Official January 2015 Newsletter

(Written November 2014)

I don’t know about how your new year has started; but, I am overwhelmed by my Father’s goodness to me. Returning to work in Kunming has been so much different that I had ever imagined. I have been gifted with an abundance of change. I don’t like change. I like to know what to expect and I want to plan for the future. But these past few months I have been on an adventure with Him that hasn’t completely changed everything but has the great potential to change my roadmap. 

Psalm 145:2 “Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever.”

I am still in the processing phase but I am excited to see where this road will take me. 

So far it has taken me to Myanmar. I went with another Shine Facilitator into Yangon late November and was a part of giving 8 women a new outlook on life as well as train 2 of them to continue to pour into other women. It was an exciting and challenging opportunity. We gave the Shine message to 7 different people groups. John 16:33b “But take heart; I have overcome the world.” 

My co-worker, Angela, who goes with me to the rural schools and translates for me is pregnant. Which is a huge blessing but it is a change in our situation. Women in China are not usually encouraged to go or do many things while they are pregnant and after giving birth they are cloistered in their homes for an entire month. So these next 10 months have the potential for some slow progress in the Shine School Program.

Please ask for Angela’s health as well as her baby’s during this time, ask that she would be willing to continue taking our program to the villages, ask that Father would provide me with enough ministry work so that I feel that I am being useful but also able to adequately spend time with Him.

Matthew 28:20b “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” In March of 2012, I wrote to you: “The place I am at confuses me....God has told me that I am to be His servant and at this time he has said it is to be in China. I do not understand how I will be used but I know that God’s ways do not always work out to our logical way of thinking. As I continually petition for direction and guidance, please hold on with me as I fumble and search for the next step.” 

Now is similar to that time. I am seeking His face daily as I walk upon this trail that He has laid before me. It is suddenly filled with wildness, flowers, stumbling, tenderness, and wonders I hardly believe are real. I am amazed and overcome. I know my words are vague and I am writing figuratively because I am not through the tunnel yet and don’t yet feel able to share all the details at this time. 

Song of Song 8:7a “Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it out.” Despite, the slight befuddlement,  I know that my Father is with me and loves me in a way that I cannot fathom and because of His great love I can rest knowing that this path, this journey is for my good. I am ready and willing to go where He leads to receive the good gifts He has for me.