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If you are looking for more information on my ministry, please go to my website at www.operationliberia.com.

January 2013 - We're Off to the Races!

I always want to start my blog posts with "WOW".  I will attribute this to my constant amazement at God and his working in my life.  I wanted to fill you all in on our recent progress and share some prayer requests and challenges.  Soon, very soon, I will truly learn what it is to live this life of faith!  I should be moving out of my home shortly and quitting my job at the end of March in preparation for our April survey trip to Liberia and then, Lord willing, full-time deputation beginning this summer.  It feels surreal to change my "occupation" to "MISSIONARY". 

Just to let you know, all the funds necessary to purchase our plane tickets arrived at just the right minute.  God proves his faithfulness and confirms my calling once again!

I am still in my house in Phenix City.  I had my plans and my timing but my God knows better and although I thought I would have moved out some time ago, I am still here.  However, a couple of potential opportunities have opened up that will allow me the flexibility I need in order to start this journey.  Please be in prayer for that! 

The next couple of months will be busy, busy, busy!  I start my shots this week (Yellow Fever required and several others suggested).  Please pray as this can be an expensive process and I am unsure what if any side affects there may be, but I know God has that all in his hands.  I was blessed talking to Melissa Acree, soon-to-be missionary to Ghana who shared with me that she took a trip to Ghana without the malaria pills because she found out she was pregnant!  She said she knew she could trust God with her children, unborn and born!  This helps me trust that God is in control of even this situation (but who likes to get shots)!

Next there is the VISA application process.  Please be in prayer for that also.  The Liberian VISAs are not inexpensive and I need wisdom on the length of the VISA to be purchased. 

I will also begin to diligently pack and sort and sell and give away my "things".  My plan is to put everything I am keeping into storage for the short term until I know for sure where I am going to be living (even temporarily) this summer. 

I also need a home for my dog (any takers?)  She has been a faithful member of my family.  Please pray I can find someone to adopt or foster her! 

I am so blessed to be part of such a giving church.  I have already received some clothing and shoes and just this weekend found the bin full again.  This time with medical, food, school and other supplies!  Thank you if you had a part in that. 

Finally, I am excited to be part of the Missions Conference at Camp Creek Baptist Church in Cornelia, GA with Pastor James and Ruthie Lyons.  These dear folks came from Grace and invited me to be a part of this a week after I surrendered in February of 2012!  What a thrill!  I am so looking forward to this first opportunity to present outside of my home church and to see how the Lord will be good through these wonderful people.  I am excited to meet the other missionaries!

Below is a list of the "big ticket" items we are still seeking commitments for.  Please pray specifically for these items!  Especially for the PA system and the projector so we can show the Jesus film to the local villages!  Several on our team have been experiencing health issues and other discouragements.  Pray for our protection from Satan and his negative influences!  As Pastor Hal said, his attacks are a pretty good indication that we are doing exactly what we are supposed to be doing. 

Thanks to those of you have reached out to me and asked that I present at your church or contact your Pastor.  Those letters/packets are in the works and should be going out the beginning of next week.  My desire is to get some appointments set up for the summer and fall!

God bless and I continue to covey your prayers!  Thank you for your love and support in these efforts to spread the good news of Gods redemption to a lost world and to minister unto God's children in Liberia!

Two generators $750.00 each
PA system for pioneer brush ministries in Liberia
Two Afridev Pumps for wells in Bomi and Monrovia Liberia
Well drilled in Bomi for commercial use about $3,000.00
Zinc roofing for three to four buildings (Orphanges)
Building materials for rescue village
Two solar kits about $1,500.00 each for rescue village and Monrovia Orphanage
Building tools
Used computers (laptops) for school
School supplies
Shoes for children
Clothes
Food
First aid kits including medicine for rescue village
Sponsorships for children
Playground equipment for rescue village
Hygiene items
Jet Pac Evangelistic projection system for the Jesus film about $2,500.00
Bibles KJV many of these
Flash drives 16 gig for school and evangelistic material to share

A LONG Summer....

It has really been a LONG summer and we are already into the fall.   So much has passed since I last posted in July.  During the summer I travelled to Jacksonville, FL and was provisionally accepted by BMFP (Baptist Missions to Forgotten Peoples).  This allows me to begin fund raising and part time deputation.  I travelled to Olar, South Carolina to meet with Pastor Hal Nichols and his family.  God had burdened Pastor Hal's heart to work with a group of Pastors from Liberia to build the Bomi Children's Rescue Village in Bomi, Liberia in Africa.  The end of August, after a summer in hospice, we lost my Dad.  What comfort and reassurance God has given us that he is "safe with Jesus now".  We laid him to rest in Nebraska the first of October.  So while I am not as far along as I had thought I might be, I can trust a sovereign God who knew all that was going to transpire and already has a plan for all of us!

