Tag Archives: missionary preparation

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In a recent Global Missions Podcast, Melissa Weissenberger, of South American Missions (SAM) spoke of the importance of developing care groups. Missionaries need communities of support, prayer, and encouragement, and if you are reading this you are part of ours. By merely subscribing to this blog or periodically checking in, you hold us accountable to believe, plan, persist, and report about our missionary preparation endeavors. According to Proverbs 16:9, “We can make our plans but the Lord determines our steps” (NLT). We have heard the call to serve, have responded with positive affirmation, and have felt the tug on our hearts to serve in Uganda. Now that I have begun a new professional vocation as a nurse in order to serve the mission of God’s abundant life more practically, I am eager to know the steps God has laid ahead of us. Sometimes believing gets tough, especially because our season of preparation is longer than a lot of mission careers, and our future is still not yet known to us. We covet your prayers as we build into whatever comes next. 

Missionaries need communities of support, prayer, and encouragement, and if you are reading this you are part of ours.

At a time when the world is looking forward to finding out the Avengers’ Endgame, we recently got a glimpse of a possible future for our ministry, and are excited to share the vision with you. We identified a mission organization that seems to be doing what we are called to do, where we are called to do it, and for whom we also feel called to serve. To quote their website, which I hope you will visit:

"(This mission) exists to join Christ in restoring peace and healing wounds among the vulnerable children and war-torn people of Northern Uganda. 700 acres of land overlooking the Nile is being developed into a holistic, reproducible community through Orphan Care, Health Care, Empowerment, and Ministry to the Church."

It seems only right to join up with these brothers and sisters who have gone before us, rather than reinventing a well rounded wheel. We have begun to investigate the possibility of serving with them, first as short term visiting missionaries, then possibly staying on longer as the Lord determines. It is too early to make solid commitments or promises but, Lord willing, this could very well be our future home. We have made soft plans to serve in a short-term capacity next year. After all, you can’t steer a parked car, so we need to stretch out our legs in order for God to plant our next steps.

We identified a mission organization that seems to be doing what we are called to do, where we are called to do it, and for whom we also feel called to serve.

Speaking of stepping out, Cindy has taken quite a stride. Feeling she has given all she has to give to the non-profit she has been working for, she has tendered her resignation to seek other opportunities. It took quite a bit of courage for her to take this step, and I hope you will join me in encouraging her and praying for God’s will for her and the power to carry it out. 

As for me, my orientation in the Emergency Department is going well. I am learning a lot under very intense circumstances, and hope to continue in my orientation for a couple more weeks. God really worked a miracle to give me a clinical coach who is dedicated to my success and who has been an amazing example for me to emulate. My first semester of Baccalaureate classes is coming to a close with a final exam next week. I am also enrolled in a seven-week course to supplement my orientation to Critical Care Nursing, and, as if that wasn’t enough, just finished renewing my nursing license and several critical certifications and all the continuing education those require. If you can see the wind and waves around me, remember I’m trying to keep my focus on the One who invited me to walk these waters, and pray me on if you please. 

With Him we can do anything, without Him we can do nothing, and the bounty of His blessing is unloaded with prayer.

In addition to all the mission vision building and preparation, we still have a marriage, home, church, family, illnesses, and all of the normal stuff of life that keeps us in need of God’s grace for every moment of every day. We believe that prayer is powerful and effectual, and we humbly ask you to petition God for our guidance, resource, and grace. With Him we can do anything, without Him we can do nothing, and the bounty of His blessing is unloaded with prayer. 

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“If I’m not challenging myself to do something I’m terrified of I’m not really growing.” I heard myself say it, but it sounded alien coming from the mouth of a guy who has always resisted change and gets anxious around unknowns. Still, here I am on the brink of a new adventure because I believe it is where God is calling me next. The nurses who were asking about my upcoming assignment needed an explanation for my look of trepidation while I told them what should be good news: my application to the Emergency Department was accepted, and I start the end of February.

If I’m not challenging myself to do something I’m terrified of I’m not really growing.

Unfortunately, the voices near me at work seem to echo the doubts in my head: “Are you sure you’re ready for this?” “What makes you think you can handle the pace of the E.D?” and, “How will you manage school and a new endeavor like this?”

Jesus’ exclamation, “Get behind me, Satan,” (Matthew 16:23) has never made so much sense. It’s easy to be fearful given the lions’ den I’m preparing to enter. Still, I know that God has a way of making me ready just in the nick of time, and giving me only this day my daily bread.

I will tell you the behind the scenes story.

