Let's Look at the Future

So. I just graduated from Moody. A Bible college. You may be wondering what am I going to do with my life?? Yes, I am asking that same question. Last week, I was going to go to Korea. This week, I am a full-time nanny.

I have been job searching ever since I got back from my internship in France. I had a little job for two months working at a camp, but if you have seen the weather outside right now in Michigan, people aren't really going to camps right about now. So that temporary job has finished and I have searched and searched and searched to find a job remotely in what I feel called to do. My dream is to work overseas sharing Jesus. But right now I have no life experience or financial independance or real direction from God to warrant me jumping on the first available ship to Timbuktu (is that really a place?) (ok, apparently it's in Mali...) I am sort of a skitzo when it comes to real life future plans, so when I feel a nudge to do something drastic, my family is always reigning me in, trying to make sure it's really God's will and not crazy Monica on another adventure tangent.

I really don't know where I am going with this post, but I do know that I have finally gotten a job! (yaaaay!) and with that, comes the commitment of at least a year with these kids. I will be working 55 hours a week (eek!) taking care of a 2 year old and a 6 year old. Girl and a boy. I am pretty excited about this, it will give me the time to really seek the Lord on His direction for my life and give me time to save for either: Grad School, TESOL certification courses (or both).

I am really believing at this point that I need a solid skill to go on the mission field with. Graduating with a degree in International Ministries and Bible goes far with mission agencies and churches, but the rest of the world barely thumbs their noses. I want to be a missionary in a country where people see me as helping the way they do life, not just someone who's sole objective is to shove an ideology down their throat. Even if that ideology is the difference between eternal life and eternal damnation. I want to work with refugees, the hopeless, the poor, the dissillusioned of this world. If it is overseas, praise the Lord, if it is here in America, praise the Lord. "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9.

There are many things I don't know, but one thing I know for sure: I want to serve the Lord and be a contageous Christian wherever he plants me.

Josh Groban and Tofu

I shall update you on my wonderful weekend of Josh Groban!

(Like anyone actually reads this...)

Just a short update and then on to something more interesting, tofu!

So my sister and I went to Chicago to see JOSH GROBAN! You know, like the most glorious man to ever walk the earth who has the more angelic voice ever. I think I just sounded like a brace-faced Justin Bieber fan.... Oh well. For HIM I will do that.

We bought his new CD, Illuminations (Buy it!)

And we went to Border's on State street for him to sign it. We got to talk to him for about 40 seconds, get his autograph, and then we were ushered away. But it was 40 seconds in Heaven!

Train Ride: four hours
Train Tickets: 60$

Time in line: three hours

40 seconds with Josh Groban: priceless.

Does that make me a fanatic?

On another note! I have decided that I need to get my health into gear. After living on a college campus for four years, I have had my fair share of the ice cream machine, Taco Tuesdays, Big Burger Thursdays, and Starbucks around EVERY corner. (yeah, it was Chicago)

SO now that I am living at home for a time, I have a health nut mother who readily buys anything and everything organic, green, gluten-free, fat-free, fun-free that she can.

So I am now giving this losing weight, being healthy thing a real effort. I HATE gyms. But we are members of the Y (the best gym around) and I. must. start. liking. it.

With that said, I have also decided to be a sort-of vegetarian. Don't get me wrong, I love meat and I believe that God put animals on this earth for us to enjoy, but it is something in my diet that I can live without. I am not going to become a crazy high-maintenance weirdo when I am out with friends or when there is absolutely no option, but when I am at home, I am going to try and not eat meat. The other week I bought this wonderful package of tofu that I wanted to see if I could cook. Well, I tried it tonight and LOVED it!

I googled "tofu recipe" and found this blog with a woman who cooked it. I decided to try it.

I took some pictures. :)

Here are all my ingredients.

I modified it from the original recipe (here) to accommodate what I had in the kitchen.

14 oz. extra firm organic tofu

2 T grape-seed oil

2 tsp. finely minced garlic

2 tsp. finely grated ginger root

1 cup scallions, sliced into 2 inch pieces (Keep white parts separate from green parts)

3 T chicken stock (I know, if I'm going veggie, why kill a Chicken for the stock??! Well, that's all I had. You can use vegetable stock. And besides, they were free-range chickies, at least they were treated humanely!)

