Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Why a Mission of Teaching?


I do not believe I have ever written (on this blog) about why I titled this blog "A Mission of Teaching." So, I have decided to give a testimony about what God has done in my life to bring me to this point.

When I was little I always thought I would be a veterinarian like Daktari, of course I wanted to work with big cats, especially tigers. I loved going to church also. I continued that dream until my junior year in high school, when I felt the Lord leading me toward missions. I felt like I could still be a Vet and go to a foreign country as a doctor and missionary.  God had other plans for my life and lead me to the field of education.

I went to college in Shreveport, at Baptist Christian College (now Louisiana Baptist University). I attended the church that founded that college and received scholarships to attend. I graduated in 1981, but at that time still did not realize how education and teaching in Public Schools could be my mission field. 

For 32 years, I taught in public and private schools. Even though I knew that I could get in trouble in public schools sharing about Jesus' love with the children I found ways to do it all the time. Whether it was teaching the golden rule or just giving a child a hug when they needed it the most. Or caring for those kids it seemed no one else cared for. I have been retired from teaching in public schools for a little over a year. I have started teaching again at a private school, which is my new "permanent" mission field. 

I know some of you may be thinking a private school is full of children whose parents want a Christian education. That is not really the case in this school, we do teach the Bible and we are a private Christian school but, the children who attend do not attend church regularly is at all. The population of the school is Native American. Many children only hear the Bible accounts and teaching at school. I pray that I can lead these children to know honor and worship the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and guide them in becoming productive Christian leaders in their community.
 
Six years ago, I traveled to Croatia to teach English and to share the gospel. This will be our jobs this summer also. It may be a "temporary" mission field, yet I hope I get to do many more summers in the future.    

So, that is my story, my testimony. I hope it helps you know a little more about me and this ministry I am undertaking. I hope it helps you pray for our trip and for my children at Indian Bible Academy. 

If you have any questions or comments, please ask away! Thanks for reading! God Bless You All! 



Monday, March 4, 2019

Returning to Croatia!

The Lord is Good!

Just a short little note on what God seems to be doing...

I have been waiting for 6 years to be able to return to Croatia. The Lord has arranged for this to happen. I am so thankful for the opportunity. It just goes to show that He has His own timing for things and sometimes we just have to wait. There is still the need of raising money for the trip, so I know that if this is truly God's will that will fall into place also.

I have a couple of things I will be doing to aid with this financially, it will not be an easy task. Trips like this are not cheap. The plane tickets will cost more than $2000, while there the hotel will cost about $40 a day. We will be there two weeks. Then of course the will be miscellaneous other cost, like the materials to teach with and food outside of what is provided at the hotel. 

Paul worked in Corinth making tents to support himself while preaching the gospel. Friends from Macedonia sent him some money, but he was willing to continue working to support himself while there so he would not be a burden to the Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 11:7-11. I will save money from my work to help with the trip, I will also do some fundraising. In order to raise money we plan to visit a few churches to seek funds. I plan to sell candy to help, this won't raise much but will allow children to participate in helping us. I do not want to set up a Go Fund Me or Facebook Fundraiser for this, I am not sure if that would be appropriate. If you would like to help in this journey, reach out to me, any and all help will be appreciated whether prayers or financial. 

Thanks for reading and I welcome all the prayers for this mission trip that you can offer. May God bless you!