A brief testimony of how God works, Pastor Hal had been in Liberia digging wells and conducting training when he became aware of this opportunity and said "YES" to building the orphanage.  On the flight home he was struck by the fact that he could BUILD the orphanage but had no one who could actually oversee and run the orphanage.  On my end, I am still praying about where and with whom God would have me serve.  My Pastor counsels after I have expressed frustration of closed doors to my offers to join other ministries in Africa that it would be good for me (and my "cavalier spirit") to find a "grass roots" ministry, something that I could be a part of from the ground up.  I am talking to Bro. Tim Clark from BMFP who mentions this Pastor from South Carolina that he knows who has been to Africa.  Bro. Hal arrives home and gets a call from Bro. Clark about this woman from Georgia who wants to work with orphans in Africa.  Did he know of any needs?  Bro. Hal said he sat in stunned silence on the other end of the phone for just a moment.  Bro. Hal and I then spoke and we have been working together ever since.  God has put together a tremendous team from Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Iowa, each with unique skills and abilities and we will be travelling together in April of 2013 for 17 days to help the locals build the Bomi Children's Rescue Village. 

A few weeks ago, I was also able to do my first presentation as a missionary to my home church, Grace Baptist Church, in Columbus, GA.  What a humbling experience it was to stand before these awesome people and to experience personally their generous giving!  They took up a love offering to help with the expenses of the trip, the most immediate being the purchase of our airline tickets.  In order to get the best fair, we wanted to book as early as possible.  We had to purchase the tickets on Thursday, October 25th.  With the love offering and other giving I still needed $360.00.  Pastor Hal asked if we were ready to purchase the tickets on Monday.  I said "yes" knowing that God would provide the remaining amount, and he did.  EXACTLY that amount.  I found out that I had received about $260 through BMFP and then someone walked up to me Wednesday night at church and handed me $100.  God is so good and works such great things through his willing people!

Another VERY exciting development is that 2 people, who are very dear to my heart, are joining the team.  Ben and Hilary Shuler from Grace Baptist Church are going to travel with us to Liberia in April.  We are conducting a fundraiser pancake breakfast in a couple of weeks at Grace.  Please pray for this and for faith that God will continue to prove himself and confirm this calling by graciously providing for all our needs!

God bless and please KEEP PRAYING!

Unto the Least of These....

It has been a number of weeks since I have posted.  There has been a lot happening and it seems hard to know where to start.  My Dad had to be hospitalized and in helping to take care of him, I missed the candidate training week in Jacksonville, FL.  This was, as you can imagine, very disappointing but I still have a "peace that passes understanding" and feel so sure of God's control of the situation I was not discouraged.  I know everything that is meant to be will be in His time!  I am going to visit Baptist Missions to Forgotten Peoples (BMFP) the end of this month to meet with their administrative board.  I must still attend their candidate training (next June '13) but this meeting, if I am approved, will allow me to begin my parternship with them and start raising funds and hopefully part-time deputation. 

God continues to work in my heart and prove his calling in my life.  Despite falling madly in love with my new granddaughter and despite my Dad's poor health, I know this is where God is leading and I continue to grow in my anticipation to go.  The most recent exciting development is making contact with Bro. Hal Nichols of True Faith Missions out of Fairfax, SC.  I have been earnestly praying for a contact or an indication of what ministry I might specifically serve with.  I believe, through this ministry, God may have opened a door!  They are planning a trip to Liberia in April of 2013 and I am prayerfully optomistic that I may accompany them on what will be my survey trip.  Bro. Nichols is actively raising funds to build a currently non-staffed Children's Rescue Village in an area with no running water, no electricity and very meager supplies.  Bro. Nichols travels extensively throughout Africa and has several active calls for help, including one from Uganda!  I am excited to see how God might lead!  I know from our communications that the heart of Bro. Nichols and his ministry is very much in line with how God has burdened me. 

I have several specific prayer requests:

1)  Housing - my move has been delayed; however, my lease is up August 31st.  Please pray for affordable housing for me and the right living situation for my parents who also have difficult choices to make right now.
2)  Finances - pray that the financial matters I need to settle will be resolved quickly and that I might have a fruitful beginning to my support-raising efforts!
3)  Missions Board - pray for a God's leading as I meet with the BMFP missions board.  That our visit might prove whether or not He would have us partner in missions.
4)  Survey Trip - pray for wisdom as I seek to partner with like-minded Christians and identify the ministry that God has in place for me. 

