I have an airplane ticket! I will arrive in the USA on June 10 to spend the next week at the SIM USA headquarters near Charlotte, NC. There I will rest, meet with staff to discuss what role I will play in the coming months. I have no further news about what NEXT will look like, but hopefully will by the end of that week. The only thing I am fairly certain about is that my position with SIM won’t change: I will still be doing support ministry, just a different kind of support than homeschooling. Emma and Molly will be in boarding school next year and Katie will do school with Wheaton.
I sat down with a popsicle to rest from activity in the afternoon heat before grading papers and packing and daydreamed a little … here is what I saw in my dream:
Eunice put down the letter that had come that day … after reading it for the fourth time. She loved hearing about the adventures that her son, Timothy, was having with Paul and Silas, and about the people who had believed their message. She missed her boy, but knew he was doing important work. She sighed contentedly and went back toward her shop but was arrested by the sound of crying coming from the kitchen courtyard. Going to investigate, she discovered Lydia, her servant girl, hunched in a corner, her shoulders heaving and apron crammed in her face in an ineffective effort to muffle her sobs.
She stooped to gently pull the girl out of the corner so she could discover what was bothering her. Eunice soothed, “Lydia, what is the matter? Why are you crying? Come and let me hear all about it.”
“Oh, Ma’am, I’m so useless! I can’t do anything that makes one bit of difference,” Lydia blurted out and commenced crying again.
“Why, Lydia, what makes you say that? You are very helpful and competent! What a nice lunch we just had – and you fixed it.” Eunice leaned over and dipped a clean cloth into the water jug standing by her and wiped the girl’s face clear of tears. As Lydia looked mournfully into Eunice’s face she kindly reminded, “Look here,” showing Lydia the damp cloth, “you washed this cloth and you are the one who filled the water jug. There are two more contributions that make a big difference to me!”
“But, Ma’am, I know I do those things … but they’re not important! They’re just the same thing over and over every day. I don’t even have to think about some of them, they’re so automatic.”
Eunice now had a better idea of what was bothering Lydia. “Are you feeling useless because we read about what Timothy and Paul are doing in Macedonia at lunch today?” she guessed.
Lydia hid her face in Eunice’s cool skirt and nodded her head. She heaved a big, heavy sigh and looked up at her employer and friend, “Ma’am, Timothy is telling other people about Jesus every day! And you work in the shop and send him money for his traveling expenses, and Grandma Lois even makes clothes to send to him. I don’t do anything but cook and wash and clean. That doesn’t help at all!”
Eunice gently grasped the girl’s face in her hands and kissed her forehead. She looked straight into her eyes and said with seriousness, “Lydia, if you weren’t here to do those things, who do you think would?”
Lydia thought a moment and then hesitantly replied, “I guess you or Grandma Lois, Ma’am.”
“That’s right, Lydia,” Eunice twinkled. “And if we were here doing what you do so well, who would be running my shop or making clothes for Timothy?” She waited for Lydia to think through the question and could see the wheels turning in her head.
Looking up at Eunice with a questioning shock, Lydia burst out, “Why, no one, Ma’am!”
Again, Eunice agreed with her. “And if no one was in the shop, where would I get the money that I send to Timothy or to pay for the cloth that Grandma Lois uses to make clothes?”
Lydia was alarmed now, “Why you wouldn’t even have money to buy the groceries, much less send anything to Timothy! That would be terrible, Ma’am!”
Eunice broke into a dazzling smile and hugged Lydia. “So, Lydia, do you understand now how important you are to us all? How Grandma Lois couldn’t be sewing? How I couldn’t be in the shop? How Timothy couldn’t be traveling with Paul if YOU weren’t here washing and cooking and cleaning? And if Paul didn’t have such a capable assistant, his ministry would be hindered, too? All these things depend on YOU doing your little bit so we all can do our little bit, too.”
