100%, Visa Application, New Zealand Bound!!!!

I reached 100% Faith Promise!!!!! Praise God!  I have been given financial release to leave for New Zealand! The only major obstacle that stands in the way at this point is to get my Visa, and the F.B.I. told me today that they will be mailing me my background check results by early next week!!!!  That means I could potentially be in New Zealand within the next three weeks or so!!!!!!!  PRAISE GOD!!!!  Please keep praying, and thank you so much for walking this journey with me!!!!!

90% Milestone, Update, and Merry Christmas!

With verbal commitments pouring in now at a miraculously steady rate, I am 90% funded!!!!!  PRAISE JESUS!!!!!!  I am so amazed by how God has done this...  He is so good and so able!  (I want to welcome new members of the team from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, and Indiana!)  This means I now only lack $500/month in Faith Promise commitments.  Here's a pretty break down for you...  ONE PERSON could finish this at $500/month, FIVE PEOPLE could finish it at $100/month, TEN PEOPLE could finish it at $50/month, or TWENTY PEOPLE could finish it at $25/month!  This is such a reachable goal at this point, I'm just ecstatic!!!! 

I know several people have been asking me about the planned departure date for New Zealand.  My answer is still, "I'm not sure."  The last 10% of funding needs to come in, and my visa application needs to be finished and processed.  It is still within the realm of possibility to be in New Zealand sometime in January, but I'm trying to just trust the Lord with His specific timing.  Once I know anything, I will keep you posted! 

Life has been on the fast lane the last few weeks.  I have been on the road a LOT!  I spoke at Martinsville Wesleyan Church in Indiana and spent a week in Mississippi connecting with dear friends and church family.  It was awesome to reconnect with all of you at Wesley Biblical Seminary, Ballet Magnificat, the old "Southwind Apartments Crew," and Olde Towne Community Church!  Also, I had the privilege of bringing a good friend with me on the trip--we were even able to celebrate her birthday in Jackson!  :)  Before and after the trip to Mississippi, I was able to get all of my health paperwork completed for my visa application!  This was a crazy ordeal... my doctor's office is closing, so I ended up having the tests and physical done at an urgent care facility.  I am so thankful for the people God put in my path so that we could get it done!  Now the only big piece of paperwork that needs to come through is the F.B.I. Background check.  Please keep praying along those lines!  The other pieces should be easier to get together.

Now that I am home for this holy week, I am determined to slow down a bit.  I have spent several days on Christmas cards and now on home-made gifts for family.  I am so excited to spend this Christmas at home with family--I want absorb every moment to sort of "store up" for the next couple years away from home.  I have some partnership development to do this week, but I am mostly just going to enjoy the celebration of Christ's birth. :)  Next week, I will be back in the saddle of setting up as many meetings with individuals as possible--to see that last 10% claimed!!!

For now, Merry Christmas everyone!  Let's celebrate the beautiful reality of Christ's birth!  I pray you will sense His presence in a special way during this sacred season!

Where It Is!

84%!!!!

With new Faith Promises rolling in, I am unofficially at 84%!!!! SO CLOSE!!!! Please be praying that my F.B.I. Background report will come back SOON so that I can apply for my Visa!

Fresh Fire

Tonight I felt a fresh fire of the anointing of the Holy Spirit as I shared with the people at Crown City Wesleyan Church. There were two full rows of children in the front and a row and a half of teens in the back. That always gets me pumped up. :) I had arrived early in Crown City (in case of bad weather), so I had some time to collect myself before the actual service. I just sensed a freedom to share my heart and passion with this church. It was great to connect with their young people and older alike. I love it when I can sense the Holy Spirit moving in and through me--it's not always like that. Sometimes we just obey and serve, even though we don't feel like it at all. Yet tonight, I am basking in one of those awesome experiences when you obey and also feel it. Thank You, Lord, for a blessed night.

Time in Marion; Pray for Snow Travel

My couple of days spent in Marion, IN have been wonderful! God has been faithful to set up divine appointments at every turn. I am amazed by how people continue to enter into partnership with excitement and joy! I am so blessed by this process. Just recently, I've been overwhelmed to think of the power of Faith Promise. It is not just faith about money. Rather, hundreds of people are having faith that God will work through my ministry in New Zealand... all of that faith being funneled into what I will be doing... It's humbling and super exciting to think what God can do with that much faith! I feel like I am similar to the paralytic on the mat whose friends brought him to Jesus. When Jesus saw THEIR faith, he moved in the man's life. I am weak and broken (human)--but with so many people having faith for this ministry, I know God will move through me despite all my inadequacy! I am so thrilled to be part of His work in the world--what a privilege it is!!!!!

Please pray for safe travel today--I am on my way to Crown City, OH, to speak at a church this evening and will be traveling through snow to get there.

82-83%

After a couple verbal commitments over the last two days, I'm at 82-83%!!!!

Crazy Schedule and Undivided Devotion

This has been a crazy busy week! In the last seven days, I have shared my heart for New Zealand with groups/individuals in a dozen different settings! I have spoken at small groups, over coffee or lunch, in homes, over Skype, and from a church platform. Also, over the last week and a half, I've put in over 28 hours of driving time. However, if I've learned anything in this process, it is that my efforts mean nothing in the scheme of partnership development--rather, it is the work of the Holy Spirit that brings fruition. Please pray that God will call people to join the team!

I am currently in Marion, Indiana, connecting with individuals. Tomorrow (Wed.), I head for Crown City, OH. Finally, I head back home for a few days on Thursday. On a logistical side of things, please pray for me as I fill out my Visa application and other paper work that has to go through in order for me to be ready to leave for NZ, Lord willing, in January.

On a personal level, God has been speaking to me through I Corinthians 7 where Paul instructs singles to have an undivided devotion to the Lord. I know that right now (until whenever the Lord changes it), I am meant to be in a season of undivided devotion. The sad thing is, even as a single, it is easy to have divided devotion. So many things cry out for our allegiance in this world! Even the simple anticipation of future marriage can divide our devotion in the meantime. I want to be wholly devoted to the Lord and His work! Some days I feel I am... Most days, I really struggle here, but I want to live out this season of my life with total abandon to God! UNDIVIDED DEVOTION. That is my goal.