Only $2,000 left to raise before I can leave for Ukraine!!! Hooray! Pray with me that the Lord brings in what's needed soon.
I remember going to a church's missions conference one time when I was in Columbia. It was there that I first heard the idea of 'holding the ropes'. Some famous person (no clue who... sorry) said that the missionary task of sharing the Gospel with all humanity included everyone, though not all are called to go. Some are called to stay, and those called by the Lord to stay in their cultural contexts must 'hold the ropes' for those who are called to go. Christians called to cross cultures and share the Gospel can't go alone; they need someone to hold the rope for them (for you visual learners, think rock climbing. Someone's gotta hold the rope!). As I'm preparing to go to Odessa, Ukraine in a few weeks (like 3... yikes!), I'm looking for some people to hold the ropes for me. Holding the ropes doesn't mean just writing a check and forgetting the rope's in your hands. To me, it means partnership. Through partnering with me (financially, prayerfully, etc), you're actually going with me by extension. That's pretty exciting. You probably had no idea you were going to Ukraine this school year, huh? I need to get a group of people together who would be willing to hold the ropes for me this year. Please prayerfully consider being a part of this team. I know it's tough economically right now (believe me, I know this all too well!), but if you feel the Lord asking you to partner with me on this project in Ukraine, do something about it! If you're a college kid, maybe it sounds ridiculous to be supporting a missionary at this point in your life. But we're not talking parting with millions of dollars here- just some coffee and new clothes. Think about it... $10/month= 2 trips to Starbucks $20/month= 1 sweater from Target $30/month= 1 pair of jeans from AE Or if you can't do monthly, you can just give $10/20/30 as a one-time gift. No big deal. Really. Anything and everything you give is a HUGE help!
Thanks for reading (if you skimmed, no judgment here!). If you'd like to 'hold the ropes' for me, either in finances or in prayer (both ways of holding the ropes are incredibly important to my ministry. In fact, prayer is MORE important than money), check out the 'give' tab on this site. If you'd like to be a prayer partner, go to the 'contact me' tab and enter your contact info. Hooray!! They're here!! and they're magnets!! You guys should be seeing them in the mail later this month.
For the pray-ers among you, please be praying for a visa for me. Since I'll be staying in Ukraine for the school year, I'm going to need the right kind of visa. It takes a while to get it done and it is often a complicated process. Pray that it goes smoothly and that all the paperwork gets done in time so my departure isn't delayed. While you're praying, pray also for my support. Currently, I need to raise $3,000 before Sept. 17 in order to leave as expected on Oct. 1, and then an additional amount in monthly support. Simply put: $3,000 gets me there, $500/month keeps me there. Please pray that all the details of this project come together as only the Lord can do. Thanks! P.S. I want to be active in lifting you up in prayer throughout this year- let me know how I can be praying for you: go to the 'Contact Me' page and submit a form, or email it to me at [email protected]. Hey Friends, So the last thing I posted on the blog hinted to some exciting news... so here it is: I will be returning to Ukraine next month (October 1) for the school year!!!! One of the schools I where volunteered teaching English this summer asked me to stay on and teach for the school year. I'm so excited for this opportunity to teach ESL and to built relationships with my coworkers at school, students and their families, and people in the community, with whom I can share the good news about Jesus. It will be a crazy year, as it's my first year of full-time teaching, PLUS being in a city I barely had the chance to get situated in this summer PLUS operating in Russian daily (some days are better than others). It's a lot. But it's nothing God can't handle (that's not the Sunday School answer- I actually do believe this is true). So yeah- a lot's going on, and it's pretty exciting. I'll be keeping up this blog throughout my time in Ukraine this year, so make sure to stop by every week or so for exciting updates and prayer requests.
For now, you can pray that I would be a good steward of my time. I'm currently back home in Pennsylvania and am trying to make time to see all my friends and family a bunch before I go. I want to be able to hang out and meet up with people, but I also want to stay on top of paperwork for Ukraine and also just being with my family. Another thing you can pray for- I'm raising support for my time in Ukraine. I'm so excited to tell everyone all about this great opportunity for ministry that the Lord has provided and how they can be involved, but satan has other plans, like making me self-conscious about 'begging for money' and filling my head with doubts. For the pray-ers among you, please pray against satan's schemes and pray that I would continue to rely upon the Lord, who knows my needs and promises to sustain me. More details later- Thanks for reading and praying! |