Lydia thought some more and then said, as much to herself as to Eunice, “So I have a very important mission to support you, so you can support us and Timothy, so he can support Paul. Wow! We are all connected in an important chain of ministry!” She looked at Eunice with a new glow on her face. “Most of those folks in Macedonia won’t ever hear of me, but without me they might not hear the best news in the world: that Jesus loves them!” She rose and shook out her rumpled apron, hugged her beloved employer and scuttled off to work. Eunice could hear her muttering to herself, “Now, get to work so Paul can preach another rousing sermon!”
Support ministry is such a varied and sometimes mundane thing, but it is vital to those like Corey and Katie on the field. Without support staff handling contributions, crediting the right accounts, and keeping track of the myriad of places funds are distributed, no one would be sure of getting what was sent for them. (There is a lovely man 5 hours from us who faithfully goes every month to pay our power bill so our electricity stays on, and another one who records it correctly on our account.)
There are folks around the world on the field who ask every month for our prayer requests and send them to people in the USA office who bind them together in a cohesive list of prayers for every day of the month to help keep us all focused and united in thought and prayer.
Other support ministers welcome new recruits and help them select an area of ministry service that fits their skills and passions so they can succeed on the field, then brief them on all kinds of things they will encounter overseas from the financial system to dealing with culture shock and everything in between. They help new missionaries figure out how to relate to the very different people they will be living among so they can effectively share the gospel.
Every one of those new missionaries need copies of the information that will make their adjustment easier. Someone has to make copies and collate them, and put them in folders and make sure the right names are on the right folders so everything runs smoothly. Someone has to check the spelling of each person’s name so the nametags are correct, and printed and ready to put on. Someone (actually lots of someones!) have to plan and prepare the food for each of the new recruits at orientation.
YOU are also part of support ministry, because without your contribution in finances and regular prayer, the missionaries in the sending office wouldn’t be there, the missionaries on the field would falter instead of flourish and bear fruit.
YOU, as you send in your bit make all that SIM does happen. So what if you send in only $10 a month? With hundreds and thousands of $10’s the figures add up, and if each one of those dollars are sent covered with prayers, missionaries, both overseas and at home will be stronger, more focused and faithful in their duties. The gospel will go far, the unreached will hear, the church will be built up.
YOU are a most vital part of that ministry of support. So what if you can’t go; you can send me. So what if you can’t help; I can help. So you think you don’t make a difference? Don’t you believe that for a minute! You make a huge difference. Without your support I won’t be able to support others who support others who support others who spread the gospel to the world. You are ESSENTIAL!
In order to do my ministry of support in the USA, I need to increase my monthly support amount by approximately $1000. Please prayerfully consider your vital contribution as I strive to be your representative in support ministry.
Pictures HERE.
Find out how to join my support team HERE
Prayer requests:
Packing and sorting to go well and shipping arrangements to go smoothly
Weather to stay relatively cool for these active packing days
Travel to the USA to be uneventful and on schedule
His provision: monthly support, a vehicle, an apartment, furniture, etc.
His blessing on this time of great transition, that I will find my place in the community there
God’s guidance as my role in the USA is worked out and for Him to use me there for His glory and for the furthering of His work around the world.
Thursday Feb 26 – Molly’s birthday party was a lovely quiet family affair. She loved the piñata. We did a good job on it since everyone got a turn before the piñata finally broke!
I am praying and talking with SIM and hoping to have a clear idea of my next step very soon. At the same time, I need to intentionally focus on the daily present task that is still before me: guiding Molly and Wheaton through this last third of the school year. Please pray that the Lord will guide me clearly in the next couple of weeks. Pray too, for His provision. I will communicate with you as soon as I know more. Thank you for your prayers and support!
We had a lovely quiet Christmas at home (well, not so quiet when the girls were banging on every pot in the kitchen to wake the adults!) filled with lovely thoughtful gifts, fun and fabulous food. There were Skype calls with friends and family and lots of relaxing NON-school time. We had a wonderful visit with Emma, who was happy to be home, but ready when it was time to return to boarding school.
