God Speaks through Wise Men

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
-Jer. 29:11

I know that this verse is, in context, Jeremiah speaking to the survivors of the group exiled from Jerusalem by King "Neb." He talks of how God will bring them back to Jerusalem after a time in Babylon. He tells the people of their mistakes and comforts them with God's saving grace by explaining that it's all in his plans. However so many people take it out of context and apply it to their lives, without knowing the true meaning of the verse. I don't believe it's wrong to do this, as long as we know where it came from. God said it, knowing and meaning for it to reach us when we need it most. But I still hesitate every time this verse comes to mind. As it crept into my thoughts today, I found myself doing this very thing.

The reality of leaving this December is slowly catching up with me. The "to do" lists are piling high, and along with that is the competing short time I have here at home with the people I love. I have been juggling writing letters and essays, doing paperwork, and packing up my so short 21 years here in America along with the desire to live all the adventures out I can with the people I enjoy most before I leave. The lack of time vs the load of preparation is beginning to eat away at my human desire to be completely in control at all times. So today, when talking to my father, a man that I cherish more then he realizes, I broke down. He then proceeded to tell me things that I knew all too well, however needed very much to hear them. They all lead me back to thinking of Jer. 29:11. Thank you, Dad.

But as I began to think more deeply about the meaning and the context of this verse, I began to smile at the irony of God. Jeremiah talks of the people being banished from the place God had originally called them. God then took them to a place where He could teach them the specific lessons they needed to learn and challenged them in order to further their spiritual growth. Then Jeremiah tells them of God's great plans for their future and how it's more amazing then they could have ever imagined. "God sees the big picture" as my father told me today. He's right... and even we can't understand how true that is.

So there I sat. Completely in awe of God, wanting to laugh at Him for not showing me sooner, that this is very similar to the road I have been down. Though I was not "banished," I believe I have taken a detour from the road I was to be on simply to teach me a lesson. I have grown so much in the last year... two years... or even three to realize all that has changed, but I do know that if it wasn't for this "banishment," I would not be about to leap into the future that is before me.

However, that thinking brought me back to the present. Instead of thinking of all that God has done in my life in the past, I was forced to focus on the future... and the preparations that lay in the present. Once again, I began to feel overloaded. Although now I knew that this was all in God's greater plan for me and He had more control over it then I could even comprehend, I still felt stressed. How do I balance all that needs to get done and all that there is to do in the limited time ahead?

I quickly wanted to forget these thoughts and chose to put all this aside temporarily. So I began to distract myself with opening my email. Here I found an email that hadn't been read all day. I didn't recognize the name but I opened it anyway. I suddenly was frozen with anticipation. It was the youth director from Keynsham, who other then our one interview, I have not had much contact with. He was offering to answer some of my questions, knowing that this can be a confusing, crazy time. I knew exactly what he was talking about... But then I got to the end of the email and he said something that threw my whole day for a loop. He was talking about how excited the leaders were to have me join their team and then...

"I can also assure you that the young people are also incredibly excited - I hope this encourages you."

Suddenly, I had no more nerves, no more questioning, no more thoughts of irony or stress. Instead I wanted nothing more then for the days to fly into fast forward. At that moment, I knew exactly where I needed to be. It was like gravity pulling me forward, knowing I had no more strength to keep going myself. My thoughts from the day ran through my head. There's too much to do. I'll never get done. God is in control, just keep telling yourself that. God knows the bigger picture. He's taken you this far, just imagine what's ahead. But look at the reality. Why am I even going? Are you really ready for this? And in one second, they were gone. This one sentince told me exactly why I was going... and yes, I am ready. The answers were all there: God's plan from Jeremiah 29, my own father's words, and finally, Dan's encouraging email. It was the call I felt in my life to teenagers. I would follow that call anywhere. God has set me apart so that I may go in His name. I dedicated my life to serving Him, so this is where he has called me. I said "Take me Lord." And now here I go...

"Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.'"
-Matt 16:24

Finally!!!

Ok, I know that it has been forever! However, I still don't have time for a full update! I'm hoping to sit down and write the details of my life soon! I tend to get my every minute filled up quickly these days ;-) I guess that happens when you only have a month or so left in this country!

I had my interview today with the church in Keynsham, England. It went really well! I have been praying about the different things I was looking for in a church, such as a strong leadership, driven teens, positive and effective ministry, a strong emphasis on outreach, and a good music and drama program. I also knew I didn't want a very large church, however I wasn't particularly picky about that, lol. I knew this was a lot to pray for but then again, God can do anything, right?

Right! This church is exactly what I was looking for. And after out talk today, I've realized that they were really interested in me too! They said that they would contact me in the next couple of days... so I was expecting to have to wait at least a day or so...