1 1/2 T lite soy sauce

1 tsp. Chia life seeds (original recipe calls for sesame seeds, but I didn't have them and these seeds give great omega 3's and fiber!)

Anyway, at the risk of making this a super long post that no one reads, I will just have you refer to the original recipe for the directions. Here are some pictures though!

Yeah, that's me.

The tofu doesn't look to good in its original state...

I also decided to add roasted asparagus to the mix. Grape-seed oil, salt, pepper, dash of soy sauce, lemon squirt. ;)

The finished product!

Chicago

So tomorrow my sister and I are going on an adventure! Well, it's an adventure that I have been on many, many times, but this time its different. I will be with my sista and I will be a non-student, non-resident! Yes, we are going to the most beautiful city, Chicago! Oh I love Chicago.

I want to live there again some day. Maybe I will.

So, why do I love Chicago so much?

Maybe its the city lights

Or maybe it's the many many memories I have made there.

Chicago has so many cool things! Like Improv Everywhere's MP3 Experiment!

Like the summer I house-sat for a super nice wealthy lady in the Gold-Coast (posh neighborhood!) in a million-dollar high rise and got to drive her Mercedes!

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Or like the time when I met the BEST friends ever on Houghton 7-West

Anyway, I am going to Chi-town with my lovely sister to....

MEET JOSH GROBAN! yes, MEET him! Ok, so it will probably only be for about a minute, but we shall MEET him! He is coming to Border's on State street to promote his new album. The album which I just bought and is amazing!!

>>>>Check it out!

Anyway, Bon Voyage. See you lata!

-Mon.

WAR

Women at Risk International

Last year, I had the extreme blessing and heart-wrenching burden of writing my senior college thesis on the reality of human trafficking. While I was doing my research, I came across this most amazing organization called Women at Risk International (WAR Int'l). This organization has its hands in so many different ways of reaching out to men, women, and children in abusive and trafficking situations and people who are at risk of getting into them. I also realized that they are centered in Rockford, MI, right around the corner from me in Grand Rapids, MI. These people have a goat donation program where they donate goats and cows to women in Sudan and other parts of Africa in order to give them status and help them earn a living for their family. By doing this, they are giving them a way out of prostitution.

Many of the women WAR Int'l works with are women who have no way of surviving except to go into prostitution. Even if these women weren't "tricked" into prostitution, they are forced into it for monetary reasons. Other women are rescued from brothels in Thailand and Laos, and given a second chance, working making jewelry that is sold in the U.S. or making jute tote bags and selling them in the market. The possibilities are endless when it comes to helping the vulnerable. My paper last year was about the new missiological approach of BAM, Business as Mission. WAR, Int'l is using this approach in many of their ministries. They use business to bring about the Kingdom of God. They use a for-profit business to get women out of trafficking situations and rehabilitate them.

Its amazing at how missions is changing. It shows that you don't need to be a Bible School educated, seminary graduate living in the desert to be a missionary. You can be a missionary by hosting a jewelry party in your home in Rockford, Michigan, or you can move to Thailand and train ex-prostitutes to make bracelets. All for the cause of Christ.

Holy the Firm

I read this book last year in a class called "Violence and Grace in the Novel". The class was centered on how God uses violence to bestow grace upon us in our time of need. C.S. Lewis once wrote, "violence is God's megaphone". Holy the Firm by Annie Dillard is a book wracked with violence and filled with a woman crying "why?".



“I know only enough of God to want to worship him, by any means ready to hand. There is an anomalous specificity to all our experience in space, a scandal of particularity, by which God burgeons up or showers down into the shabbiest of occasions, and leaves his creation’s dealings with him in the hands of purblind and clumsy amateurs. This is all we are and all we ever were; God kann nicht anders. This process in time is history; in space, at such shocking random, it is mystery.

