Blooming Where I'm Planted

When I moved to Germany three months ago I was jet lagging, overwhelmed, enthusiastic, bottling up tears of homesickness (that were catching me by surprised), eager to meet my girls and find out what staff/dorm I was to join, and all of it was flying past me at a million miles an hour. Times 3! Honestly the details of those first days are about as clear to me as the scientific method, but one thing has stuck in my head that has come up many times in conversations and in my journaling. It was the Sunday three days after I had arrived at BFA and I was attending my first service at Black Forest Christian Fellowship. I was meeting tons of new people and trying to be engaged as I got whiplash from my nodding head. As the sermon began I remember thinking, “Pay attention, Larisa!” And I’m so glad I took my own advice because the sermon was on “growing where you are planted”. This theme has given shape to my first 3 months of missionary life.

The key to the message for me was an analogy of a palm tree and how it will grow wherever you plant it. Usually it is a tropical climate, but they can adapt and do well in most others (maybe not the Arctic I’ll check into that so that this metaphor doesn’t fall apart). At first I had a very romantic idea of this for myself: God and me will grow and thrive and it will be wonderful and happy…all the time…no matter what hard things happen…forever…right? Well, lets just say that God has been bringing me past that unrealistic and downright ridiculous perspective to one that is healthier.

So what was wrong with that idea? It was good that I wanted to rely on Christ for my strength and know that I wasn’t going to do it alone, but I forgot that he never promised ease for those who love him. He only said that he would “work it together for our good”. The key word here is “work”.  I have been learning that the excitement that I have for this job of being an RA, adjusting to a new life, building a reputation in a sense, and feeling very alone in a lot of it, has been part of the work that God is doing in my life and learning to completely trust him. “God is lovingly removing things I think I need, but things that may be holding me down, holding me back, or holding me captive.” (Source) 

Growing where I’ve been planted can be wonderful because I can see the growth! I can see that I’m learning to rely on Christ for my identity now. Moving into a ministry role where no one knows who I am, what God has done to get me here, or what “credentials” I have, can be really hard. (And I would like to take a quick moment to say that if you are going to do this and haven’t before its OK to feel out of place and like your identity has been stripped from you and have nothing to offer. BUT it’s false and it’s a lie that Satan will use against you! Be open with people about what God has done in your life and what skills he has given you to do the job that you are in. Take it has an opportunity to give God the spotlight.)

As a young woman on the mission field I have begun to experience the hard moments of being alone and not having my close family and friend there to bounce ideas off of or cry to. But I this has given me space to plant my own roots into Christ and what he has told me to do with this chapter of my life. So this is what planting looks like for me: allowing the challenges to come even if they make me want to crumble, because I have a God who is loving and tender with me. He has not given me anything beyond what I can handle and I trust him to prune me because, “Pruning is actually God's loving surgery to let His light go deeper into your life than it has ever gone before.” (Source)

Catching Up

Hi friends! I have to appologize for not keeping any of you well informed about my life since moving to BFA. It has been a crazy several weeks of my life and I feel like I am just now settling in and it is feeling like home. I love it here and I adore the girls that I get to serve every day. But before I tell you about them I want to catch you up on what the last 7 weeks have looked like. And pictures are still the best way for me to communicate so here it goes...

As support raising often goes it was down to the wire. One day I was at 70% and the next I was at 93% - on the phone with my mission and getting the "go ahead!" My "See you later" party was a special time to give final hugs and I only shed a few tears.

I flew out of Seattle on the 7th and it was way harder then I expected. I thought that after two years of waiting, praying and anticipation I would be ready, but nothing could have prepared me for the tears that came in the security check line. I had never received sympathy from a security guard until that morning.

BUT I hopped on my flight to Germany and slept most of the way. Got there safely and met up with a friend who joined me for the last leg of the trip to Kandern. We were picked up after our last flight in Basel Switzerland and driven in our post-flight-haziness to Kandern. I had a few days to recover from jetlag and get to know the other RAs as they arrived for orientation. This picture is from a castle that we hiked to on one of the first days. I miss summer already.

