One of the first exciting things I want to share with you is that I officially have all of my support raised!!!  Thank you SOOO much to all of you who have contributed and joined me in prayer.   Raising money was the one thing that was going to prevent me from coming on the Race, and I am so thankful that so many of you helped me achieve this goal!  It is amazing to daily watch how the Lord is using that money.  Praise him!

Since we were on a technology fast last month, I was not really able to update much.  Also unfortunately, we have been in the Middle East for 2 months, so we were not able to post much about God, ministry or Christianity.   This is mostly for our contacts protection because they live in very volatile areas that could turn dangerous if certain groups found out that they are Christians.  So I will try to summarize our time in Israel with as much discretion as I can.

Me, Martha, Lindsay and Ashley spent much of our days watching 5 wonderful children for an amazing woman named Tirza.  This woman taught us so much about trusting God and about serving others.  From the moment we entered TIrza’s house, we knew it was a divine appointment.  Israel was a month filled with much prayer, many smiles, great worship and tons of joy.  I loved the ministry we had that month.

Christmas came, and with it brought much homesickness, but also much joy because I was surrounded by the most incredible girl friends ever.  I am so blessed to have the friends that I have here on the field.  Sadly, our time in Israel had to come to an end, and the infamous 52-hour travel day began.  Yes, you heard me right, 52 hours.  But God knew that we would need some sort of incentive to travel that much, so he gave us a tour of the pyramids!   We drove all night to get to Egypt, toured Cairo all day, and then flew overnight into Nairobi. Ironically, it was cheaper to stay the day i

This week in Israel has been really wonderful for me.  We got to tour Galilee and I watched two of my sisters rededicate their lives to the Lord and be baptized in the Jordan River.  I love baptisms.  It is such a beautiful moment and it always reminds me that the Lord’s grace and forgiveness are available all the time.  We spent the rest of the week watching the five children that have become our ministry for this month.  The children have had a hard life, but are so blessed to have a loving mother who takes such good care of them.  It is our wonderful privilege to get to show them love each day.   Since I don’t have much news to share since my last post, I thought I would focus this post on finances. 

 I am so very blessed to have such amazing supporter that I do.  I seriously want to thank all of you who have sacrificed to help me get on the field.  Every time I watch someone new come to the Lord, or enter into worship with new brothers and sisters, I pray that you all will know how much you have made those moments possible.  These God-moments are all of ours to share.  I seriously love posting stories from the field because you all get to see exactly how God has been using your prayers and contributions.  I love that God is all about connecting things and that no sacrifice is ever small in His Kingdom.  

I am so happy to tell you all that my account is only $3100 away from the goal required for the World Race!  Again I want to thank everyone so much who has supported me thus far.  I know some of my readers have expressed wanting to become a supporter, but not knowing how much is needed, or how to contribute.  I did the math and I think it would only take 25 people contributing $20 a month for the next 6 months to keep me on the field.  That averages out to about one cup of coffee a week until June.  If you, or anyone you know is interested in supporting this next year of ministry, you can click the link below.  Will you please join me in praying that the Lord will provide the necessary funds required allow me to finish this race?

If you are interested in supporting me, you can click here.

When I was in Romania, I felt the Lord give me a bigger vision for my photography.  He gave me some very clear visions of where it would go in the future, and I am really excited about it!  I believe that photography is going to be a big part of supporting my missions work in the future and I am really looking forward to that.  I have been reading in Thessalonians how Paul encourages the believers there to work, just has he and his friends worked as they preached.  One of my fears in going into full-time missions work has always been raising support and balancing missions work and a job.  I believe this photography dream is the Lord’s answer to that fear of mine.  One of my goals when I get back to the states will be establishing some sort of non-profit with photography that will provide the funds necessary for missions work all around the world.  I am VERY excited about this dream and would love your prayers on this new venture as well. 

 I really want to thank everyone who has prayed for this trip.  Know that your prayers are being answered daily and I know that the amazing things God has done would not have been possible if they were not first bathed in prayer.   Thank you also to everyone who has been supporting me and encouraging me as I have been gone.  Your prayers, emails and facebook messages are a wonderful glimpse of home, and I treasure them all so much.

I heard the story once of how precious metal, like gold, is worked in the fire.  The story goes that the metal is completely burned up inside the flame.  It gets so hot that it completely looses its original form.  It becomes almost liquid-like in state, as if no strength is left to make it firm.  Then the gold is turned over and over and over again until all of the impurities are melted off.  This process can sometimes take hours for everything to burn off.  Finally, the metalworker knows the metal is complete when he can see his own face reflected back in it.  This process of refining is something that I am learning closely during our time in Israel.  In the wake of abandonment, I am learning that things often get harder before they get better.  This month, I can relate a lot to the story of Jesus going into the desert after his baptism.  He had just had an incredible moment with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  The Father had descended on him and set him apart before everyone watching.  Yet in the wake of this incredible moment, Jesus didn’t go into dynamic ministry, instead he went to one of the lowest places in his life.  He was hungry and weak and was tempted in every direction.  This story always amazes me because I don’t normally imagine a desert experience right after a mountaintop, and yet that is exactly what Jesus went through.  So here I am in Israel, quite literally in the middle of the desert and a desert.  I am still processing what it looks like now that I have abandoned some things.  I am also contemplating exactly what God purpose in calling me on this Race is.  A lot of my time here this month has been much needed introspection.  And yet, just when I think I arrive at one answer, a thousand more questions come spilling out.  And thus the refiners fire continues to burn away the dross.   God is continuing to burn away literally everything that is my own, everything that I hold dear.  Even though these times are confusing, I know that in the end, the refiner will be able to see his own reflection.  I am thankful that the Lord has called me to a place where I must learn to rely on his at all costs, and not my own strength.

I am also thankful that he has decided to do so in a country that I love so much.  This is now my third time back in Israel.  I honestly still can’t believe I am here again.  Last week I got to lead a tour in Jerusalem and through the Galilee.  I got to watch as my teammates walked where Jesus walked for the first time.  It was really awesome fore me because I got to share with them some of the history and scriptures behind the places.  God used my previous trips here to bless others!  Yet again, God loves to bring things full circle.  We also have the opportunity to learn 3 times a week from an amazing scholar.  This man has incredible knowledge and we have the privilege to sit at his feet and learn about God, the Bible and Israel while we are here.  He also led us in our first Shabbat dinner last Friday night.  I am so blessed to be here.  Today we found out what we would be doing for the rest of the month.  My team will spend time loving on a wonderful single mom of 5 who is in desperate need of help.  This could not be a better fit for me and I am really excited about it.  We are also going to spend the rest of the month teaching English to Darf*r Refugees, yet another thing I am super excited about. 

So that’s an update thus far from my last month of 2009.  You might be curious how I am posting a blog if we are on a technology ban.  Well, the AIM staff decided that we were required to post once a week.  So it looks like you’ll actually be hearing from me more when I am banned from technology than when I am not lol.  So may this week be filled with moments of abandonment and refinement for us all.  And may we seek first the Lord’s will for our lives as we continue to lay down everything for the sake of the cross.

To my wonderful family:  Since I can’t access my email I just wanted to post on here how much I love ya’ll!!  You are so amazing to me and I am so blessed to have you in my life.  I am constantly encouraged by your love and prayers.  Thank you so much for them all.  We found out that AIM is actually lifting the ban on Christmas, so I will be able to call ya’ll!!  I’m not sure what time or anything, just be looking out for me.  I love you tons and tons and can’t wait to talk to you!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!
I love you!

CMH