Hey Ya'll,
It's my first ever blog post, so it can only improve from here. Basically, I started this to include others in my mission experiences and process. As I start to travel, first by going up to Madison, WI, then overseas (location TBD), followed by God only knows, I wanted a central place that my friends and family could go and see what I was up to. As some people wonder how I can choose the life where there is no financial gain and I live off the generosity of those back in the states, I hope that I can adequately portray that my joy is not in earthly riches, but in heavenly ones. It won't be Friday payday that gets me through the next week, but the peace that I am sharing God's love to a child who has not known love before. This is my calling, but that's for another post. :)
Throughout the last year, God has shown me that he wants me in missions. He has been closing doors and opening doors that allow me to follow his path. A year ago, I was dead set against long-term missions and such. I swore I was going to go to a secular college in Illinois, become a teacher, and do short term missions in the summer. Throughout the process of my Romania trip, God was showing me different. As I student taught, he showed me just how disheartening being a teacher in the states can be. Parents have the money to feed their children, but decide to spend it on drugs instead. These children do not get fed, so a teacher tries to help, only to be bashed by the parents who refuse to accept "charity". I learned I did not have the patience for this mindset. I don't have the patience for parents who abuse their children. In another country, I can understand that it is a culture that says this type of behavior is okay. Here in America, our culture knows that beating a child is wrong, yet a parent chooses to do it anyway. I do not have the patience for this. Because of that experience, God showed me that while the American education system is not for me, children will be a huge part of my life. On a whim, I had applied to Cedarville University, a Christian college in Ohio. Once I was accepted, I thought that was what God wanted me to do. I had the thought of going there to become a teacher, and then the plan of becoming a teacher overseas. Then came the price tag. While I did qualify for financial aid and got scholarships, the amount of money I would still be in debt and would have to pay off before my missions work was too much for me. I believe that God had to get me to the place where I would go to a Christian college and be a missionary before I would accept his true plan for me.
After much prayer and counsel, I decided that I would do a Youth With A Mission (YWAM) Discipleship Training School (DTS) in Madison, WI. Here, I am still trained to be a missionary and I am sent out to do missions, but at a much lower financial burden. The funding can also come through the donations of friends of family.
YWAM began with the hope of training young people to know
God personally and make him known in whatever path of life that they choose.
There are hundreds of training schools around the world that train college-aged
students in every realm, such as education, the arts, compassion and relief
work, rescue operations, etc. My current focus is Rescue Operations, where I will be learning about trafficking victims and refugees.
I will live at the school in Madison from
September-December where I will be learning about my relationship with God,
receive missions training and education on injustice and how to work against
it, and do volunteer work in the city of Madison. After Christmas, the school
will split into four different teams and go to different locations around the
world to spread the word and love of God through volunteer work, preaching, leading
music, sharing the gospel, working with lonely children and women, and whatever
else the Lord brings our way. When we return at the end of February, we will
split into four new teams and travel stateside to do volunteer work and
presentations at many churches about what God has done. While I hope to go to
Eastern Europe, at this time I do not know where I will end up doing ministry,
but I know God will place me exactly where He wants me.
Here comes the not fun part. At the end of every post, I will post just a quick 2 sentence update on finances and include prayer requests. Currently, my prayer is that these finances will come in soon! Currently, I owe $2,945 for my lecture phase. I have not received a statement yet as to how much I owe for my outreach, but I will find out when I get to Madison in September.
Thank you for your support, and your prayers!!
Tori
