Email from Regional Director

This is part of an email I recieved from Jim, the NMSI Americas and Caribbean Regioanl Director, giving me more specifics about my upcoming apprenticeship to Haiti.

"Your aprenticeship is set to be 3-6 months in the capital of Haiti, Port of Prince, (PAP), working with our NMSI affiliate couple Martin and Jacquemise Etienne who have a church, school and orphanage. They have several children of their own. You would be living with the Director of their school (Carline) and have your own room. She lives nearby the church building and you would be going to the school each day and returning with her. At school each day you would be an assistant to the teachers and interact with children and help even if you don't speak their language, you will be a big help!

On the church youth nights and events you will be interacting with them and if you are willing you could help them learn basic English phrases. They will probably want to teach you phrases and words too in Creole. I understand from Martin, the pastor, most all Haitian youth desire to speak more or better English, so it should be a fun time.

Carline and Pastor Martin are also going to work out a plan for you to learn Creole a few hours a week. This should help to be a good, authentic way to learn about the language and speak some. If you decide to become a full time missionary to Haiti in the future you can go to formal school to go further.

On Sundays after the main Port auPrince church services, pastor Martin and his family travel to a small village where they have a second smaller church and a new orphanage with about 25 children of different ages. I believe they stay the night there and return to PAP on Monday. You will be able to see this village and how it differs from PAP life and interact with church members and the children at the orphanage." -Jim

Please be praying as I Skype with him this Wednesday as we go over things and ask questions.

To help fund my travels you can donate online at www.nmsi.org/donate and click on the D for David, Megan. I will be getting more specifics on the amount I need to raise this week.

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.

What now?

               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?

You can donate online at www.nmsi.org/donate and click on the D for David, Megan.

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.

"Where there is no love, put love -- and you will find love."

            

This year for Spring Break we went back to the Smoky Mountains. It was a great time for the students who had gone before as well as the many more that came for the first time. It was a little chillier this year but we still hiked and a group still went white water rafting. I went with a group who started to hike the Appalachian Trail but about a half mile in there was too much ice in the path to keep going. We ended up finding another trail that led to a river we sat and enjoyed our lunch next to.

              On Sunday we went to Crossing in Knoxville for church. One of the pastors there, Caleb, came to teach us every night. The main theme was “Along the way”.  The main quote for the series was from St. John of the Cross "Where there is no love, put love -- and you will find love." It was a really good reminder of wherever you are you should be making disciples and through the Holy Spirit we are empowered to live this way.  It is God who builds God’s kingdom. It needs to be God working through us, not us doing it for Him.
                Caleb taught us some history that we can apply to our lives today. In the 7^th century monks in Europe started a movement to spread God’s Word. First the monk would spend time in a cell; a small, circular hut with a thatched roof.

They would meditate on God. Then they would build a coracle; a round, rudderless two-man wicker boat. The monks would walk down to the river and ask God to send them wherever He desired. Wherever they landed, the monks spread the Word. We need a place of rest and a place of mission. The cell comes first and then the coracle. I learned that I have to spend time first with God before doing things.

My environment + My experiences = My truth

I do not claim to have a complete understanding of truth. I do not want to argue to prove what I have learned. I just want to share some revelations I have had while going through some studies this week.

Let’s start with what Jesus says in John 8: 31-32 “…If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

From this I see that Jesus’ teachings are the truth and the truth has power over bondage. We are free when we stay in the word of God.

In my studying about truth the idea of postmodernism came up. From the transition from Modernism to Postmodernism people started to believe that there is your truth and my truth. They would debate their truths not wanting to reach an agreement but to learn from each other’s experiences and to adjust their truth. Modernism died because man’s reason could not answer life’s mysteries or solve the world’s problems. Postmodernism is a worldview that denies all worldviews. A worldview is not what you see; your worldview is what you see with.

Looking at the title of this post, my environment + my experiences = my truth, my truth could also equal my worldview. The only way to know God’s truth is to stay in his word.  

