Noodles and the Gospel

In the picture from left to right is, Yumi, myself, and Trevor. This picture was taken at Tohoku Fukushi University in Japan.

I sit here writing you at the end off the month, with greater passion and greater excitement for being sent next year, than when I last spoke to you. God has been growing my heart for South Africa and I find myself recognizing how great the need is for the Gospel to be shared around the world on a daily basis.

Earlier this month, my boyfriend Trevor and I went to Japan for two weeks. During our stay, we were able to visit a college campus at Tohoku Fukushi University. After our tour guide showed us around the campus a bit, he handed us over to a 3rd year Japanese student, Yumi, who studied abroad in the United States last summer. With my broken Japanese and her little English, we were able to communicate just enough to understand one another. We sat in the school cafeteria and ordered three Miso Ramens; her favorite meal on the menu. As we ate and talked about our college lives together, she asked if we have traveled anywhere else in the world. Trev and I were able to share with her our upcoming trips to El Salvador and Africa and why we have decided to go. With wide eyes, she asked about Campus Crusade for Christ and how we got involved. Briefly, we shared our testimonies with her and how Jesus Christ changed our life. It was because of His Grace, that we are compelled to go out into the world and tell others about Him. She smiled and sat silently as she allowed the Gospel to sink in.

"I have never heard of such wonderful things like this before" she said. "Japan, in my college, is so spiritual darkness. Nobody hears things like that or do things like that. I don't know anyone with strong faith. It is encouraging to hear your stories."

I grabbed Trevor's hand from under the table and held it tight to hold myself back from tears. To see the smile on her face and to see her light up as she heard the sweet melodies of hope and faith for the first time, brought me the greatest joy. But to hear her explain the spiritual darkness and loss of faith and hope on her campus, broke my heart into pieces. I realized in that moment, the great need for the Gospel around the world. There is no doubt, the Lord is at work, and is preparing to send me out.

A purposeful time..

Since I don't leave for South Africa until January, it seems as though I have a lot of time to kill. But the Lord has given me these next 5 months as such a purposeful time. Between now and the end of December, I will be spending a lot of time preparing my heart for Africa, raising a team of prayer and financial supporters to come alongside my team, going back to school for fall quarter, leading a sophomore girls bible study (pictured above), discipling two wonderful women, and continuing to bring God glory and see His Kingdom furthered with where He has me now.

I think it can become easy for me to have my mind set on next year and what my ministry is going to look like in Africa. If it were up to me, I would jump on a plane right now and head straight for Pretoria. But that's only because my plans are imperfect. God has me here for a reason, and I want to be a good steward of where He has placed me in this very moment. Although I want to be intentional about preparing my heart to go and praying for our ministry next year, I don't want to be living for the future. I want to surrender my life to the Lord, today. Not wait until January. I am excited for this purposeful time He has set before me and look forward to the things He is going to challenge me with and grow my heart for. My mission does not start next year in Africa..it starts today, right here in my own home.

Why Africa?

I have been blessed with the privilege of taking a year off of school to be God’s hands and feet in Pretoria this January-December of 2009. I will be going through the organization of Campus Crusade for Christ through their STINT (short term international) program, with a team of 9 students. We will be the very first STINT team to ever start a ministry in this location, which is so exciting. Our team will be working on the University of Pretoria campus, talking to college students about the gospel of Jesus Christ, raising and building students up in their faith, and trying to start a movement within that campus for students to begin leading themselves. Our hope is to create a self-sustaining movement on the Pretoria Campus so that every student will know at least one person who truly follows Jesus. South Africa is the educational epicenter of the entire continent. Students from every country of the continent come to South Africa to get a degree and go back to lead their countries. Because of this, we have the opportunity to not only reach South Africa, but all of Africa. We also have been blessed with the opportunity to work with young children in the South African townships. We will partner with another organization called BEAM, started by a couple whose hope is to restore the spiritual climate of the country by reaching the needs of children and their families. We will provide them with food, English tutoring, clothes, shelter, and other basic needs, accompanied with the unfailing love of God. I have such a huge heart for both college ministries as I do for young children, and so to be given this opportunity to serve in both ways alongside each other is an incredible blessing for me.

Come follow me.

As I finish up my third year of college, (which I can’t believe has gone by so fast!), it seems as though God continues to take me through different themes in my life. Freshman year was all about what it really means and looks like to truly follow the Lord with my whole life. Sophomore year I walked through a lot of grace as I learned the need for and joy of confession, and what it meant to be fully redeemed in Christ. This year has been a theme of getting to know God’s character on such an intimate level and understanding the cost of following Him.

Earlier this year as I was reading through Luke 9, the Lord led me to a passage that spoke directly to my heart. Luke 9:57-62 is a story about three men who say they will follow Jesus wherever He goes, but confess that they have other priorities before they go. Jesus says to them, “Come follow me” and they respond, “Yes Lord, but first let me find shelter, first let me get my inheritance, first let me see my family.” And when Jesus responds, He makes it clear that nothing comes before following Him. I have such a deep desire to follow the Lord with my whole life, but I realized in this moment that I had a lot of “but firsts” as well. “Lord, I will follow you and do anything you call me to do,” I said. And I thought I really meant it. But when He called me to a year of missions, my response was “Yes Lord, but first let me graduate, first let me get married, first let me settle down and get a stable job, first let me plan my future and then I will work around Your will for me.” I realized my desire to follow God was there, but my willingness revolved around my plans and not His. It was in that moment, that I realized that God was calling me now...and I therefore need to be obedient, now. It brought me to Isaiah 6 as I realized how marvelous God’s character truly was and how absolutely worthy He was of my whole life, no matter what the cost. My only response was to fall to my knees and worship, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory! I will lay down my life for You, O God. Here I am. Send me” (Isaiah 6:3,8).

As I prayed to the Lord about where He wanted to use me next year, His answer came immediately and with such clarity. "Africa, Africa, Africa.." I just heard the nation repeating in my heart. I knew in that moment, I was to be sent. As Jim Elliot once wrote, "I am as sure of His direction as I am of His salvation."