A blur of romance clings to our notions of “publicans,” “sinners,” “the poor,” “the people in the marketplace,” “our neighbors,” “as though of course God should reveal himself, if at all, to these simple people, these Sunday school watercolor figures, who are so purely themselves in their tattered robes, who are single in themselves, while we now are various, complex and full at heart. We are busy. So, I see now, were they. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? There is no one but us. There is no one to send, nor a clean hand, nor a pure heart on the face of the earth, nor in the earth, but only us, a generation comforting ourselves with the notion that we have come at an awkward time, that our innocent fathers are all dead- as if innocence had every been- and our children busy and troubled, and we ourselves unfit, not yet ready, having each of us chosen wrongly, made a false start, failed, yielded to impulse and the tangled comfort of pleasures, and grown exhausted, unable to seek the thread, weak, and involved. But there is no one but us. There never has been. There have been generations which remembered, and generations which forgot; there has never been a generation of whole men and women who lived well for even one day. Yet some have imagined well, with honesty and art, the detail of such a life, and have described it with such grace, that we mistake vision for history, dream for description, and fancy that life has devolved. So. You learn this studying any history at all, especially the lives of artists and visionaries; you learn it from Emerson, who noticed that the meanness of our day itself worth our thought; and you learn it, fitful in your pew, at church”

–Annie Dillard Holy the Firm

Change

I can't believe I am blogging on two consecutive days! It must be a record for me. I just wanted to put one thought out there. As I make the transition from Paris to Grand Rapids, Michigan, I'm constantly thinking, how can I keep this fire for life alive? It seems to me that I crave change and transition. Any time I experience a big change of scenery in my life, I whole-heartedly embrace it. I think the big changes started when I transferred high schools from Grand Rapids Baptist High School (now Northpointe) to Northview High School. I relished the changes. I loved the new scenery, new friends, new classes, new teachers, and a new tennis team. I loved that I could re-make myself. And then I hit college and I was so excited to change again. High school was getting boring. I moved to Chicago and nestled right in to city life. I loved Chicago with the hustle and bustle, I loved the dorm life with something new happening every week. I loved the classes, finally going deeper in my faith.

I then craved to get out of freshman year and be a camp counselor for the summer. Although I was super excited to be "roughing it" for a whole summer, it didn't take long for me to HATE it. It wasn't the change that I didn't like, it was the atmosphere, the heavy dark overcoat that the devil put over me. Some relationships were too hard to handle, and there were many theological questions I had in regards to the camp. So I started craving change again. I didn't try to just deal, I wanted to bail.

This time, it was a huge change. I would be moving to Belfast, Northern Ireland for a semester abroad! I was so excited and made the most of my time in "Norn Iron" where the green leprechauns roam and the say "cheers!" and "dodgy". I even spent some time traveling other places such as Bristol, England, and Barcelona, Spain. But yet again, I started craving change. Once it started getting hard, I was ready to bail. When I felt lonely or lost, I just dreamed of coming home. When the accent was too hard to understand or when I just wanted to hear someone pronounce the sound "ou" the RIGHT way, I would just think, "ok, only x-days left until I come home!".

And of course, scenery changed yet again. I went home for Christmas, and then started another semester at Moody in Chicago. At the risk of making this post way too long, I won't type out all of the changes in my life up until now, but as you can see, there is a pattern. I would crave change, get the change, relish the change, get bored, crave change again...etc. And now I sit here in my room on the outskirts of Paris, France after a 6-week internship at the tail end of my 4-years of college. I have gone from High School to college, to camp, to Ireland, back to Chicago, to a double room, to a single room, to a Jenkins apartment, to a single room, to a double room, to graduation, to choir tour of UK, to 6-weeks in Paris, to NOW. Ive gone from wanting to be a missionary in Sudan, to being a social worker in Uganda, to being a midwife in the Philippines, to being a nurse in Sudan, to being a librarian in Thailand, to being a church planter in Europe, to being an English teacher in Korea, to being a missionary in Paris, to being a refugee placement worker in Grand Rapids.

I change hairstyles, hair colors, hand writing, room arrangement, geography, friends, crushes, political ideologies, career goals. And now I crave change yet again. After thinking about my predicament, I need to be still. I need to stop thinking about my life. I need to stop thinking I need to change, re-make myself, re-direct myself, better myself. I need to be still and know that He is GOD.

The two constants in my life have been God and Family. I think I must go seek God and relish family for this time.

I leave Paris in two days and I AM relishing this change, but I hope that I can look back and see how God has directed me, molded me, not of my own doing or my own restlessness, but by HIS sovereignty to direct my paths. I now seek for ultimate and continued fulfillment in my Creator and for ultimate contentment wherever he places me.

