I recently read this quote from a book of mission quotes compiled by Marvin J. Newell called Expect Great Things. I think it would do us all good to read it and adopt the heart it speaks of. During the last world war, on the Gold Coast of Africa, there lived an elderly African man who had honorably served his Majesty’s government and had been given a small pension. With it he retired to the hills to farm. One day while he was working with his hoe, he heard a message come by drumbeat across the jungle forest. He stopped to listen and to translate it for himself. He learned that a Great War had begun and that his Majesty’s government was in great need of help. About a week later at the little ramshackle post office down on the coast, the postmaster processed a grimy little postcard on which this eloquent message was written, “Your Majesty, I am coming.” May God hear that from hundreds of hearts today; “Here am I, send me.” ...

June was a great month of ministry and missions! I know, that may sound weird, but it’s true. Last month we helped orchestrate several COVID relief outreaches in Nepal and various other countries like Mexico and Peru! Thanks to your generous support of our missionaries and of Saving Grace World Missions, we were able to get the funds into these countries where they were able to use them to purchase and distribute goods to the poor and needy. ...

This month has been one of incredible changes in our church, in our country, and in our world. We’ve seen the back and forth squabbles of when to open our economy and how, we’ve seen frightening protests and riots, and we’ve seen the church doors open up to continue being the pillar and ground of truth in a world where truth is so often twisted and marred. Last week we had our first in-person, sit-down church service in our courtyard after spending weeks in our parking lot (I lost count of how long we were out there). It was INCREDIBLE! I wish you could have been there to hear the sweet sound of God’s people praise His name in the midst of the unrest we see around us. ...

This month has been a crazy one for all of us. I mean, if I had told you last Easter that in 2020 no one would be in church for Easter service, you would have laughed me out of the room. And yet, that’s exactly what happened. We celebrated the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord from the solitary confinement of our own homes and immediate family circles and yet the message and the ministry are still thriving. ...

As I am sure you are all aware, the world is being rocked by the COVID-19 pandemic and it has greatly affected everyone of us and our daily lives. This past month has been interesting as I have transitioned to working from home and have experienced a drastic change of pace. Ministry All of my ministry responsibilities have been on pause as we are unable to meet in person on Sundays or throughout the week but our church leadership has been very intentional in reaching out via technology. We are meeting with the youth of our church through Zoom- an online meeting platform that allows up to 100 people to connect via video chat from their own computers. We have also utilized this resource to connect with the guys and girls separately according to age group (high school girls with high school girls, etc). The high school girls are meeting twice a week to go over a short devotion together, exchange prayer requests, and keep one another accountable. It has been a total blessing to be able to see all of their faces and briefly connect during this time of social distancing. ...

I briefly mentioned this in my update this month in way of prayer request but I’ve been experiencing some difficulty with my speech and thinking- I have been mixing up syllables in words, jumbling letters when speaking and typing, using the wrong words for common things (like calling mango “watermelon”), and having trouble thinking and reasoning clearly. This is not normal for me. God gifted me with an incredible brain that has served me extremely well throughout my life- I have received top grades all through school, excelled at almost everything I’ve taken on, and now I get to use that brain power to serve the missionaries of Saving Grace as well as the church body. I wouldn’t say that my job is high stress, it comes in waves of extreme pressure and deadlines followed by lulls of almost nothing but it takes a lot of brain capacity to juggle all of the various responsibilities of my job. Acting as personal assistant to four pastors on top of my regular office duties means many, many details to remember and I love that God has given me the ability to do it with excellence. ...

…and He shall give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4) Ever since I was a little girl, the greatest desire of my heart has been to be a wife and mother. To be the wife of the man God chose for me, who loves Him with his whole heart and loves me with the rest of it. To walk alongside that man and help him be all God has called him to be, to edify, exhort, challenge, and encourage him all the days of our lives. ...

January was an awesome month of seeing God work and move in my life and ministry. Every day comes with its own ministry opportunities and every day I see God’s hand at work. I serve in the youth ministry at my church and I had the privilege of seeing 6 youth get baptized, one of them receiving Christ just a few weeks prior. I had the opportunity to sit with, listen to, pray for, and counsel one of our students as she shared her burdens with me, I just started meeting with one of our high school girls for discipleship and am excited to see how God uses me in her life and how He uses her in my life, and I will begin meeting with another girl this month. It is such a privilege to walk with God and be used by Him to plant seeds in the lives of these high school and junior high students who are just beginning to seek God for themselves and make their faith their own. I love seeing God transform and restore lives! ...

The past month and a half have flown by! My Christmas and New Year were a success in every way. I got to spend Christmas surrounded by friends and family and I went to bed at 8:45 pm on December 31st. It was dreamy. For most of December, we were working hard to help our missionaries host Christmas outreaches in their various villages and communities. We sent over $2,000 to South Asia and the Gospel was preached to over 1,000 unbelievers! It was such a privilege to see some of the pictures that came back to us. ...

I have been going through Rob Douglass’ missions class as part of my training for my position at SGWM and my heart has been so stirred for what we are doing here that I needed to write something down. Rob is the founder and President of Ends of the Earth Ministries which goes into unreached countries and raises up nationals to go further in, where white people cannot go, and bring the hope of the Gospel through planting churches, providing education, and offering safe medical care. They work largely in South Sudan and other unreached areas. ...