I continue to be encouraged by God's word and have been meditating on this thought:

James 1:27
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this:  to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep onself unstained from the world. 

Matthew 25 reminds us that Jesus will separate the sheep from the goats in the final judgement.  The sheep on his right, the goats on his left.  Those that are his sheep, he welcomes into the kingdom.  His praise to them is that "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I ws a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me."  The righteous ask him, when did we do all these things for you? Jesus replies "Truly, I say to you, as you did it unto one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."  To the goats, who prophesied in His name and did many wondrous works in His name, he will say, "Depart from me, I NEVER KNEW YOU."  My fear is that there are many "good" Christians who are in for a horrific discovery!

God help me to practice a religion that is pure and undefiled before your eyes!  That is why I have changed the title of my blog from "God grant me wings" to "Unto the least to these".   And this does not apply only to the children and women of Africa but to those who are within my daily reach and ministry right here as I wait on the Lord and the revelation of his plan to me!

Thanks for all your prayers and God Bless!

Oh Ye of Little Faith....

Wow, it has been far too long since I have updated my blog and I only hope I can capture everything here that I need to!  The Lord continues to work and bless and point me towards Africa!  I celebrated the birth of my first grandchild last week.  I had wondered, and many people had asked, how that would affect my decisions to go to Africa and I can joyfully report that it has not changed it one iota.  I love her and she is so precious, but God told me to go and I am going and I can not begin to describe in words the peace I have to the very core of my being!  I was chatting with a family member about the birth of Hailey on facebook and she asked if I was still leaving the country and I typed to her, "I know it will be hard, but GOD KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING!"  That was all Holy Spirit because it even made me jump as I typed it!  He does know what he is doing and he does know this will be hard and he has an amazing plan for me and for Hailey and for everyone and HE KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING and I have no intention of questioning him now!

I have been invited by Baptist Mission to Forgotten Peoples to attend Candidate Training in June praise God!  I am so excited to meet the other missionaries and to begin formal training for this journey!  I have been so blessed and encouraged by countless friends and loved ones who are already offering their support, both financially and in prayer!  The week I found out that I had been invited to candidate training had started out rough.  I am starting to really learn what it means to live by faith.  I had and continue to have several needs and some of them more immediate than others.  I had shared this with my dear friend and Pastor's wife who has been an amazing encouragement and she told me to hang in there, that living by faith was new to me, to pray SPECIFICALLY and wait on the Lord, quit trying to figure things out (I can't tell you the joy that surges through me even as I type this).  Immediately after my conversation with her, I could clearly hear the Holy Spirit saying to me, a mustard seed.  That is all I expect.  It's all I ask.  Faith no bigger than a mustard seed.  I took my pen and drew a speck on a piece of paper (because a mustard seed is not much bigger than that) and said to myself, this is all it takes and God will move mountains!  How thankful I am that God's plan perfectly accounts for my limitations!  He didn't say faith as big as a kernel of corn, or an apple, or a watermelon, he said a mustard seed!  I took such great comfort in that!

Within hours of asking God to forgive me for my lack of faith, and after telling him, "Lord I believe  Help thou my unbelief," I received an inquiry about some furniture I was selling.  Did you know that selling your furniture can be a God-ordained transaction?  I didn't!  The individuals that came to look at my furniture were not only wonderful, Godly, spirit-filled Christians, when I told them about my journey they gave me MORE than the asking price of my furniture!  They prayed for me in a way that blessed my heart and soul.  Turns out, the gentleman was a Pastor of a church here in Columbus.  Wow!  On a side note, when I delivered the furniture today it turns out he knew my Dad from Wright's Cafe, knew my brother-in-law and his daughter is my sister's banker!!  WOW!  Our God is good, so great and so mighty there's nothing my God can not do!  I have a feeling this relationship will become a long standing source of strength and prayer!