Baba Papa, Mont Blanc, Eiffel Tower, and Last Thoughts

This past friday, my host parents and their two sweet grand kids and I went into Paris for a fun drive around. We stopped at the Tuileries (The gardens right outside the Louvre) and there was a fun carnival going on. My host dad (Christian) bought us all cotton candy. My host mom (Rose-Marie) is English and she calls it "Candy Floss", the French call is "Baba Papa" (Papa's Beard) ew! and I (American) call it "Cotton Candy". I think the Americans won on this one. I don't really want to be thinking of eating "papa's beard" when I eat the stuff and it has nothing to do with flossing you teeth! ...although I should after I eat it! Here's a pic of Gillian, Benjamin, and I at the carnival.



Last weekend I was invited by a woman from the church I am going to to go to her family Chalet in the French Alps! It was so amazing to see a different part of France. The Alps are absolutely gorgeous! It was a great weekend to get away and relax. I had some great conversations with the family (who are not Christians) and had some good time with the Lord. There is something different about doing your devotions on a mountain on a bridge over a waterfall. :)





This picture is from a couple weeks ago, I finally got up close and personal with the Eiffel Tower! Its a lot bigger than I expected!



I am finished with French classes and on Thursday I come home! My time in France has been good. It has had many ups and downs and different experiences. I have learned a lot over these past 6 weeks. I have learned a lot about the French people and about real ministry. Ministry is hard. Especially in Europe. Europe is dark and closed. It is not for the faint of heart.

We Battle Not Against Flesh and Blood

Today I realized that people aren't always going to like you. And people aren't always going to think that what you want to do with your life is worth doing. Coming from a home and a school where everyone thought that what I have chosen as my life's desire was courageous, I was not prepared to get outside of the bubble and realize that the world doesn't want Christians to make a difference. The world doesn't want those "intolerant" "presumptuous" people trying to change other's beliefs. But the way I see it, I know the truth and not only did it change my life, but it set me free. I live with a purpose and I have true fulfillment and freedom in Christ and that is what I want to tell the world about. When I try to see it from their point of view, I can understand. In their eyes, I think something is truth when it really is relative. In their eyes, I am just trying to push my agenda--an agenda that is not correct to the outside world. I just "want to convert them"

I knew there would be persecution but I didn't realize that it would be hard not to agree with those who persecute me. The battle is from without and within.

Seeing What God is Doing

So it has been a few weeks or so, I can't remember when I posted last on this thing. It seems like I can journal for days and even write on the computer long drawn out entries, but when it comes to blogging, I am suddenly blank. Maybe it is because I think people will judge me on my grammar. Or maybe I think I'm not quirky or cool enough to write a trendy blog. well, the people who read this want to know what is going on in my life, so I shall just ramble.


I finally saw the Eiffel Tower today. Some cool kids from Moody who are doing the Europe Study Abroad program with Moody came by Paris on their week off. It was great to see Nick Parish again and meet two new people, Tara Fairty and Matt Knapp. They are all so awesome! They have been traveling all over Europe, taking classes from different Moody professors, visiting great historic sites. I definitely wish I could have done that! I guess studying abroad in Belfast was pretty cool, and hanging out in Paris for the summer is also pretty cool, so I will just marvel in the blessings God has given us all. :)I took them up the Champs Elysse to the Arc de Triumphe and we walked to the Eiffel Tower and actually ran into another group of Moodies! We then went to dinner by the Hotel Des Invalides. The food was great and the time with friends was even better!

As for the daily happenings, I am plugging along in French. These classes are so packed full of information and great useful things, but I am just not liking the mornings! I have to get up at 6:30am every morning and leave for the train at 7:15, take an hour and 15min train ride and then walk to class. Its kind of a hassle, but I should NOT complain! If you know me at all, I am NOT a morning person. I am definitely far from it. I could sleep all day. But God has given me this great opportunity to learn French and I cannot take it for granted.

Today I met with a lovely lady from South Africa. Her and her husband are missionaries here in Paris. Her husband is the field leader of France for OM and she works in the Muslim community, teaching French literacy classes to Muslim women. I was struck by what a great opportunity her and her team have with these women! All of the women she teaches are immigrants who speak little to no French. The women are from Sri Lanka, Iraq, Nepal, Sudan, everywhere! And God has specifically molded her, as a foreigner, to reach out to these women. It is amazing what God is doing. It really got me thinking. There are some great opportunities here.

Recently I have had to really sit and think about what I am doing here and where I am headed. It's amazing what tricks Satan can play in your mind. I must lean on God for every breath I breathe or life will come crumbling down.