But when I got home this afternoon, I got an email from John. He works with the local churches in Keynsham.

"Dear Shelley,

That was an excellent use of the webcam!! We were very, very encouraged with our meeting and believe you have a lot to offer to what the Lord is doing here.

I have contacted Kyle and he will be sending a contract form to us to complete and when ICY have agreed it they will send you a copy to look at.

Be assured of our prayers for you - please pray for us as we speak to the Church Council on Tuesday evening to agree the way forward.

Have a good w/e.

Blessings,

John"

I'm not sure if this gives a for sure "Yes." It sounds like there are a few more people to ok it before being permanent, but it certainly sounds close! I'll keep you all updated as soon as I know more!

New information!!!

So I know it's been a long time! and I have much to write about when I get time to do so... however I wanted to drop a quick note for you all to see... I just got home from work (culvers... before heading to the church) and I found this email...

"Shelly,

I just wanted to drop you a quick note to say that there is a church outside of bath that has looked at your application and is keen to talk with you. They will be emailing or calling you in the next couple of days to set up a skype chat. This is more of an informal interview but a way basically for them to get to know you more and for you to get to know more about them. It is quite exciting and we are praying that you will be able to be placed with a church in the next month or so.

if you have any questions please drop me an email.

kyle"

Praise God!!!

I'll fill you in on the details later!

Ohio Travels!

Well, our Ohio excursion is complete! It was a great trip! taking it with Grandma and Stacey was a great idea... and Grandma loved the "road trip" feel. I'll give you a short overview of the weekend and try to explain a little about the interview. It all flew by so fast... but it got me really excited about everything!

We left Illinois around 7:45 Saturday morning, the drove went well and we only stopped a few times for breaks. The drive was fun... however the scenery wasn't very exciting until we got into the southern part of Indiana where there are more trees. We arrived in Piqua, IN around 4:30 and checked into the hotel. It was earlier then we expected so we headed over to eat dinner at one of my favorite restaurants: Bob Evans. Stacey and Grandma had never been and they thoroughly enjoyed it!

After the wonderful dinner, we went back to the hotel and spend the evening relaxing and enjoying the surroundings. Stacey and Grandma headed downstairs to venture out into the mall that the hotel was connected to. The hotel was in a perfect area, connected to a mall, surrounded by food and close to the interstate.

It wasn't until 9:30 when I finally heard from Colin. He was really excited to meet me and invited us to church with him the next day. Stacey didn't want to leave the dog, so Grandma and I went instead.

When we met them in the morning downstairs (we were staying in the same hotel so we met in the lobby for the hotels breakfast), they were just as I expected them to be. They were absolutely the sweetest people I have met. Colin and his wife, Melissa were in Ohio meeting with a man named Randall, who was planning on moving to Africa to join them with ICY as the executive director of the Africa branch. After breakfast, we met Randall, piled into their cars and headed off to church... which was very exciting. His church is the growing process. They were having a ground breaking ceremony that afternoon for their new building. However, the church service was really good! After church, we headed back to the hotel and met up with Stacey, and her and Grandma went to lunch while I had my interview with Colin and Melissa.

The interview was amazing! At first, we just talked... they answered a few more of my questions and told me some things that I didn't know or thought to ask questions about. Then Colin turned on the camera... and made a video interview of me to send to the others in the UK. He then was going to email it to them and they were going to put a packet together and send it out to the churches. He said that with the churches having my info, I could hear anything starting tomorrow... wow. He also told me that I will for sure know whether or not I'm going in January by the end of october, or the middle of november at the latest... so please be praying about the church placement.

Then when Stacey and Grandma got back, we left and headed home. It made for a great trip! Even the ride home was smooth! We only got detoured one time because of the closed road but the gps that we borrowed from Shannon and Josh helped a lot! Stacey wants one now. And Grandma sure enjoyed the whole trip! Even the long drive!




Anyway, if anyone has any questions, just let me know! There was so much more to explain about the interview and if you still have any questions about the program, I may be able to answer them now!

All the way to Ohio?

Oh wow! Things have been so busy!!! I feel like a have so much to say and so little time... but let me just update you on this weekend.

Stacey, Grandma, and I are taking off on a weekend trip to Ohio. Colin (from the UK) is going to be in the Dayton area and that is the closest he'll be to me while visiting the US. I wasn't planning on going that far for this interview but know that it is important for them to meet me in person. I hope to fill you all in on the details after our meeting. Things should be much more finalized after that (or at least I hope!)

That's all for now... I'll explain more after the weekend!

Finally! Another Update!

Ok! Finally I have more information to pass along to you! there's a lot of it so please bare with me if you want to know!

