Hello Friends,
Here it
is again… another time I’m packing my bags, following God’s direction after the
Philippines! On Tuesday, I’ll be moving
out of my friend’s house in Kansas City to make my way on to Long Beach, California
for almost 2 weeks. I’ll be running the volunteers and large exhibits for the
LA Global Congress (www.call2all.org), a
5 day event focused on better practice sharing, praying together, and action
plans for reaching the 3600 unreached people groups in the world with the
Gospel. I’ve been working in the
call2all office for 3.5 weeks, preparing and organizing the training and
positions for over 100 volunteers! It’s
been great to be back in a taste of “project management,” with a new focus!
Before
I share about the other parts of this month, I wanted to take a moment and
share some reflection on my time in Pella during October. After being in Kansas City a week, God gave
me the great opportunity to come back to Pella in order to speak at a middle
school overnight retreat. I shared about
my experiences in Mexico, Haiti and the Philippines. Speaking at 9:30pm, I knew I had to do
something to keep the young people engaged.
I had so much fun sharing my experiences as a “choose your own adventure”
story where they helped me pick along the way such things as… we are on our way
to a tribal region, would you like to drive in the Jeepney or the open garbage
truck? There were videos and photos to
go with their choices, great amounts of laughter, and great questions about my
experiences. The next day, I was able to
share my story with the Teen Challenge ladies of Pella too! It is amazing watching the doors God has been
opening, and getting to be a part of them!
Leaving
Pella for the second time in a week was much harder than I thought. God has truly made it my “City of Refuge.” I didn’t really appreciate how special Pella
is until I left. When my friend from Seattle came to
visit she was shocked by the little community, with nothing “big” really close
to it… she’d only been in cities and suburbs and she considered Pella a “jewel”. She’s right.
This place, the cleanliness, safety, love-abounding, opportunities,
and community… it is something so special!
I’m so thankful God called me to the middle of Iowa for a long,
wonderful season of my life and that I can call Third my home church.
This
last month has been a heavy growing time for me internally. I would say “character building” would be the
theme. Walking with God in this time
continues to bring great peace and joy, which I’m so thankful for. At the same time, I feel the enemy trying to
get in my head with fear of the future regarding finances, health, and other
things that I’m not “in total control of.”
It is so easy to get wrapped up in fears when you take your focus off of
God. But the truth is that any decisions
made out of fear like this, only lead to bondage. And Christ came for freedom! So as I have been living in a new place,
“working” as a volunteer with a new group, not knowing many people… I’ve been
dealing with a number of things including some health issues left over from the
Philippines, a vehicle making funny noises, no idea what God is calling me to
do after December, and feeling like I’ve given everything to God that I can
possibly give, but that He wants even more.
This has truly led me to lean into Him and I believe He has been
allowing this to see how “in” with His calling on my life I really am. I continue to say “Yes and Amen” and in that
obedience He is blessing me! This last
week, He has brought some amazing new friends in my life! During a lunch break, God brought me to
Longview Lake, a place I call my second home in KC. He has had total strangers speak words over
me from call2all and IHOP about what God is doing, that affirm no doubt that
I’m going the right way. And He
continues to teach me about intimacy with Him, especially in the IHOP Global
Prayer Room (of all the wonderful places in the world God could send me for
this season).
So it
is with great joy that I arise each morning serving an amazing God. It is with great joy that I look forward to
helping serve at the LA Congress. It is
with great joy and thanksgiving that I am getting to see the girl’s I’ve
mentored for over 7 years in Pella the day before I fly to LA. It is with great joy and hope that I prepare
myself to go home to Wisconsin for December to be with my family as my mom
undergoes surgery. It is with great joy
that I look forward to God’s continued guidance for 2012 and beyond. Thank you for being a part of this journey
with me. I pray His joy and peace
spreads abundantly to you as well, as you trust in Him.
*Please note, if you would like to give a gift financially
towards my 2 week trip to LA (all airfare, housing, car rental, food, parking
and additional costs I’m covering on my own) I could really use the help! Email
me at rayellem@gmail.com. And please mark your calendars for prayer
from Nov 29-Dec 3 for the event as I stay organized and guide.