This is Kandern's main road that runs through town. Isn't it so cute?!

After two weeks of orientating ourselves and getting to know the other RAs and dorm parents there were decisions to be made. God was so good and put together a wonderful team for the Blauen Dorm. This is my staff on one of our first outing together.

Sally (DP), me, Megan (RA), and Butch (DP)

We did a lot during the 3 weeks of orientation. There were countless meetings and trainings on language, culture, student wellness and care, dorm life, how to work as a team, driving training, and the list goes on...but one day we got to go on a picnic to the Rhine. Ya know...no biggie.

 Behind us is our lovely little dorm. Blauen is located about 15 minutes from school, "Up on the mountain." I love it up here! Its so beautiful and the fact that it is a ways from the school really makes it feel like a home.

So, we set out the flowers....

Baked the treats...

 And then the girls came!!! There are 14 lovely ladies in our house and I just love them all.

Here is a funny movie we made to "prepare" them for the rules. Du du dun!

Life in Kandern and at BFA is never boring. Germany has lots of fun holidays and festivels. The picture below was taken at Budenfest the week after students arrived. The girls got a little money for lunch and then were set loose in pairs. This was a little break for me to spend some time with some of my new friends, Emily and Sarah.

Remember how I said nothing is ever boring? Well this is a perfect example. This is at the Fall Party were the theme was "Through the Decades". As you can tell I am fully embracing the oddities of youth ministry.

But there is a sense of normal life in this job. There are always sports events, practices, clubs, sleep overs, and shopping trips to drive to. I try to take every one of these as a chance to invest in relationship with these girls.

And then there is some extra fun too. All res-life staff only get one day off a week. For RAs that is on Monday and Dorm parents are off on Thursdays. This is much needed time, but BFA also gives us a few weekends off a semester. Since we happen to live in such a central location four of us decided to take a little trip down to Italy. We spent a wonderful time relaxing, sightseeing, processing, cooking and sleeping. Those four days were the perfect rejuvenation that I needed to go back to the crazy life that I love so much.

If you made it this far and are still reading you are amazing! Thank you for your prayers and I will try and give more regular updates. If you want to be on my monthly update list please email me at larisawmissions@gmail.com and I'll put you on the list.

These 30 Days Will Fly By

Dear Readers,

This month is zipping by faster than I can keep up. It is officially 30 days from today that I will be in Kander at BFA! I began this month at training in Chicago where I met a lot of people who I will be serving with over the next two years and those relationships are a huge encouragement as I say goodbye to so many here. In those hard goodbyes God is giving me wonderful memories: road trips to my favorite camp and beach, hikes, weddings, coffee dates, movie dates, and so on and so forth. I hope to have time to say goodbye to everyone, but like I said, time is flying by so fast.

So what do I have left to do in this last month in preparation to move? Excellent question! Starting off I need to keep going through boxes of stuff to donate, store, or pack. I can’t believe how much stuff I saved from high school and thought that I would want it down the road. Can anyone relate? Part of the packing process is determinate on how many bags I can bring. Through my mission agency, if I can book through a specific airline, I will be able to bring 3 checked bags. WOAH! I know. I had the same reaction. So once I get to 90% of monthly support I will book my flight and then know how to pack.

I’m spending a lot of time raising support, meeting with potential donors and mentally preparing for the job that I am about to step into. If you would like to meet with me or have questions about joining my team I would love to talk to you! Even if you don’t know how you can help I would be honored to answer any questions you have and try and help you find a way that is freezable for you. To contact me please email at larisawmissions@gmail.com

Also, if you would like to sign up for my prayer letter shoot me an email and I’ll put you on the list.

Every weekend of my remaining month is filled with weddings that I am either in, photographing, or attending. I’m grateful to have these times to celebrate with friend before I go!