Preparation
-Stacey and I had some interest this weekend from a lady about my cat. However, we didn't hear from her after the initial phone call so we're not sure what is happening now...
-I have two friends interested in my car. Both of which know they wont get it until I leave and fine with this agreement. I feel pretty confident that my car will be in good hands.
-I have begun gong through all that is in storage in Grandma's basement. It's a bigger job then I thought it would be... I'm glad I started early!
-Pat Noble and I talked on Thursday. She is having surgery in the month of january and is worried that my leaving will put her behind more then she already will be. We both decided that if I began training someone now (she already has someone in mind) then the both of us plus Pat will have her not only caught up but ahead enough for her to take some time off for her surgery. I should begin training my replacement soon!

Fund Raising
-Last Sunday, while at the ministry fair, I stopped by the missions board table. Sandra and Tom Matthews were there and were very interested when I told them about my plans. In the beginning I didn't think about going to the missions board to help with funds, but they both seemed very eager to help. Then on Thursday, at choir, Sandra told me that the missions board, even though it is for an academic program would be happy to help. Also that I should send out support letters. I'm not really sure which road to take, considering that I had decided against this but they seem to think because it is a missions related program that it is still acceptable. Any feedback on this one?


Emails!!!

First of all, I sent an email to Colin and Darin asking a few major questions... however the most important one was responded to this morning... regarding how to handle health insurance while overseas :-/

Hi Shelley,
Darin here again. I think you have a variety of people responding to your
questions, so I hope you are getting the ones answered that you are really
wondering about. If time goes by and you find one of us hasn't picked up on
a question, feel free to ask again!

So far, I think the only question you have raised that has been left
unanswered is the health insurance one.

The short answer is that if you receive a UK Visa, which you will have to
have in order to gain entry to the country, then you are eligible for free
health care under the NHS (National Health Service).
So when you come, you register for a GP (General Practitioner...aka family
dr) and that is the first person you go to see when you get sick, etc, etc.
Usually you have to pay about $12 for a prescription, but other than that,
the visit is free. If you need any treatment, that as well is covered under
the NHS scheme.

So the upsides of socialized medicine are readily apparent! Apart from the
downside of living with 17% sales tax among lots of other taxes...some
people do carry private health insurance in addition to the free care they
receive. This is because at times people have to go on long waiting lists
for 'non-emergency' procedures. So if you needed a knee replacement or back
treatment or something, you could wait months. My wife and I have been here
5 years and have been more than happy with the NHS. I would say unless you
have some extensive medical history, I wouldn't even consider carrying
private insurance.

If however, you want to look into this more, I can dig up some more
information for you on this. We had a colleague who carried insurance from
the US that covered her over her...VERY expensive, though.

Hope this helps!
- darin

ps- Our plans are to be in the US from 2 October to 5 November. We're up in New York state and Ohio for the first week, and we'd be keen to connect then if possible.


This is great! I have been worrying about the health inssurance ever since I started thinking about it and I also finally got the dates to when they'll be in the US. Now we can set up our appointment and get things ready for the next step!

You want me to do what, God?!

I know that I haven't written in a few days... ok, maybe more then a few ;) but I've been busy... not much has to be updated when I'm just sitting around for the first week of October to come around (that's when I'm meeting with the ICY guys in Bloomington). However, today, while I was on facebook, I read something that I new I couldn't keep to myself. This is a note (kind of like a blog post, for those of you that don't know facebook) that my best friend Alicia wrote yesterday. She is an amazing writer, and while yes, that does make the story interesting, that's not the reason I loved it. Mark 16 says to "Go into all the world." And if you're like me, and have a passion for the mission that God has placed before you... you will appreciate this. However, if your kind of "Go" means your home, community, school, work, etc.... then you will also appreciate this, because you still know how it feels to be called to witness, even if it isn't on the other side of the world. God can use us anywhere, at anytime, in any circumstance. All we have to do is be ready for the call. Alicia, for instance, found called to the homeless... the people we usually ignore and walk by... in the middle of the busy streets of Chicago.

I Have Nothing
~By Alicia Moreland~

“Excuse me, we want something to eat now.” She decided that waiting more than a minute for a Subway sandwich was uncalled for. The lady said it in such a demeaning tone towards the ones serving her that I shuddered. Is our American society so set on materialism and instant gratification that we choose to forget to treat those serving us as equal human beings?

I guess it would be appropriate to rewind and give the context for sharing this story. I was walking down the streets of one of the most populated cities in the world, Mexico City. An older woman came up to me and begged me to buy one of her rice cakes because she had no money to feed her family. I first tried to ignore the present situation. She persisted. I tried saying No, thank you. I said I didn’t have a lot of money (lie). She kept trying until eventually I told her I did not really speak Spanish (also a lie). I still to this day regret the way that I treated her.