Stuart McAllister lays out what truth, by nature, is…

It is non-contradictory – it does not violate the basic laws of logic

It is absolute – it does not depend upon any time, place, or conditions

It has to be discovered – it exists independently of our minds; we do not create it

It is descriptive – it is the agreement of the mind with reality

It is inescapable – to deny its existence is to affirm it (we are bound by it)

It is unchanging – it is the firm standard by which truth claims are measured

Everything in the Bible aligns with these six criteria.

We were created for God's glory, right?

“Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.” Isaiah 43:7

If you have grown up in church you have heard the purpose we were created was to glorify God. But did anyone ever tell us what that really meant? I’ve started the Beth Moore Bible study Breaking Free. In it she presents glory like I have never thought about it before. First off, the Hebrew word for glory is kavodh meaning weight, honor, esteem. So Beth says this means, “God’s glory is the way He makes Himself known or shows Himself mighty… God’s glory is how He shows who he is.” Moving on to the Greek, the word glory is doxa meaning the true apprehension of God or things. “Giving glory to God is ascribing to him full recognition.” Through this I have been shown that we weren’t created to give God glory, we were created to be His glory. It’s not what we do to show His glory to others, it’s about who we are that shows others His glory.

“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and external weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Cor. 4:17-18

I read a blog recently that looked at the use of the word glory in these verses. This light momentary affliction is preparing us for the glory of bearing it through til the end. Finishing without comparison, because there is no comparison in heaven—we will be all too enamored with the King of Kings to consider our neighbor. Paul is trying to get us to understand that those of us who are going through experiences in deeper and more painful ways are being prepared for a greater glory we can't compare.  

I don’t know if any of this has made any sense. I have just had some pretty cool revelations lately I wanted to share.

What does it mean to be perfect?

...and should we be striving for perfection?

Through many things I have heard and read recently, the word "perfect" keeps coming up. In Matthew 5:48 Jesus tells us to be perfect like your father in heaven is perfect. The Greek word for perfect here is teleois. There are eight Greek words for perfect in the New Testament. Teleois is a process of being made perfect or mature. You can't just tell a baby to be an adult. There is a process in becoming a mature adult. But who's to say when an adult is mature?

At first when Brad spoke to us about teleois my biggest question was, when is teleois achieved? Is is when we die?Maybe, because then we can no longer work towards becoming perfect. I wrestled with this question and I think a better answer is not death but after death when we are in the presence of God. Then we will be complete and perfect.

Another Greek word for perfect is katartizo meaning to mend (what has been broken, or rent), to repair. In Hebrews 13:21 this word for perfect is used.
               "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant. Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be all glory for ever and ever. Amen."
I don't know about you but that makes me ecstatic! God is the one who makes us perfect, its not by anything we do.

What I've learned...

It’s a new year and my last semester working as a Staff Intern at the Campus House. This week I have spent some time remembering my time here. I started writing down everything I have learned, first to see and acknowledge all God has grown in me, but also to recognize how I can be more intentional in my last semester.

What I have learned:

I enjoy reading not just for pleasure but also for knowledge.

In order to build more connections I have to speak what I am thinking.

Others need to be praised for their willingness to help.

Even when I overall loved my job there were some things that were frustrating and I did not like doing, but that’s ok. 

“Good” is not an acceptable answer. You have to share what made it good.

My supporters want to hear about what I am doing. I have to share as much in newsletters as I do in real life.

Ministry happens in the interruptions.

Just because I didn’t get everything crossed off my list doesn’t mean it wasn’t a successful day.

Budget and you will have the money you need when you need it.

The only way to hear someone’s story is to ask them to tell it.

Others do not process or view things the same way I do. I cannot force them to enjoy the same things I do.

Others need to be praised for their abilities.

Just because plans change doesn’t mean I have to wait until they are final to share them with others.

When you want to give up, don’t. Afterwards you will feel like you can do anything.

Looking at Pinterest and listening to a sermon is a good use of my multi-tasking skills.

 Everything doesn’t need to be fixed.

There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes to make a Wednesday night happen.

Group projects were not just a school thing. Every project I work on I get input from everyone else to make it better.

Understand sometimes it is physically impossible for me to do it all.

How to delegate and have patience with those I delegate to.

In order to hear someone’s story I have to ask the right questions.