I go home in 2 weeks! My how time has flown!

Ins and Outs

So I have started classes, finished my first week! It's coming! Being immersed in it is really helping. I also am really good at making people think I understand them! haha...

I moved in with Monsieur and Madame Bauge, the greatest couple ever! He is French, she is English. They are a sweet retired couple that are so hospitable and generous enough to have me stay with them for these next 5 weeks. Dinner conversations are great and the food is even better!

I have come to realize that my internship is going to look a lot different than I thought. I won't be able to be very useful here. I know that sounds weird, but it's because A) You cannot do ANYTHING if you do not know the language. and B) It takes a lot of time and trust for the French people to open up. BUT, with that said, I am learnng A LOT and know that I will learn more. And that is what my internship should be about anyway. I am learning the language. I am observing the culture. I am getting to know the city of Paris. I am meeting some great people, French and others. I am understanding missionary life!

All in all, this has been and will be a great experience for me and something that will hopefully shape my future! Whether I spend it in France or somewhere else.

Anyway, things are great over here and now I am off to bed!

P.S. Congrats to Ben and Kim Tyler!! They were married today :)

The First Few Days in a Foreign Land

I have settled a bit into life in Paris. I signed up for French classes yesterday and they start on Monday. I will be doing the 5-week intensive class, 4 hours a day! It really is a humbling experience when you come in, thinking you know a bit of the language (I took 3 years, for crying out loud!) and realize you know NOTHING. I am a bit scared to start on Monday, but I know it will be worth it all in the end. I now feel like a child, unable to communicate with people.

I have spent some time exploring the city a bit, although its not as fun when you are alone! I went to the Louvre, walked along the Seine, walked along the Champs-Elysees, saw the Arc D'Triumph, saw the Eiffel Tower, and went to the Luxembourg gardens. I feel though that I am a bit touristed out. I don't know how people can just go backpacking all the way through Europe for months at a time. I have done about 3 weeks of it and I am done. Touring through London, Cardif, Dublin, Belfast, Portadown, Glasgow, Edinburgh, York, and now Paris, I am kaputz! And I haven't hardly touched Paris. But it's ok, I am here all summer!

I am slowly learning the "ins" and "outs" of missionary life, from the finance side of it to the language and the fears of offending someone! I definitely know this summer isn't going to be a piece of cake. It will be hard but good. Language learning will be difficult. Communication will be hard, but through God's mercies I will prevail.

It looks like I will be able to lead a Bible study for some French girls that want to go to America. They know a bit English and want to practice, and I want to practice my French! I will also be able to play my viola in the praise band. I'm also going to be connecting with some missionaries that are working with Northern African Muslim women. I may be teaching english, or learning French with them!

Here are some pictures!







Bon soir for now, thanks for all your prayers!

Monica

Bonjour de France!

We have ended our 3-week tour of the UK and now I am off to the next phase of life! My Moody part has now ended, seeking the Lord about my future has begun!

I arrived in Paris yesterday via the train from London. I was met by Doug, the missionary field leader in Paris, and we took the local train to a little village outside of the Paris called Lognes. Last night I basically got situated in the Mission house where I will be staying for two weeks and then I will be moving to a family's house. Today I will meet Doug's family and go over what my summer will look like.

Here are some pictures of the first half of my trip to the UK. My camera died halfway through.

Friends at Stonehenge



Me at Stonehenge. Of course you had to pay to get behind the fence, so we stayed out.


This is me with our favorite host home, Ruth and Alexander! This was in Wales, by the sea.





This is Giant's Causeway, on the north coast of Northern Ireland



Nathan and I at the Giant's Causeway





More to come later!

Blessings,

Monica

Concert Itinerary

Hello from Northern Ireland!!

We just finished three days in Belfast staying with my favorite couple, Lindsey and Cris Ile! The top picture is a cool one of the Northern Irish Parliament building in Belfast. The last two are from the Giant's Causeway on the north coast of Northern Ireland. It has been a fun time!

I will post more information later, but I wanted to let you know (especially people who are living in the London area: aka, Tracey, Steven, Melanie, and Andrew!)of the rest of our choir tour schedule. I would love to see people in London if anyone is around!

Tour is going very well. We all have seen God work amazing ways these last few days. One woman in Wales accepted Christ after our concert!