Fast forward to approximately a year and a half later which would lead you to…well it ultimately would lead you tonight. Slightly apprehensive, I wondered if I was making the right choice, but I trusted God had his purpose for what was about to be done and would give us safety. It was a Friday night and I was able to go to downtown Chicago with two amazing women of God with the only goal of serving and forming friendships with the homeless. My prayer is that this will be as eye opening for you as the experience was for me. And here begins my story…

We reached Union Station and after prayer, proceeded to make our way towards Michigan Avenue. We strolled down Millennium Park until we met Mike from New Orleans. He sat on the steps with his crutch (which after observation, I realized was broken) at his side. He had hurt his leg falling down stairs and had been walking all day…with a broken crutch. It was so swollen. If ever I had wished for a non-broken crutch to magically fall from the sky, today was the day. We had small talk until he finally asked if he could have food. His eyes lit up as soon as we responded yes. As we left to get him Subway, not knowing if we would keep our word, he looked at us with a mixture of anticipation and doubt.

This leads me to where I began. As I waited in line to get this man food and heard the reaction of the lady in front of us, I was yet again convicted of that one day in Mexico City again. While I did not exactly behave the way the woman did, I still was guilty of being completely self-centered and lacked empathy for those who had less than I did. Repulsed, I realized that if I were to ask myself if I had displayed the mercy that Christ has shown me to the woman in Mexico, I would have to answer no. Motivated, I saw this as a teachable moment for change in my own actions and perspective. We continued to meet more people. The more I saw, the more the need for not only social justice, but also the great need for Christians to serve and get to know the homeless became real to me.

*If there is anything out of all of this that I wish you to read, it would be this.* I read the sign that stated the following: “Please help. I have nothing. Please help.” Wearing a hooded sweatshirt with the hood draped over his head and slightly covering his face, kneeling with his face towards the ground, I saw a man on the streets with a bible sitting right next to him. As we attempted to start a conversation, he lifted up his head and when I looked in his eyes it looked as though he had tears in them. All he wanted was to take a shower and a place to sleep. We began a conversation and asked him his favorite verse. He replied that he loved Psalms and Proverbs and tries to underline verses so he can find them. What got me the most was that he said he is thankful for God because he knows that there are people that have it worse than him. As we prayed for him before we left, I found it hard not to have tears in my eyes myself.

The phrase “I have nothing” has been stuck in my head ever since. Lyrics from worship songs such as lines that say “I have nothing without you” start playing in my mind. I feel conflicted because I feel so grateful for what I have, but at the same time, I feel so much sorrow for what they have to go through everyday. Something needs to be done.

I feel he is the perfect example of what it is like to come to fully accept Grace. To be on our knees and humbly realize that without him we have nothing. Everything I have comes from him and could all be gone tomorrow. I am in so much awe of how God has opened my eyes tonight.

So I encourage that if this resonates within your heart, get a group together and go to Chicago. Be a light where many do not get to see.




I was tears by the end, simply because I too felt convicted of my own actions, heartbroken for the lost, filled with joy from her experience, and guilty for the things I take for granted.

But I also found this to have another lesson that I'm not sure Alicia knew she was putting in there. "Is our American society so set on materialism and instant gratification that we choose to forget to treat those serving us as equal human beings?" Maybe, Alicia... but we as Christians shouldn't. However, I see many Christians today acting the same way this lady did in Subway. They think they have the right to better because of who they believe in... The I AM. But should we continually have an attitude of hierarchy towards others? Let's take a moment to look back on the actions of the God that we follow. So often did our Jesus, the King of Kings, humble himself and make himself a servant. Yet, all the while still was the Son of God!

Last summer while at training camp, one of my students asked why we were called Royal Servants. I told her that I wasn't exactly sure but that I believed there were two possibilities. The first (and less likely, I believe) is that we as children of God are royalty... and we are here serve in the world. But the second is the one that I believe is the true meaning of a Royal Servant. And it that we, as Christians are called, whether it be down the street or the other side of the world. Obeying this call is to serve the Lord, which makes us servants. However we are not just any servant. We are servants of the most high God, the one who spoke creation into being, the Alpha and the Omega... We serve Royalty. Christ said, "what ever you do for the least of these you do for me." Royal Servants taught me to take this seriously. Serving the Lord, although some of us don't have servants hearts (like your truly lol), is where we truly become like Christ. Serve the world on behalf of serving Royalty, the same Royalty that once knelt before his closest friends and made himself the lowest of all and washed their feet. We need to offer up our time (oh and our time is precious...) because it wasn't ours in the first place. Give it all back to God. Remember, we have nothing... without God.

So next time you are walking down a busy street, buy the ladies rice cakes, and have a heart of love towards her. In fact, take some time and change her life, serve her... be like Christ.