I have one big prayer request this week:

• I am having a fundraising dessert this Monday (the 15^th). Please pray that God would urge many to come and that they would feel excited to join in this journey that God has brought me on

Thank you again for your prayers! They are more encouraging than you know!

Training! Its Gettin' Real!

Hi guys! Quick update.

This Sunday, the 23rd of June, I will fly out of PDX to Chicago for Pre-field Orientation. This is something that my mission agency puts on to help prepare us for our move overseas. I will be learning from seasoned missionaries and agency staff about what to expect and how to prepare further. I have had lots and LOTS of paperwork to fill out and we will be going over the logistics of living in another country. I've also been told that we will learn a lot about how to work with others in the types of settings that we are all headed to (mostly education settings).

I'm really looking forward to this week in Chicago because it will be the first time I meet anyone who is going to be an RA with me at BFA. I don't know how many RA's TeachBeyond (the agency) is sending, but I know I'm not the only one so I'm stoked! I will also get the chance to meet people who are going to be doing different jobs at BFA and at other locations around the world.

Please be praying that this would be an encouraging and informative week for myself and all others attending. Pray that God would give me insight into the challenges that I have ahead so that I can learn how to prepare better. Also pray that it would just be a lot of fun as I get to do my favorite thing in the world: meeting new people! Oh, and prayer for safe travels and good weather in the Windy City would be appreciated.

Thank you all and I will be giving an update when I get home on June 29th!

A Heart at Peace

Today I was driving home from work, slightly annoyed with some of my students (but 1st-3rd graders tend to have that effect on most people at one time or another), and thinking about what kind of people I hope they grow up to be. I was very lost in this train of thought when something came on the radio that brought me back to the road just as I drove past the airport. Now, the airport always sends me into day dreams about that day that is only 72 days away when I will step off a plain and into this dream that God has been building in my heart for nearly two years. This time as I drove by I put the to thoughts together and came out with a question for myself: How are you able to even focus on life here when you are so excited to be somewhere else?

*At this point I would like to note that I have written and re-written this blog 3 times tonight and I hope that I am able to get out what I really mean to say*

Over the last 5 months God has been showing me how the little lessons that I am learning here are really preparing me for things ahead. I've been learning how to be patient in very difficult circumstances that I have no power to change, loving to those who I don't understand, sacrificial at times that I just don't want to be. And in all of those things I have learned something that I have just found the word for, peace. Its not complicated. I've just learned that peace is the feeling that I have when all those tough things are going on around me and I can still sit back and know that everything is going to be ok. Not because I am in control, oh no. But because I'm learning that I'm not doing or going through them for myself. 

Now, to be a little vulnerable. A few months ago I was looking over finances, counting up what I needed to raise to make this move, and how that all tied into my new temp job. I had a melt down over some silly little thing. My poor dad...I don't know what he had asked me, but the burst of sobs was not the answer he expected. My wonderful parents sat with me and listened to me cry about how I didn't know how it was all going to work and how I didn't know what my life would look like in 9 months. They listened, prayed with me, and let me cry it all out. At that point I was very self-relient. I hadn't learned about this wonderful peace thing yet because I needed to start breaking. I had to start letting go and just be willing to learn. 

Today when someone asks me where I'm at in my support raising I really am not worried (all though the faces of those asking me show that they think I should be). But I am secure in what I know to be true of God. He works all things together for the good of those who love Him. I don't know what that looks like right now. I could be stressing out and loosing sleep, but He has shown me that BFA is where I need to be and He will get me there. 

Thank you for all the prayers, encouraging notes, and hugs, as I am going through this journey. I'm still learning to take deep breaths to take each new hurdle. 

And as a last note. Please don't think that I am trying to over spiritualize my life. Its not perfect and I still have moments when I clutch the steering wheel and think, how is this all going to come together?! But then this peace comes back and I keep going. 