Here is the itinerary for the next week and a half!

Wed 26 Ferry Belfast to Stranraer

Irvine C of N


Thurs May 27
7.30pm
Mosspark Baptist, Glasgow
155 Corkerhill Road
Glasgow G52 1PG

Fri 28 No Concert

Sat 29 Sightseeing Glasgow Concert 7.00 pm
Dalziel St Andrews Church
The Cross
Motherwell

Sun May 30 Morning Worship 11.00 am
St Matthews Church of the Nazarene
Gordon Street
Paisley

Evening 6.00pm
Trinity Church of the Nazarene
York Place
Perth PH2 8EH

Mon May 31
Inverness East Church
Academy Street
Inverness

Tues June 1 No concert
Wed June 2 No concert
Thurs June 03 Concert 7.30 pm
Faith Mission Bible College


Fri 04 Concert 7.30 pm
Albion United Reform Church
Stamford Street East
Ashton under Lyne
OL6 6QQ

Sat 05 No Concert


Sun 06 London Church service 11.30am
All Souls church
London

London

Well, I have officially embarked on the first leg of my summer journey. The chorale took off to the UK right after graduation. (MY GRADUATION!) We got into England just as the Ash cloud was grounding all flights to and from the UK. We were the last flight into the airport!

We sang a concert last night (sunday) after being up 30+ hours. It was definitely a hard time to get through the service, but the Lord gave us strength! We had a free day today to recouperate and tour the great city of London! We stayed in host homes last night and today. It is such a blessing to spend time with believers from across the oceans. God is truly the God of everything. Our perspectives keep widening. I am very happy that the Chorale is able to come and minister these three weeks.

After this 3-week tour, I take a train to Paris and spend the remaining 6-weeks doing my internship. I do not know all the ins and outs of what I will be doing there, but some of my objectives are to get a better understanding of French culture, observe and help out with muslim ministry in Paris, brush up on French (aka, RE-learn it!), help conduct an English camp, observe/help out with ESL or TESOL ministries, and understand the ins and outs of ministry in France.
My internship is a time where I hope God will use it to lean my heart toward a specific ministry and destination. I will be seeking the Lord in his will for my life, specifically in what to do when the summer is over!

Thank you all for reading this update and supporting me on my internship for this summer. I will keep this blog updated as often as I can!

In His Grace,

Monica

future.

There has been so much that has happened since I wrote on this thing in the fall. I had a great Christmas spent with family and friends and embarked on my last semester of college! Ready to take the world by storm.

Amidst the hustle and bustle of homework, papers, youth group, chorale, friends, and work, I began to think the ominous question, "What do I do when I get out of here??" As you probably know, I am a missions major at Moody Bible Institute so that means I want to be in full-time Christian ministry overseas. But what does that really mean, practically speaking? Being a full-time missionary seems so far off in the distant future, with months and months, maybe years in between preparing, strategizing, raising funds, seeking the Lord. I didn't (and I still don't) know how to even start preparing for leaving the country, figuring out what God wants me to do.

While in the middle of this struggle to figure out what I should do, I was in the commons one day sitting eating lunch when I looked over to a recruiting table by the windows. Honestly, I just kind of felt bad for the two people standing there because no one was stopping and hearing what they had to say. I felt sympathy, so I walked over to see what ministry they were "selling". They were with BCIS, Bangkok Christian International School in Thailand. They were looking for missions minded teachers to come and work at the school. They had a spot for a librarian.

Long story short, I applied to work at this school in Thailand for a year. I prayed and prayed about it and felt no closed door, so I took the plunge and applied, putting it all in His hands. I have been waiting a month and there is no email, no call, no letter from these people. I am still waiting, but as graduation inches closer and leaving the country for chorale tour and my France internship, it seems that God is closing the door.

All I want in this life is to make much of God and less of me. I want to glorify the Lord of my life, so whether that means being in Thailand or Paris, or Grand Rapids, MI, I am going to do it. It seems like I will be in Grand Rapids in the fall, figuring out life. I know of an organization that works with refugees that come into Grand Rapids, helping them get accustomed to life in America. When I come home in the fall, I would LOVE to do that. Then I seek the Lord's direction and GO. I know I am called to overseas ministry. The WHERE and the WHO is what I need to find out.

Just one day at a time. One step at a time.