Incredibly, I have been blessed with the perfect job for me. I have been called to Cambodia, somewhere I have never been, and somewhere I knew little about up until this year. I'm getting ready to leave everything I've ever known behind and move halfway around the world. I can't wait. I wanted to begin this blog with background information, and the best way to do this is to let all of you read my support letters from the past few months. I know it's a lot, but it will answer a lot of questions and give you insight into what's been going on with me : )
February Support Letter:
An incredible thing has happened to me, and I am so excited to share it with all of you! I have felt uneasy about my future for a while now. Every career I have researched, everything I have pursued, leaves me feeling empty and bored. I've halfheartedly prayed for God to show me what I'm supposed to do, but I've still tried to be in control. Where do I want to live? What looks like a cool job? Where all can I travel? I don't know where the change in my heart began to take place, but it was probably sometime while reading Kisses from Katie. Katie Davis is an amazing young woman who stepped away from all the things she always thought she was supposed to do, and answered God’s calling for her life. She currently lives in Uganda and runs a ministry called Amazima. She is also the adoptive mother of 14 Ugandan orphans. Did I mention she is 22 years old? This past October, when the Wesley staff went to Atlanta for Catalyst, Katie was interviewed on stage. The twenty minutes she spoke were enough to make me want to get her book and learn more about her story. When I got back to Ruston, I began reading the book and couldn’t put it down. When I finished I thought, “am I supposed to drop everything and go to Africa?! Nah, that’s not for me!”I have been looking forward to the mission trip to Cambodia with much excitement, but I still felt frustrated not knowing what I was going to do after the internship. I'm all about planning, and not knowing the next phase of my life has been weighing heavily on my mind. Last week at ONE, our Tuesday night worship service, my restlessness just overwhelmed me and I began to fervently pray for God to reveal his plan to me. All of it. Even if it was scary. As soon as the worship service ended and everyone began getting up to leave, something happened. God spoke to me, and instantly I felt peace. He said, "missionary."Oh my gosh! I grabbed Zack’s (another intern and dear friend) arm as he started to get up and said, "Zack, I just had a moment." It took me a minute to clear my head enough to tell him what had just happened, but as I began to, tears poured from my eyes because right at that very moment, I was living in God’s will. He had spoken his desire to me, and I said, “Yes. Yes, Lord!” A few other people were around. Hailey, another intern, and Becky, the Assistant Director of Wesley. I shared and talked with them and Becky remembered “totally calling this” two years ago when I first wanted to apply for the internship. Laughter, tears, and hugs ensued. Some other students were outside: Emily, Lauren, Kaitlyn, Cody, and Blake, who is my co-leader for Cambodia. I shared with them and they rejoiced and prayed over me because I was about to call my parents and tell them what had happened. Yikes! My conversation with my parents was the best one I've ever had with them. They were so happy and encouraging and loving and everything I needed them to be. My dad had called earlier asking if I needed a microwave, and I called him back telling him God had called me to be a missionary. I have never had such clarity in my life. Had I not done this internship, would I have been close enough to God to hear this calling? Perhaps, but I truly believe I felt such an urgency to do this internship because God knew He needed time to prepare me for an even greater journey. Being a missionary on Louisiana Tech’s campus has challenged me to be intentional in the lives of students I encounter everyday by sharing Christ with them, and this internship has prepared me to go out into the world and do the same. I thank all of you for your love and encouragement. I couldn’t do this without you! I still don’t know what exactly the future looks like, but I am going forward with the confidence of Christ and the knowledge that my great adventure is only beginning.
March Support Letter:
I know I said a few months ago that I couldn’t believe Fall Quarter was over, but now I really can’t believe Winter Quarter is over, as well! One quarter left. One quarter left to go out onto Tech’s campus and love students in the name of Jesus. One quarter left to prepare a meal every Thursday that will bring students into our building so that they may be a part of our community and get connected to others. One quarter left to disciple students and prepare them to journey all over the world for mission trips. We have so much to do, but I am loving every minute of it. I can’t let myself think about saying goodbye to so many dear friends, so instead, I plan to make the most of the time we have left with each other. I want the legacy I leave to be that of a woman who loved God and others with everything she had. Last month, I told all of you about my experience when I received God’s calling to become a missionary. Now, I am excited to tell you about the job I applied for last week! The organization we are working through to go to Cambodia, Asian Hope, has several international schools located in Phnom Penh, the capital city. When I was browsing Asian Hope’s website at the beginning of the mission trip process, I noticed an announcement seeking elementary teachers for one of their schools, Asian Hope International School (AHIS). I didn’t think much about it, even after one of my mission team members, Keneisha, told me she saw it and thought I should apply. It wasn’t until after I heard God’s call to be a missionary that I began seriously looking at opportunities and organizations. I prayed about it and felt God leading me to this school. I sent an e-mail to the principal asking for more information, and we set up a time to Skype (video chat over the Internet). At 7am my time, and 8pm hers, we chatted about anything and everything related to moving to Cambodia and teaching there. The conversation gave me an overwhelming sense of peace that this is where my focus needs to be. I applied for the job, which is a two-year commitment to teach third grade, and I stopped researching other options. I truly believe this is where God wants me, and I should find out in a few weeks whether or not I have been offered the position. Please be in prayer for this process!