I was tired of my attempts to coordinate a shadow shift on the E.D. not working out, and I was getting advice from E.D. nurses not to wait until I thought I was ready because no one ever is. Furthermore, waiting until I was an experienced enough medical-surgical nurse was futile because nursing on a med-surg unit and in the E.D. are two vastly different things. I should just apply, I was told. I wasn’t convinced, so I put it to God.

I was praying that God would give me another clear sign, a Gideon’s fleece like He has so many times before. I prayed specifically about the decision of whether or not to apply for this terrifying position, even before I was technically eligible, having only worked in the med-surg unit for just under the required twelve months. There was no fatherly voice, speedy white car, or extra large bumper sticker this time, but there was a nagging echo in my ear like an annoying tune you can’t get rid of. At first it was like nonsense, but then I remembered what the syllables were and their significance: Urim and Thummim. It kept repeating in my head. Urim and Thummim. They were the sacred lots used by the ancient high priest to determine the will of God. Urim and Thummim. I didn’t have sacred lots, but I am a priest in the order of Melchizedek by the blood of Jesus Christ who loves me and gave His life for me. So I grabbed a coin, rebuked the mammon for which it was intended, blessed it, and called on the God of Heaven’s armies to be sovereign even over the laws of physics and the nature of chance to show me what to do. With prayer and a coin-toss, my Urim came up heads. An hour later, I pressed “submit” on my electronic application.

When we let Him, God will stretch us to our limits, then show us new limits and push us to those.

The interview several weeks later went… How shall I say? … medium to medium well. I did not sparkle, though I did smile with what, in retrospect, must have looked like a cocky grin. One of the team members in the two-nurse second interview even left in the process, saying I had asked the same question repeatedly and she had things to do. I was certainly not given a sense that I had the favor of man this day. After the interviews were over, I was left to wait in a small room that began to feel like a holding cell before I was retrieved for my tour of the E.D. and that’s when things got really terrifying. This place was crawling with people, all going different ways, all needing different things. I saw no organization to it, and am sure I was lost at several points in the tour. The manager was rattling off statistics about how this is the 13th busiest E.D. in the nation and how we boast some of the best response times for heart attack and stroke, and he made it clear I better never mess that up. When he finished the very brief tour, he said, “Well, what do you think?” I was dumbstruck. What I was really thinking was, “What have I got myself into?” and “Where’s the exit?” but what I said was, “It’s a lot!” He agreed and showed me out, saying something about there being other interviews and a recruiter would be in touch regarding their decision. On the way home, my prayers changed from, “Help this go well,” to, “Save me from this if I’m not supposed to be here!”

I didn’t mention the application to many people for obvious reasons. I didn’t want to get my hopes and fears up and didn’t want anyone else to either. I began rereading Rich Stearns’ books Unfinished and The Hole in Our Gospel, each of which had a significant role in spurring Cindy and me along in our decision to prepare for missions. I figure if I ever needed a booster shot of mission passion it was now. Sure enough, Rich laid out one scripture verse after another reminding me to “take up my cross and follow” Christ, and that we are promised many hardships along with our hundred-fold blessings when we give up our comforts. I was reminded that no one was promised an easy time. In fact quite the opposite. When we let Him, God will stretch us to our limits, then show us new limits and push us to those. We are constantly becoming new creatures, and metamorphosis hurts, but if we are to follow Christ’s example, we have to be willing to give up every comfort, every assurance, every known, and step onto the turbulent waters. Sink, swim, or tread upon the waves, God’s got each one of us by the hand.

Sink, swim, or tread upon the waves, God’s got each one of us by the hand.

That's what I had to remind myself on Monday, January 14th, when I dragged myself out of an all-day sleep to get ready for a night shift and found I had a message from the recruiter asking me to please call her at my earliest convenience. Note to self: next time you hear that, at least wake up fully first. I called her and listened to her offer me the job. She seemed excited to share such joyous news, but my heart was in my throat while I was still rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. When she asked whether I wanted to accept, I guess I didn’t answer with the ready eagerness she had anticipated, because her vocal countenance dropped like a brick. “Would you like time to think about it?” she prompted. “No, I’m committed to this. I’ll be honest, it’s terrifying, but I’m committed, so let’s do this.”

What adventure God has for me, let it begin as He determines.

Now you know the rest of the story, and you have peered into the mind of a scared but willing servant. What adventure God has for me, let it begin as He determines. Prayer warriors, please cover me. I'm going into hostile territory, and I'm doing so in between online classes for my baccalaureate degree.