Specific updates and prayer requests:

• For every other missionary who is currently raising support and preparing to move to BFA.
• That God would be preparing my heart for Pre-Field Training at the end of June in Chicago. 
• And lastly, that God would be raising up more people who will join me financially. Praise Him that I am currently at *45.5%!!! (for specific updates on where my support is at look here)

*I had previously had a typo here that said I was at "54.5%". Sorry about the confusion! But who knows? Maybe I'll be there very soon!

The May Goal

Hello to everyone who has been wondering about my current monthly support! I have AMAZING news and I'm so in awe of God's faithfulness right now. 

If you read my last post you would know that I took a huge leap of faith and began praying that I would be at 50% of my monthly support by this week. That prayer began a month ago and at that time I was at 15%. Today I sat down to do the math and I realized that between the THREE new monthly supporters that have committed this week (You know who you are and I hope you know how encouraged I am that you are joining me on this journey!) AND the abundant one time gifts that have been given, I am at 45%!!! And the weeks not over yet so I'm still awaiting another update to see if the remaining 5% is there. My math is just based off of the people who have been sweet enough to tell me in person that they have joined the team. 

Please continue to pray with me that God's hand would be at work. And that you again to all of you who are already praying with me!

April Funding Update!

Hi ya'll! 

I just wanted to give a very quick update as to where I am financially in my prep for moving. I'm officially at 15% and I have over $1,700 in my start up fund! This is not an easy journey, but through it I am gaining a much greater understanding of God's peace. Obviously this peace isn't coming from me or anything I am doing because by the world's standards and perspective, I am getting close to d-day and am no where close to where I need to be in terms of support. But Philippians 4:7 says, "And the peace of God, which transcends al understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." And thats exactly what He is doing! Guarding my heart and reminding me that He will provide. I am also learning to boast about what God is doing and I want you all to know how great He is and how He is truly providing! He is so good!!!

In light of that, last week I had a conversation with a dear friend who challenged me to pray bigger prayers. So that is what I'm going to do. I am praying to be 50% pledged ($520 more dollars than I already have) by the middle of May! In other words I'm praying that God lays it on people's hearts to give monthly to my trip. Since I started praying this prayer I have had at least two people a day tell me that they are praying about joining my support team (without me saying anything to them) so I know that God is working! 

Please join me in prayer that He continues to work and that by the 3rd week of May I can say: "I am half way to Germany!" 

Thank you!

(Quick reminder, in case you don't know: I'm needing to be in Germany by August 10th and I can't buy my ticket until I'm 80% pledged)

GO HERE to see exactly where God has already provided!

Part 1 | [Learning to Live] A Life of Faith and [Overwhelming] evidence of God's Provision

Its been a long time since I've written a post, but I have been thinking about what to say for a few weeks now. God is continuing to challenge and grow me in my everyday life and I'm convinced that He is preparing me for future ministry (and probably life) experiences. I'm so grateful that He has put these challenges and new experiences in my way and I wanted to share them with you. So, I have a story to share with you. I'm sorry if it gets really long! 

Durring my last semester at Multnomah, last fall, I took a class called Urban Youth Ministry. To say that this class changed my life would be an understatement. It changed the way that I looked at ministry, it refined the way I thought about involvement in the body of Christ, and it expanded my heart for the world around me. In this class we had to do a project on the "Urban Problem" (as defined by ourselves). I had no idea what I was going to do because as I thought about urban ministry and world ministry, I just got more and more overwhelmed. But God had a plan...as usual. I was asked to be the photographer for one of Multnomah's outreach days. I drove around to about 8 different locations where students were serving the community. The last one I went to was Harrison Park Elementary  in SE Portland. I had no idea that this one visit was going to determine the next 8 months of my life. I was able to listen to one of the leaders of the school share about their need for people to get involved there. They have 45 home languages spoken in their school body and this presents many challenges. 