April Support Letter
I hope this letter finds you well! Spring has sprung, and I am loving the sunshine and all the green grass and flowers appearing all over Ruston. This is a season of new life, and what a beautiful thing it is to think about how God gives us new life. We are taken out of our Winters and brought into the beauty and restoration of Spring. His hope and love overwhelms us like the sunshine covers everything in creation. God has worked so much in and through me this year, and this Spring is so meaningful because I feel like I am truly on the path to becoming the woman God desires for me to be. My experiences in this ministry, all of the ups and downs, have revealed to me so much about God’s character and how to love others in the name of Christ. I feel like I have been given the best foundation possible to be sent out into the world. A new chapter of my life is about to begin, and I cannot wait to see how God is going to work in my life and the lives of everyone I meet in Cambodia. In my last letter, I left all of you with a note saying I had gotten the job, and now I am so excited to tell y’all more about it! I will be teaching 3rd grade for the next two years at Asian Hope International School in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The school’s mission statement states, “We aim to help the children appreciate and retain their own culture, while being prepared to take their place in a global world.” The curriculum is a combination of the Cambodian and British national standards. I will be teaching all subjects in English, and I will have a teacher’s aide in the classroom every day. I will also teach a Bible lesson to the children every day, and I am especially excited about this part because the majority of children come from Buddhist families and have never heard stories from the Bible. I will live in an apartment near the school, and my roommates will be other teachers. I have been in communication with the Principal and several of the current teachers, and have felt more assured each day that this is where God is calling me to serve Him. I thank you all for your encouragement and support- it means the world to me! If you have any more questions about Asian Hope, check out their website at asianhope.org or give me a call and I would love to tell you more about it. I also ask for your prayer and support as I complete my ministry here at Wesley. It’s not too late for students to enter into our community here and experience the love of Christ through others. I want to make the most of these precious few months left!
May Support Letter
I hope this letter finds you well! It is hard to believe it is already May, and that I am writing you my last support letter before the mission trips. We leave in 12 days, and I am so excited to get to Cambodia and do what we have been planning for and talking about for so long. God has blessed us with an incredible team, and I cannot wait to see how He will use us! Also, I am excited to share that all 40 of our mission team members are fully funded! God’s provision is incredible! Our Dinner Theatre and Golf Tournament both went so well, and thanks again to all of you who were able to participate. Following the mission trip, you will receive a newsletter with more information and pictures about all of our experiences. You will also hear from all of the students who went, as well! For now, I want to use this opportunity to share more about this year. Laid Back Lunch has been a tremendous learning experience. I now feel like I’m equipped to run a restaurant, but the most meaningful thing I learned along the way is that it is not about serving a meal. It is about inviting people into something greater than themselves and connecting them with others, to the greater whole of our community, so they will be cared for and loved. I’ve had a great time with LBL this year, and I know I will miss it terribly. It has such a special place in my heart because it is how I was first really connected at Wesley. The first time I volunteered to serve was through LBL. I was expected to show up every week, I was needed, I was valued, and I was loved. I see other students who have developed this same
passion for LBL, and I thank God for that. How incredible is it that I have been able to, by staying this year, see younger students living the life I once lived beginning to be transformed the way I was? My Engage Group, the Bible study I lead every Thursday night, meets for the last time this week. The ways the students have grown, the ways I have grown, and the ways we have grown together have been beautiful. We just finished studying Forgotten God by Francis Chan (an in-depth study of the Holy Spirit), and we had great discussions as we read through the material and talked about what a Spirit-filled life looks like. At the beginning of the year, several students said their goal for the year was growth: to step outside of themselves and be challenged to truly live a life for God. We have challenged each other to be better representatives of Christ, loved each other well, and served a God who we will never fully understand, but know we cannot live without. I cannot tell you how many times students have come to me, overcome by a present situation or past circumstance, and I have been able to look into their eyes and tell them they are forgiven and do not have be trapped by guilt and shame. The beautiful thing is these same friends are the ones who comfort me in my times of sadness or celebrate with me in times of joy. We cannot live this life alone. We are called to live our lives serving and loving each other in the name of Christ. This is what happens at Wesley each and every day. It then spreads to campus, then out to the people of Ruston, and then it just keeps going. I pray you have felt this love through the glimpses I have given you this year of how God has moved and the life that can be found through Christ at Wesley. I know I end my letters in thanks, but I’m going to do it one last time and I hope you all know how much I truly am thankful. You have all blessed me just by reading this letter every month. Your support, e-mails, calls, hugs, and prayers have helped me get through this year. You supported me financially, and I am forever grateful for your sacrifices, but you also supported me spiritually. I cannot express how blessed I feel knowing I have a group of people out there who are praying for and believing in me. I leave this year forever changed and walking away confidently towards where God wants me to be.
If you read all of that, you get a gold star! Thank you for taking the time to learn more about my journey, and I can't wait to share more along the way!
Meredith
