Tag Archives: Missions

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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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Copyright © 2015 HarperCollins Christian Publishing.

I confess I am much like the Israelites delivered from Egyptian slavery. A few days in the wilderness with Moses, and they seemed to forget the mountains of water between which they walked across the Red Sea on dry land, and instead began whining about where their next meal might come from. Here I am, a new graduate from nursing school, draped in honor cords, after repeatedly begging for deliverance from what seemed like countless narrow brushes with disastrous failure. My feet are dry and the fish are watching my onward march from the confines of their heaping habitat. No sooner have I heard the crashing of the waves behind me before I’ve turned my eyes to peer past the pillar of fire and smoke to what lies ahead.

Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced... (1 Chronicles 16:12, NIV)

How will I pass the nursing boards? Where will I work? Who will hire a middle-aged man when there are so many young kids graduating with me? Why did my first-choice hospital pass me over? Why haven’t I heard back from the other recruiters? How did s/he land a job ahead of me?

What is this manna? Did you lead us out here to die? When will we get some meat? Surely we were better off as Egypt’s slaves than being stuck in this wilderness!

“…remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability…” (Deuteronomy 8:18a, NIV)

As it turns out, God is already doing new and wonderful things. Allow me to share a miraculous demonstration of His undeserved goodness:

I was invited to apply for a nursing job about which I was eager but mysteriously uneasy. It seemed perfectly tailored to me with elements of corrections, addiction, and youth all rolled into a low-stress environment which was even conducive to continuing education. It tempted me with its apparent answer to my ongoing question: “Why would God make a nurse out of a retired police officer?” The drawbacks were that it would not give me much clinical nursing experience and it seemed like a step back toward law enforcement rather than forward into nursing. I prayed with friends at church about it, that God would make the right decision obvious, and that a clear “Gideon’s fleece” would be if the nurse I would be replacing decided not to submit his notice as anticipated. The next day, I woke up horribly dizzy (a condition that passed in about 6 hours and was likely related to a recent sinus surgery). When I contacted my friend to postpone our meeting about the job, she informed me that there was no rush to meet because the nurse I would be replacing decided not to submit his notice as anticipated. Soaked fleece identified! The job is not for me. Out of respect for my friend and her invitation, I proceeded a few days later to meet at the rehabilitation facility where she affirmed in several ways that, while this was a good paying job and a wonderful ministry, it was not a place to build the experiential nursing skills I will need to be a productive missionary nurse.

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
    for his compassions never fail.
 They are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.

(Lamentations 3:22-23, NIV)

The very next day, at precisely 3:06pm, my friend and pastor sent me a text inquiring about my health. I shared with him the details of my progress and the soaked fleece story. He responded prayerfully, “Ok God, send Todd the next test on your agenda.”

At 3:24, only eighteen minutes later, I received a call from a recruiter who represents my first-choice hospital, one I had been informed had passed me over. She informed me that, if I was still interested and not turned off by the prospect of night shift, she had a spot open for me. We scheduled an interview for later this week, and I am over the moon with excitement about the prospect. Other options continue to become available, and I am reminded that, whether I get the whole picture of the destination on the horizon or am blinded by the blazing cloud in front of me, the One in the pillar is directing my steps and I have nothing to fear.

I do believe, Lord Jesus! Help me overcome my unbelief. *

"And if I could tell you all, you would see how God has done all, and I nothing.”  - Florence Nightingale

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Cindy and I sort of have an agreement that we will not spend our household budget on inflated gifts and flowers for Valentine’s Day, but that doesn’t mean I can’t put something celebratory in her online profile.

A social media caption I wrote this morning, which grossly understated her contribution, read:

“There’s nothing quite like a girl who's willing to put up with late night shifts, extended hours, insecurity regarding hubby's safety, taking care of things at home, and habitual control issues that can wear and tear on any relationship. My valentine is a champion! "A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. ...Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all." (Proverbs 31:10-11, 29, NIV) Happy Valentine's Day, Cindy Lemmon!”

Her husband has full confidence in her......

Cindy’s had anything but a happy way of it lately. Our precious furry friend, Duke, took ill a couple months ago and we finally had to put him down.  In his last days, Cindy broke her shoulder heroically cradling Duke instead of catching herself in a fall.  She’s been nursing her gimpy fin ever since, dealing with intense pain and all the inconveniences of not being able to flap both wings, but she’s done it with a smile. As if pain and grief weren’t enough of a duo, they teamed up to form a villainous alliance with unmet deadlines at work, an upper respiratory infection, and the typical specks of irritation in any home or relationship that make everything chafe when rubbed together.

Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all. 

I’ve been so overwhelmed with Nursing School and whether I’m making a passing grade on any given day that I have failed to recognize what the lady beside me is pulling off. An honest inventory of the foes she’s fighting would include: my mid-life career change, being a Nursing School wife (every bit as demanding as police-wife), seemingly endless missionary preparations with ambiguous ministry launch plans and dates, plus all the stuff that goes in between like medical evaluations, surgery prospects, emptying nest, outstanding debt, and more. The truth is life is tough. But when the ones who live it give it what they’ve got and come out shining like my wife does, that’s a sparkling example of God’s refining fire at work.

I have failed to recognize what the lady beside me is pulling off. 

“I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33, NIV

Thank you for praying for my Valentine! She’s got her hands full and I’m not always the most attentive sidekick.