I was instantly intrigued so I decided to do more research into what the school needed from the community (specifically the Christian community). This quickly became a huge passion of mine as I found that many of the problems and challenges of the school could be helped by simply volunteering to spend time with students. I conducted interviews with teachers and people who were already involved there and it became the thing I couldn't stop talking about. All this was happening as I was/am preparing for Germany, but I never could have seen how they would tie together.

Through the project I found a growing passion to help in low income schools so that kids could have the chance to form better, long lasting relationships that will help them succeed long-term. So, in January I began volunteering at Harrison Park in their after-school program. I was thrown in with pretty much no understanding of how challenging it would be, but I began as a sub for classes and soon fell in love with the kids and the people I got to work with. One day, one of these wonderful fellow workers approached me and asked if I was still looking for a job?

As many of you know I had been praying for the PERFECT job: Part time (so that I could still do photography and keep up on the full time job of support raising), few to  no weekend hours, maybe even above minimum wage, and in the Portland area so that I could keep up with the relationships I have formed here as well as being near my church. All this seemed like to much to ask for, but I had held out with the faith that God would provide. However, as it was getting closer and closer to leaving for Germany I began to feel like I might not find a job, which would mean that God had different plans for my time. 

Anyway, so I said that I WAS still looking for a job. She explained that another school she was working at was looking for someone to "read with kids" every day and it was more than minimum wage AND it would end one week before I need to fly to Chicago for PFO (Pre-Field Orientation). I couldn't believe how perfect it sounded! Knowing that I was interested, this friend contacted the person in charge at the school and gave her my information. I got an email a week later asking for my resume. I sent that in and waited...

About two weeks after that I got an email saying that they wanted to interview me, but the district had just closed the position due to financial roadblocks. *Sigh* Ok, then God REALLY must have something else for me.

At this point I flet like I was being challenged in every area of life to just give God the control. It is so easy to find the balance of being proactive in life and making sure not to run ahead of God's plan. He really only wants us to focus on the thing directly in front of us. I have been studying the story of Joseph and how he could have lost heart (and might have at point) and then tried to get frustrated at God for where He had placed him. In this study I came across 2 Corinthians 4:1 that says "Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart." In light of this I saw that I just needed to focus on what I had been given. I had been blessed with time to love people ALL the time! I could finish up my last online class and do well. And I could wait. wait. wait. But waiting isn't meaningless or pointless. Its a time for God to prepare you and I for what is coming next. And as I would see, what was coming was so much different than what I expected.

Stay tuned for more of the story...

What I'm doing with my life NOW...

Hi all!

The major plight that I keep running into with the blogging thing is "what on earth do I write about?" I want to to be interesting, maybe funny, but most of all I want you to get a glimpse of what my life looks like now that I'm getting ready to move to Germany. Here is my life:

It is a myth that I have graduated. Sad. I. Know. :( but DONT WORRY, I didn't do anything wrong. I had one last class to take before I get my Bachelor of Science in Theology and Youth  Ministry. I also wanted to walk with all of my best friends from Multnomah this May. Knowing myself pretty well, I thought it might be best to take this last class when I actually had time.  Its working pretty well this way and I love that this class has no tests so I can officially say that I will never take a test in college again. *happy dance*

I don't have a job yet, but I may have a lead on one. If you think to pray about it that would be awesome! It would be working at a Portland school as an educational assistant. Its better pay then I would get at any other job that I have applied for and its only part time which allows me to continue doing photography. Speaking of my other love... :) Photography is going well. God is blessing me with some jobs and I'm hoping for more. I'm also just taking a lot of pictures for fun. 
I can't help it haha I also got some good advice recently that before I leave I should take a LOT of pictures. 

I love combining photography and friend time 

My most recent craft/fix-er-up-er job

 (This lovely advice giver had no idea she was talking to someone whose camera is already {practically} her 3rd arm. I have taken her wisdom to heart and I'm trying to documenting everything. Oh happy life...)

