November Prayer Letter - Challenge

Can you believe it has been over a year since I started raising support to move to South Africa? It would be impossible for me to believe if the calendar didn’t state it so emphatically.  During the past year I’ve come to realize a few things about myself: first, I am even more excited than ever about teaching at North-West University (NWU) and sharing about our amazing God; second, I’m not very good at this deputation (support raising) process; and third, prayer is the key to keep from getting discouraged.  It will only be through God’s grace and provision and the support of all my friends and family that my deputation will be completed and I am sent to South Africa.  Until then, I seek to emulate Paul when he said in Philippians 4:11, “…for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” 

Thanks to everyone who has supported me over the past year, my one-time expenses budget has been met and even surpassed, but there is still a long way to go to cover the expenses that will be ongoing during my three years in South Africa.  So far, many of my friends and family have generously committed to recurring donations covering 58% of my projected monthly budget.  My goal is to reach 75% by the end of the year.  To reach that goal will require $512 in new monthly support.  That is a huge goal for me to set down here in black and white!  Would you help me reach this goal?

If you have been thinking about supporting me regularly, now would be a great time to commit to it!  You can either start donating now, or just let me know you plan to start once I’m ready to leave for Africa.  Either way, it will count towards reaching the goal of 75%!  At www.cvmusa.org/quam you can easily sign up to give monthly or yearly and have it done automatically if, like me, you tend to get distracted by life.

Maybe I’ll take a page from the local public radio station’s fund raising book and sweeten the deal a bit J  You probably know I’ve been making and selling paracord bracelets, dog collars, and leashes to help raise support and spread the word about this great chance to reach students at NWU.  So, if you commit to monthly support of $30 or more or yearly support of $360 I’ll make you a few custom bracelets or a dog collar or leash.  You can enjoy them yourself or they will make great Christmas presents for sports fans (Seahawks’ green/navy/grey are my most popular colors) or dog lovers who would enjoy something special for their pets. For $50/month or more I’ll make a matching set of a collar and leash or a belt. Girly colors, manly colors, and sports team colors are all available!

If you are already supporting me and would enjoy a paracord collar/leash/bracelets as a thank you it would be my pleasure to send one your way.  You can see many of the options and details on my Etsy site and then just let me know what you like.

If you can help financially, thank you!  If you can’t at this point, thank you for praying and sharing the word!    Please let me know if you would like brochures or prayer cards to share with friends and family.

October Prayer Letter - Truth

Heading into one of my last appointments for the week, I flicked a glance at the computer while my nurse brought Fluffy and Mrs. Smith into the exam room.  I noted that Fluffy was a three year old female cat and we had only seen her once before. Mrs. Smith and I chatted for a while as I sorted through the medical records Mrs. Smith had brought in for us.  Mrs. Smith mentioned how she had adopted Fluffy from a local shelter several years ago and that she hadn’t had any vaccines since then.  Fluffy was going to be spending a few days boarding at a kennel and Mrs. Smith wanted to make sure she was up to date.

We got Fluffy out of the kennel for her exam and she was a gorgeous, big, longhair orange tabby.  “Hmm, that is a bit strange,” I thought.  Most orange cats are male.  Just to be sure I took a quick peek under the tail and then, trying to be nonchalant, asked, “did you know Fluffy is actually a boy?”

“Oh, yes,” replied Mrs. Smith.  “But I had really wanted a girl rather than a boy so I just decided to call her a girl.”  We all had a good laugh.  The rest of the exam I stumbled through trying to decide if I should refer to Fluffy as male or a female.  As I left the exam room a few minutes later and changed her file, to reflect the true gender, I had to chuckle to myself, but also thought about how easy it is to convince ourselves that what we want to be true is actually true.

Watch a show like X Factor or So You Think You Can Dance and you will see hundreds of people in the initial auditions who are completely convinced that they have an amazing voice or special talent for dancing and refuse to accept any word to the contrary. 

On the spiritual side we tend do the same thing. As long as we tell ourselves we don’t have an issue with pride we can hide from reality.  Or we convince ourselves it was just a little white lie so it’s OK.  Or maybe we just ignore certain verses in the Bible that we see as inconvenient or decided they actually mean something different than God intended.

While Mrs. Smith was fully aware of the truth about Fluffy’s gender and willing to admit it, many of us have so completely deluded ourselves that we refuse to see the truth even when it is staring us in the face.  As Peter writes in I John 1:8 “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”  Instead, we should seek God’s truth in all things; ask him to strip away the blinders we have created to hide our own faults and wrong thoughts. Deceiving ourselves may seem easier and more pleasant than confronting the truth, but in reality it limits our growth and imprisons us in our own minds.  Jesus said, “If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)

These thoughts were echoed beautifully in a note I just received from one of the University of Florida veterinary students who came to Mafikeng in August on a Short Term Mission Trip. It is exciting to share how God honored her prayers to better understand His truth of our equality in Him.

She writes, “In preparation for the trip, I had been praying for our time and for God to change me, my heart and just completely let Him work for the plan He had for me and the team. I couldn't have even fathomed how much my simple prayer would have done for me. God totally opened my eyes and showed me that I must love everyone as He loves me, to view them through the "lens" that He views me...through the lens of love, grace, forgiveness and mercy. This was so important because I know I am guilty of viewing people through a judgment, jealousy, or anger lens at times and it just hit me. "Who am I to view anyone that way?! And how dare I?"...if Jesus can love me unconditionally through all I have done in my life and has already forgotten (and forgiven me) my sins from yesterday, what gives me the right to judge anyone for anything? I need to love them through all they do, no matter what, forgive them, pray for them and just emulate God's love.”

Please pray with me as David did in the Psalms (25:5) “Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.”