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

30 Years

This week I had my last group project presentation of my undergrad career. Yay! It was a good feeling to complete it, but the best thing was what I learned in that 100 minute class period. All four of the groups presenting had to cover two things and we could do it in any way that we wanted.

1. Why is Jesus a leader you would follow?
2. How did He manage His time on earth?

It was amazing to see how every group brought up different points, awesome qualities about Jesus that all describe why we love Him so much. But the one thing that stuck out to me, that put words to everything that I have been thinking about for the last 3 months of college was this: Jesus used  the 30 years before He began His ministry to learn everything He could and prepare for what the Father had in store for Him. To prepare for what the Father had in store for Him!

I am asked every day what I am going to do after I'm done at Multnomah in 10 days? My answer is a little different every time, but it always consists of spending time with my family, support raising, working, doing some kind of ministry...and all of those things are good, but there is more to it. Actually, I think there needs to be more purpose and mission to everything we do. Right now, for myself, I am looking ahead 9 month to when I embark on what God has in store for me. Not to say that what lies in between is not important, it is crucial to how I will do ministry in Germany. I am in my hypothetical 30th year and its almost time to go!

I have a million things to do, places to see, people to talk to, meetings to plan. Its going to make these 9 months go really fast. I am setting the goal for myself to not waste this time, but to learn everything I can to prepare myself for what is coming. God knows all the things I'm going to face when I get there and along the journey. He will provide some lessons ahead of time and some I will learn when I get there, but so long as I remain humble and open-handed to His leading I'll be ok. He's got me covered :)

And thats what I'm thinking about tonight. Have a good night!

-L

Do I "live like that"?

Tonight I'm caught up in the piles of senior year homework...oh so much homework. Sometimes when I have been studying all day and haven't really thought about anything else God chooses to remind me why I'm putting all this effort into studying His Word. Why He has put me here, at Multnomah, at the age of 21, studying and diving into the greatest news in the world. And then I'm convicted. I take this opportunity for granted so often. I'm only a few months from saying "goodbye" to this part of my life and then I will be on to the next part of preparing for Germany and BFA, but for now I'm here.

I want to share this song tonight. It helps put me in my place when I get distracted from all the blessings and lessons that God is teaching me and it makes me ask "am I living as though I have the greatest gift in the world or the greatest secret?" Because if I'm living as if it is a secret then I'm missing the whole point! Live like you have the greatest gift anyone could ask for and then share it with everyone.

Live in light of the blessing you have received. We are blessed, chosen, and loved by the Creator so give all you have so that everything you say and do points to Him.