Last semester during vision week you may remember me mentioning
that we went through Storyline by Donald Miller. The first step in
understanding your story is knowing your theme. To figure out your theme you
look at the major events in your life and the one thing that they have in
common. My theme is, to have faith in the next step because God knows I am not
yet prepared for the step after that.
The next step for me is to take
an apprenticeship with New Mission Systems International (NMSI). I will be
living in Port-au-Prince, Haiti for 3-6 months. Apprenticeship means that I
will have the opportunity to do many things to see what I like, what I’m good
at, and where they need me.
I’ve
been asking many questions to help myself process through the next step. Usually
someone in my stage of life would be asking questions like: When do I get to
find the right guy and get married? How many kids will we have? What good
paying job can I get to always have a steady income so my family and I are
always happy? What is God’s plan for my life? Those aren’t bad questions but I’ve
started asking a different set of questions: How do I advance the kingdom of
God? Where do I need to share God’s love? And more specifically, why am I
leaving? And why Haiti?
Two quotes, both by Mike Yaconelli, that have been helpful
as I thought over these questions have been:
“Once we understand
how unnecessary we are, only then might we find the right reasons to say yes.”
“We don’t need to know
the will of God; we only need to know God, which is, strangely enough, His
will.”
Some
answers I have come to are; because I love Haitians and I love the creation of
Haiti, I want to learn where I best fit in serving in another country, I want
to have to trust God, I want to show them someone is listening, and eventually
I want to be a part of bringing housing to those in need.
As an
apprentice I need to raise the money for my time abroad. I do not have exact
numbers yet but the estimate is less than $1,000 a month. If I am there for the
maximum of six months then I need to raise $6,000. This will be a little
different than my internship now. I will need to be fully funded before I can
go to Haiti. This amount pays for my travel to and around Haiti, food, and
lodging. I will be staying with a missionary and his family across the street
from the church they run. I will primarily be working at their church alongside
them. A question I would ask you to consider is, do you believe in what I am
doing?
Or you can send in donations to:
New Mission Systems International
2701 CLEVELAND AVE SUITE 200,
FORT MYERS, FL 33901
Please remember to put my name in the memo.
NMSI honors preference of gifts solicited and, in accordance with IRS
regulations, retains discretion and control over their use.
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