Mission, Testimony and Other Musings...

Recently, I have been doing a lot of research about mission work, as I believe that this is what God is calling me to in whatever capacity, in the immediate future. I have found some interesting articles about short term mission placements and things to be aware of that have made me think and I decided to share them here, along with my testimony in this area. 

Here are a couple of interesting articles for you to read:

Things No One Tells You About Going on Short-Term Mission Trip: A few ways to make sure your mission trip is effective 

The Good Missionary: An African orphan on what he loves (and doesn't) about short-term mission teams

So here goes with my testimony about being called to mission! As it stands, I have 3 weeks left in my current teaching post, and then I will be moving on to where God sends me!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have known that God has a calling on my life since I was a teenager and a few years back, He began to really stir that in me again. I remember standing in the big top at Soul Survivor in tears as God showed me images of the children that He wanted me to rescue and care for, and there and then, I just surrendered and prayed: “God, here I am, use me…”. 

Last summer, I spent several weeks developing and changing the indoor and outdoor areas for my class at school. It was a huge process and when I finally got to the end of it, I was so relieved and excited! Literally in that moment as I looked around at the finished areas, God asked me: “If I asked, would you be willing to give it up?”.  After the initial shock and horror passed, I replied’ “You know I will” and He responded, “good, I’m asking…”. I didn’t know when, where or how, but I knew it was finally happening.

In September 2013, God began to make my calling clearer. I had prayed for my ‘Schindler’s List moment’ of seeing the need He wanted me to tend to and He did. He also reminded me of the prayer I had prayed at Soul Survivor and the promise I had made in that garden a month before. 

At that point, I had not shared this calling with any of my friends yet, but that night, God used 3 of them to speak to me about it independently: My friend Hannah stood at the front in the middle of worship and said, “I believe God is calling someone to leave their job… you’re thinking ‘I can’t afford to do that!’, but God is saying, ‘can you really afford not to…?’”. I knew it was me and I went up for prayer. 

My friend Cassie prayed for me and after she said, “I don’t know if this is right, but I got the words ‘children’ and ‘abused’ for you” – another confirmation as this lined up with what God had stirred in my heart. 

I wanted to know if God had shown Hannah anything else with the original word, so I went to speak to her. She said He had not shared any more, but she asked if she could pray for me. As she prayed, she named my worries spot on and at the end, she said, “I don’t know if this goes with what God has been saying to you, but I got that you are supposed to work with children”. So I’m thinking ‘I DO work with children’ and God says to both of us at the same time (I was thinking it and she said it out loud), “Yes, you work with children, but they’re the wrong children”.

After church, I told my friend (and accountability partner) Anne-Marie, and she just smiled and said that she knew in that moment that Hannah’s word was for me, but she knew she had to be the confirmation, not the catalyst. 

By February of this year, God confirmed to me that it was time and I knew I had to tell my Head Teacher. I also began to have California impressed on my heart. When I went to my Head Teacher, she told me that God had prepared her heart that weekend for the news and she knew that I was coming to speak to her that week– what a blessing!

In praying for direction, God has brought the a specific organisation, based in Los Angeles, into my life through my friend who is currently their summer mission program. Everything that I have heard and read about it over the past month has worked together to confirm that I believe that this is in fact where God wants me in this next season and so I have applied!

I would very much appreciate your prayers that God will help to clarify whether I am on the right track with this and for favour for the placement that I have applied to already.

Blessings!

Ronell x

{photo credit: http://www.bradruggles.com/images/I-Am-Only-One-1900x1200.jpg}

Baptisms @ re:gen :)

Tonight's evening service at re:generation church was just inspiring! We had a special baptism service where 7 new/newish Christians were officially baptised into the faith. I was asked to be one of the sponsors and it was just such a privilege and  a blessing to be a part of it.

The testimonies that we heard about the struggles that God had rescued them out of were very emotional, but just such an amazing reminder of the mess that God has rescued each Christian out of and the incredible power He has to continue to do the same in the lives of others. I am really particularly bad at remembering this, which is part of why I often struggle to witness to others: I think I have to do it in my own strength and totally forget that I can't and that God will do it in His!

Seeing all these people's non-Christian friends and family sit in church and be a part of the service just really reminded me of the importance of witnessing to others and getting them to church so that they have to opportunity to hear the Word and encounter God for the first time. I am determined to invite more people to church and to be braver in my evangelism! I encourage you to do the same! We heard tonight how one person's  evangelism (aged 16 at the time) saved so many lives (3 of which were baptised tonight!) and it really puts me to shame!

My resolve is: do what God puts on your heart, speak to who He directs you to, say what He asks you to say and He will do the rest! 

Blessings!

Ronell x

"⁴ Then they went from town to town, instructing the believers to follow the decisions made by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. ⁵ So the churches were strengthened in their faith and grew larger every day." {Acts 16:4-5}