Soul Keeping Part One: What God is teaching

Next week, I will begin my first official day of ministry at Makarios… meeting with teachers, learning what their kids need from me and how I can help them with reading, and starting to slowly build relationships in the communities in which the kids live.  

Since returning from the States, God has blessed me with some much needed Sabbath.  And this blog and the one to come will focus on what He has been teaching me through it.  If you have a problem slowing down or if you seem to sometimes be a Martha, or if you sometimes act like you think that just maybe God can't do His work without you, you'll definitely want to keep reading.

Here are some of my thoughts written during my last week of Missionary Training before I headed back to the Dominican on October 20 to officially begin exercise Sabbath for a bit.

These last two weeks of being at Missionary Training International (MTI) have been stretching to say the least.  And, again, I am so grateful to God, to supporters, and to Makarios for making it a requirement to come here.

They say that these last weeks concentrate mostly on culture, but I find God teaching me about my values, Sabbath, stress, conflict and being a single missionary.  Having been on the field now for two years, these days have made me think and pray and just concentrate so much on what God is trying to teach me through these classes, role plays, and simulations.

So, this blog concentrates on what God is teaching me.

Psalm 145:1-3

I will exalt you, my God and King,

and praise your name forever and ever.

I will praise you every day;

yes, I will praise you forever.

Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise!

No one can measure his greatness.

God is teaching me to praise Him and look to Him first.  We learned this week that the most successful missionaries who thrive on the field not just survive, are ones whose eyes are constantly on Him, who fight for rest and Sabbath, and who live with margins.  I imagine that this isn't just missionaries but christians in general… I am learning how important it is to not just rest, but to fill up by focusing on God, each day, each week, each month and each year.  Those most resilient have carved out not only daily and weekly time with the Lord but also weeks at a time with the Lord to praise Him, cry out to Him, give Him thanks, reflect, and learn from Him.

Former missionaries have given me permission -- God gives us permission --  to enjoy Him.  What a gift to be able to grow in our knowledge and strength and spend time in His word and with His creation.

God is teaching me that I have thrived often before because unintentionally, I had quiet and space and freedom and exercise naturally in my day, but that now I have to be intentional about those things.

God is reminding me of the things I've done over the past years that are just fun and that fill me up…

scrapbooking, yearbooking, having friends over and cooking for them, impromptu teaching (whether it's Spanish grammar or reading or the Word of God), playing kickball and softball, watching my favorite childhood movies,  having deep conversations, hosting or going to game night, painting, sitting outside and enjoying God's sky, His creation and watching His people…

God is teaching me not to worry and not to be anxious…

God is teaching me that what He wants most is our attention and our time…

He is teaching me to pray for those who know Him and for those who haven't realized who He is yet.

He is teaching me to pray believing that God can soften hearts and open ears.

God is teaching me to trust Him with His will.  

He is teaching me to depend more on His words than on the words of others…

He is teaching me that this faith journey is one of growing and learning and correcting and loving and being encouraged and following and growing even more…

I thank God for showing me what true rest in Him looks like.  

This group of women made up my "growth group" while at MTI.  Together we grew by tackling some of the "hard questions" about being a missionary.  We also laughed, prayed and just learned from each other.  I am eternally grateful to them for sharing so many hours with me!

 

On the last day, we had the opportunity to pray for each missionary.

This is the whole group of missionaries who started leaving in late October and will continue through next year to go to their various mission fields.  Some will be in places where it is illegal to share about Jesus.  Others will head to small places where they've never heard about Jesus.  Some will be serving for two years while still others have no plans of returning to the States. Planting churches, educating, working in orphanages, discipling, fighting against sex trafficking...  However God has called, we will all serve with one purpose -- to win many for His glory.

So, are you wondering what life has looked like since I got back, how financial support is coming along, what getting "settled" has been like, and what God continues to teach me?  

Soul Keeping Part Two is coming soon...