkward tension. And she smiled...a lot. As I am writing this I cannot
remember an instance of her not smiling. Even through tears she smiled.
I never thought that at the age of 28 I would have to call a
father and tell him that his daughter is dead, but life is full of surprises. I
cannot imagine the pain they are experiencing right now. If you knew this
family you would immediately be angry that God has allowed this to happen. They
are some of the most amazing and inspiring people I have ever spoken with, and
I am angry that God has taken their daughter from them. But my anger subsides
when I speak with them. They are broken but not undone, and they are proud of
their daughter. You see, they knew what they were signing up for when they committed
their daughter to the LORD. They understood that they had a choice to make;
they could keep their daughter safe at home and out of danger, or they could
release her to love the world as Christ did. With his whole life. I am grateful
that they chose the latter!
As I have been speaking and weeping with her father, I am
struck by the fact that this is the way our Heavenly Father weeps and groans
for us until we come home. As one father mourns in grief, another Father
rejoices that his daughter is finally home where she was always supposed to be.
Recently our team in Swaziland received a shipment of shoes to be delivered to the specific care points that we work with. They decided to make this an opportunity to show these poor and abandoned children the humility of Christ through washing their feet, praying with them, and providing them with a brand new pair of shoes.
When Jesus washed the disciples feet it was a sign of humility. In the Jewish culture, touching another persons feet considered a disgusting act. Feet were "unclean" and Jews were forbidden to touch them. So when Christ knelt down and began washing the filthy feet of his disciples I know their response was confusion. But that seems to be the typical response to Christ actions. Who would expect the God who created the universe to shame himself by washing feet or dying on the cross for that matter.
Well, here it is, my usual apology for not blogging in an
obscene amount of time. I am sorry.
Our situation now is much better for being able to update
our blog and keep you all in the loop as to what is going on.
I realized that we have not posted since our winter update
was sent out in December, so I will try to summarize where we are, and what we
will be doing with AIM from this point further. Here is a exerpt from the
Winter newsletter we sent out. It explains a bit of what we are in the midst of
now.
"Many people have
asked us if the lives we live are healthy for a young couple and a newborn
baby. And my answer is always the same. No. In fact AIM is pretty neurotic
about protecting its staff from going through major life change while in the
middle of a First Year Missionary Program.
As soon as we found
out that we were pregnant, we told our directors so they could help us make
good decisions about our future in this particular program. They were very
excited to hear about the Baby and told us they had been praying about us and
our role for a while.
AIM has asked us if
we would be willing to move to their headquarters in Georgia and become the new
directors of the College-age Missions Department. This would involve developing
new programs and looking at ways to better disciple this generations of young
men and women.
We have accepted this
position and will be moving to Gainesville, Georgia in February. Here is a bullet point summery of what
we will be doing in that position.
oExamine the current programs to measure
their effectiveness in discipleship and training.
oDevelop new programs for College students
that want to follow Christ into a life of missions.
oTravel to different parts of the world and
develop relationships with local missionaries and pastors to make sure that we
are helping them with the cause of Christ.
oRecruit and develop leaders to train and
disciple in the context of these programs."
Well, we have settled down in Georgia and I have been
working in the office for about three weeks now. It is a rough transition, but
I am really enjoying it. The people that I work with are amazing, and it
doesn't really feel like work.
Holly is doing well. She has been to the doctor twice in
Georgia and have had good reports about the Baby. He is growing well and not
causing too many problems.
If you would like to catch up please call anytime. Holly's
number is 423-314-2021 and my number is 678-371-1724. We would love to hear
from all of you.
Today Aaryn, a few students and I reunited with a woman named Gloria.
First I want to give just a brief history of Gloria and her family.
Last semester Aaryn and a few other participants found Gloria carrying
her baby like she was an old sweatshirt into a bar. The girls stopped
her and asked if they could take her home and talk with her. The baby
was only two months old and looked like a new born premature baby.
Gloria was only feeding the child flour water and was spending the
little money she earned on alcohol. The girls spent many days trying to
teach Gloria how to be a proper mother and tried to bring some hope to
her life. We left last semester unaware what would happen to the baby
(Angel) and to Gloria.
Yesterday a new group of students were doing house visits and ran
into Gloria. Aaryn had told the group about the woman so they knew
right away who she was. As we headed over to see her again we prayed
that the situation was better than we could imagine. Gloria was still
in the same state as we left her. The baby now 7 months old only looked
like a newborn. We put her in 0-3 month clothes and they fit. After
talking with Gloria we found out that she only received about $52.00 a
month. She says this is not enough to pay for formula and food for her
and her other child (who is 3 and also malnourished).
Not sure what to do, we asked if we could take both children home
with us for an hour and bathe them. We then immediately took the baby
to friendÕs house. Nelly is a woman about my age who runs a program
called 7th Heaven. Nelly takes in abandoned children and children that
need temporary housing. One look at the baby and NellyÕs heart broke.
Nelly asked to speak with Gloria and see if there was something she
could do. Gloria was a little scared to come with us to NellyÕs. She
thought we were taking her to a social worker, who would take the baby
away. Once we assured her Nelly was just a friend she willingly came.
Gloria and Nelly got along great. IÕm excited to say that Gloria has
given Nelly permission to take in Angel for a while and bring her back
to health. Please join with us as we pray that God will work a miracle
in both Gloria and the Angels life. Gloria needs the hope of our savior
and we believe that God brought us to her for that reason.
Well Tag and I have made it safely back to J-Bay. It's so nice to be back. We have our own place this year and it actually overlooks the camp our students stay at. Of course the first two weeks here have been nothing but busy, busy, busy. Which is the way we like it around here. When the team arrived the camp they stay at was being occupied so we loaded them up (all 54 of us) and headed off to the bush (wilderness). Let me tell what an experience this was for me. You know for some people living outside, cooking every meal over the fire and going without a shower (or taking a cold one) is the life. I found that it may not be the life for me but I can have fun doing it. After I got passed the spiders the size of my hand and the bathroom known as a long drop (aka hole in the ground) I realized I really enjoy Òroughing itÓ. We did cook all of our meals over the open fire. It was some of the best food IÕve eaten in a while. If you ever get your hands on a recipe for braii bread, MAKE IT, itÕs GREAT! We had some great times getting to know our students better and working on team builders. We also played a lot of fun games. They had repelling, paintball, archery and some good hiking.
We are officially settled now in J-Bay and started working with UCSA (the camp our students live at). UCSA has a camp happening this week with about 300 high school Afrikaners. Our students get to lead small groups and an outreach. This is going to be a great opportunity for them to get up close and personal with South African culture, at a much faster pace. As I type this I can actually hear them all screaming about something at the rally meeting. We are having fun and working hard. Personal ministries start this Wednesday. Pray as God continues to bless our ministry here.
Well, we have helped send off all the Ambassador teams. There are some amazing high school students out all over the world spreading the love of Christ. After some amazing teaching on the culture, spiritual warfare, how to ATL (ask the Lord), surrender, and the heart of God the teams are ready to go and live it all. The teams also do some really fun team builders and D.R.I.M.E.S. (skit to music). I just wanted to show some fun pictures of what we do here in GA.
Aaryn feeding Angel her first real bottle of formula in four months.