While I'm not working, I am volunteering at an after school program in Portland for a few months (hopefully until summer). I'm loving it! I get to work with kids and some amazing people that I would had never met unless I tried something new. This is actually how I got the lead on the before mentioned job. 

"How is support raising going?"
...Oh, I can't tell you how many times a week I hear this question and it is so encouraging! God is blessing me with so many people who are interested and passionate about BFA and God's call for me to go. My reply: Its going well. Slow. But God is showing that He is faithful. 

I'm in a Bible Study Fellowship group right now and we are going through Genesis. Who would have thought that I would be learning about support raising in Genesis, but I am! My most recent and profound lesson was this: God wants us to ask, bring things before him that we need/want/are worried about and lay them at His feet. THEN (here is the key) leave them there. We don't ask for them back. We don't continue to worry (How to really do that is still a bit of a mystery to me). We give them as a sacrifice and then allow Him to do what He has promised to do: love us and provide in His best way.
So thats how support raising is going. I'm learning a lot while I find the balance of being proactive and leaving it in God's hands. Please pray that I would be able to do that and that. God will bring in all the things I need for this move! In. His. Timing. 

Coffee and Nail Polish

What do these two things below mean to me?

For many a cup of coffee and nail polish means an hour of relaxing, vegging out to a good movie, or a date with a good girl friend. But to me it represents a weekend of late nights and early mornings, a lot of expended energy, and countless amazing talks with high school students. This weekend I helped out at a winter camp where I "mentored" one student all weekend. I'm always blown away at what God does in the lives of students at camps. How He shows them such unique things that I could never have dreamed of "teaching" when I said yes to taking on the task. He takes their hearts in His gentle, molding, hands and makes them a little bit more like His Son. 

So what do coffee and nail polish mean in all of this? I could find some "deep", but inevitability cheezy analogy for them (I'm a Bible College [almost] grad, I could do it!). I will spare you. To me these two things are part of my philosophy of youth ministry. The nearly empty coffee cup is sometimes the only energy I can have left, but THATS OK because it means that I am giving all I can to love students. And the nail polish is tool. Its one of the simple things that I can do to love someone else, let someone know that my time is specifically put aside for THEM. It shows that I want to go to them and meet them in their place of comfort. I want to love students the way that they feel loved because I'm pretty sure thats what Jesus did.

Maybe I'm preaching to the choir...who knows? But it was the lesson I walked away with from this camp. I cannot wait to get to Germany and do this all the time. It may mean a lot more coffee (please pray against addiction lol). It may mean that I have to buy stock in a nail polish company. But its all perfectly fine as long as Christ is glorified as students fall for Him. 

Habakkuk 3

Last semester I took my last Bible class at Multnomah and our term papers were on Habakkuk 3, which I had never truly studied before. The verses above were a huge encouragement and reminder that no matter what may come (or go) into my life, strength from the Lord is in me.

This reminder is especially important as this new year has ARRIVED and I am now in the full swing of support raising. My letters are written and being sent out now (so many of you should be expecting on by hand or in your snail-mail box ;) )! Once I have sent them all I want to meet face-to-face with whoever is willing to share my heart for BFA.

I am always surprised at how quickly I doubt or forget how God has brought me to this place. He has been so faithful to remind me that BFA is where He is calling me! How do I always forget???

SO, "what am I looking forward to most right now"? - the question that I'm getting most often.

Just meeting the girls who will be in my dorm! I seriously cannot wait to know their names...their likes and dislikes, the things that make them laugh, and the ways that make them feel most loved. I've been praying for them without names or faces for over a year now and I can't wait to KNOW them!

What do I need prayer for right now?
Courage. Raising support is a rather daunting thing, which I'm sure you can imagine. I know God is bigger than finances and He will bring it in, but it does require a lot of work on my part which I am diving into head first ;)

Please email me {larisa.w.missions@gmail.com} if you want me to send you a support letter. I would love to bring you into the loop more!

Happy January!

-L