I also want to share the absolute invigoration of cleaning out my house.  As I began to sell and/or give away my things, I started to become a little emotional about it.  It is so easy to get caught up in the sentimentality of things....THINGS.  But as I began sorting and packing I could so clearly hear the Holy Spirit remind me....Forsake all and follow me.  Forsake all....ALL.   The dear gentleman I mentioned above prayed with me again today and spoke to my dad about having a daughter that was going to a place of "danger".  His own daughters had been in this position in life and ministry.  He said, and I so agree, that there is no better way for a daughter to honor her father than to be wholly and fully and completely submitted to the will of GOD, to want to give, even to her own hurt.  What an amazing thought, privilege, honor.  To be counted among those I have admired and even envied for so long, those who were completely sold out and surrendered to God.  But what I have learned is that there is no glorification needed, there is no honor needed, there is no praise, no compliment.  It is God, and only God, and all for Him and by Him and I am the one who feels so humbled to even be ALLOWED to take these steps.  It is not a sacrifice.  It is joy and peace and love and an absolute THRILL!

So I am emptying myself of things and taking up my cross and following Jesus and wherever God would lead for me to live in this country and in Uganda, and I can not wait, I can not wait....GOD GRANT ME WINGS!

Progress!

Wow! I can't sleep tonight as I think about God's goodness and his perfect timing! I am so overwhelmed. First thing this morning, I received a short e-mail from a missionary in Uganda, Tony Applegate. He runs the Grace Project in Masaska, Uganda. I actually went to church with he and his wife in Kansas City. I had e-mailed them at the suggestion of another Ugandan missionary but hadn't heard anything in a couple of weeks. I am praying God opens the doors he wants me to walk through so while I was not too anxious, I was wondering why I had not heard back. According to their message, they have moved to village with spotty Internet but will be getting back to me at the beginning of next week.

Then, at work today, I received a text message from a man who has a very affordable duplex for rent in the Lakebottom area whom I would like to rent from. However, he wasn't sure if he wanted to wait until I was ready to move May 1. He told me Saturday he would think about it over the weekend. Again, I just prayed that the Lord would put me where it was best and he texted me today indicating that he would hold the duplex! This move will save me $500 a month in rent and utilities that can be put towards paying off bills and saving for a survey trip and deputation!

Then (yes this is all TODAY) I came home after work to find my official application packet from Baptist Missions to Forgotten Peoples! They have accepted me into the application process based on my initial questionnaire and testimony! Praise God! The application process involves sending a number of references from my Pastor, friends and coworkers. Pray that all goes smoothly and God will continue to move me towards the Mission Board he would have me work with.

I am so overwhelmed by God's working and his guiding hand. I studied today about brokenness before God. I never want to find myself in a place again where I am submitting to Satan and his plan! I am so thankful for this journey that God has me on and for his very real and tangible presence in my life. Please continue to pray for his leading and my patience! God, grant me wings to I can fly to Africa!

Bless the Lord - Application Sent Today!

Wow! I had an amazing day today! I was up late last night and afraid that would put a damper on the entire day because if I don't go to bed on time, I can't get up early enough to get my Bible study in which usually means a "not so good day" but on the contrary it was amazing. I got in a study today over lunch and I read from the book of Daniel. I was struck by Pastor Horton's message on Faithfulness the other night and I decided to read from Daniel and came across his praise after God had revealed the King's dream to him.

Daniel 2:19 Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 20Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: 21And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: 22He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. 23I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter.

I was convicted as to whether I ever BLESS THE LORD? I have plenty of reasons lately to bless him. I want to be faithful to him because he is proving himself so faithful to me. He is already making himself known to me through the gifts of new clothes, an unexpected monetary gift and even the arrival of a rebate card I had completely forgotten about showing up at JUST the right moment. Bless the Lord for his provision!

I completed and mailed out my initial application to a Missions Board today! I was thrilled and yet still scared to death. But in those moments I just pray to God to help my unbelief and lack of faith and to help me to step out of the boat and onto the waves! Each time I take a step of obedience despite my fears and doubts I feel God's precense like I never have before. In those moments I say to myself and sometimes outloud so Satan can hear...I am GOING, I am GOING, I am GOING! Bless the Lord for his strength!

I have found what looks like a good option for a rental at a very reasonable rate. I sent in an application for that and then had my first contact from someone that is interested in renting my current house! Bless the Lord for his perfect timing!

Then tonight I went for my walk, ran into some people that I hadn't seen for a couple of years who I invited back to church (I pray they will come) and during my walk I was actually able to "jog" (I use that term somewhat loosely) on a couple of legs of my 3 laps around idle hour! An important part of my journey to Africa is to continue to drop my weight and get into shape. Bless the Lord for his help!

Please keep praying about all these details; just for God's timing and guidance. There is not one thing I can find to worry about since I know my Heavenly Father is holding it all in his hands.