God is BIG and Limitless

"The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones that do."


I have an incomprehensible yearning for missions, I don't even completely understand it sometimes. All I know is I absolutely LOVE everything about them - the people, the places, the food, the accents, the cultures, the smells, the feelings, the languages - everything! For me, getting the opportunity to participate in the World Race has been a prayer of mine for the past three years. In 2008, I found out about a friend of a friend who was going on a mission with the World Race, and I immediately wanted to know more about it. I went on their website to find out what it was all about, ended up making their site a "bookmark" on my computer, and the rest is history. Ever since, I've visited it every now and then to read blogs about the amazing things God is doing on the other side of the world, to look at new routes as they've posted them, and to inevitably daydream about one day joining them on an 11-month-long mission. And here I sit (while listening to Hurricane Irene's shenanigans outside) feeling completely overjoyed and in complete awe over God's faithfulness.

It has only been by His unending grace and mercy that I was accepted to go on a World Race mission in July 2012. Not only that, but I would have never had the courage to accept such an offer without His comfort and loving reassurance. You might be wondering why I'd even have to think about accepting something that I've been hoping for and praying about for such a long time, but the World Race is a huge commitment. And, even though it is something I've longed for, it is a little scary to think about being away from my family and friends for 11 months, not to mention the frightening amount of $15,500 that I'll need to raise. But my God is BIG and completely limitless, and He has reassured me of going on this mission in ways that have completely baffled me (which is a whole other blog in itself). For one of the first times in my life, I feel completely and totally confident that this is the Lord's will for my life.

So onto the part where I get to tell you where I'll be going for those 11 months! I'm so incredibly excited to announce that I'll be going to the following countries:
Bulgaria
Romania
Rwanda
Uganda
Kenya
Thailand
Cambodia
Malaysia
Nicaragua
Honduras
Guatemala


Ahhhhhhh!!!! I'm excited just thinking about it! I can't wait to see what the Lord is going to do, not only during those 11 months, but also in the months leading up to and following them. To make this even more exciting, my very best friend, Erica Denton, will be going on this journey also! So that's a great plus :)

I can't possibly say THANK YOU enough to those of you who have already been praying for me and who will continue to pray and support me in this incredible adventure the Lord is taking me on! I will be sending out letters soon, detailing more about what we'll be doing and ways that you can contribute to this mission. If you would like to get one, please let me know so I can be sure to get one to you (especially if you have not received support letters from me in the past)! I'll also have a website with a blog through the World Race, which will be up and running soon (YAY!!!!), so look out for more blogs to come!

I'll leave you with a verse that has provided a lot of comfort to me lately...

Psalm 34:19-20
"A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all; he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken."

"What the Gospel Demands"

Several weeks ago, when I was home for an all too short weekend from camp, I was watching a segment of a David Platt sermon entitled "What the Gospel Demands." For me, it is one of those sermons that hits me where it hurts, while pumping me up for radical change in Jesus' Name at the very same time! In the clip I watched, he begins by talking about the radical implications of the Bible if we TRULY believe what it says. In Luke 14:33 Jesus says, "In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple." I think there is a common misconception with verses like this one that speak of giving up everything we have...many people think it is a reference to material possessions. It no doubt includes material things, but if we put the verse in context, we see just what Jesus meant by saying this. Earlier in the same chapter, in verse 26, Jesus says, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters - yes, even his own life - he cannot be my disciple." I don't know about you, but for me, this is one of those verses that smacks me in the face a few times! Hate is an incredibly strong word, and to see Jesus using it in reference to family is shocking when you first read it. But, in verse 33 Jesus said to give up everything, and that is exactly what He meant. Should we actually be hateful, bitter, deceitful, rude, and malicious to our families? Absolutely not. But our love for Christ and our passion for furthering His Kingdom should be so much greater than our love for everything else, including our families, that it actually looks like hate in comparison. That is the cost of being one of Jesus' disciples.

Here's another doozy. In Matthew 16:24-25 Jesus tells His disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it." As followers of Christ, we are called to pick up our cross every single day and follow the Lord. We no longer live for ourselves, our families, our friends, our hopes, our dreams, our careers...none of that has significance anymore. Our lives are to be devoted to God, and God alone. That is the cost of being a follower of Jesus Christ.

But what does that life look like? The most wonderful part of all this is that God actually tells us over and over and over again throughout the Bible, but my favorite scripture that embodies this lifestyle is in the last chapter (28) of Matthew. In verses 18-20, Jesus so plainly states, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." My top two LEAST favorite excuses from my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ are the excuses of being "too old" and "too poor" to be involved in the Great Commission. Age is not an object, and neither is money. We're talking about God here. He is completely limitless. He can use anyone! Not just the young. Not just the wealthy. You don't have to go to Africa, Asia, South America, or anywhere else to spread the Gospel. You can walk over to your neighbor's house to share the Good News! Anyone can be used. At any place and any time.

This is what the Gospel demands. Will we obey God or disobey? Exodus 19:5 tells us to obey God and leave all the consequences to Him. If we trust and obey Him in all circumstances, we will receive what is best for our lives; and that will be far greater than what we could ever obtain on our own!

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

My family and I love to watch old home videos from when my brother and I were younger. It's always interesting to see how you looked and how you acted when you were 2 years old, 6 years old, 10 years old, etc. Reflecting on the way I've progressed as a person over my 21 years of life is really interesting. When I was 2 years old, I was the entertainment in the family. At family gatherings I would dance, sing, I would give "the Tonia look" when told to. I was a total goofball, and I loved it. Totally extraverted. So completely opposite from who I am now. At the age of 21, I consider myself to be a very introverted, passive individual. I'm quiet, shy around people I don't know, as well as in large groups. How did I go from one end of the spectrum all the way to the other end in just 19 years? I have had many different experiences throughout my life, but out of them all, those that have involved heartache are the ones that have changed me the most.

I was watching a home video with my parents last night from my great grandmother's 75th birthday in 1996. The date of the surprise party was January 20th. Little did the 6-year-old Megan in the video know that on that exact date, 12 years later, she would begin the most difficult 2 & 1/2 years of her life. On January 20, 2008, I had my heart totally shattered in the time frame of about 5 seconds. This day marked the beginning of a very rocky road, filled with too much emotion and confusion to put into words. But, little did I know that this very long, twisted road would end up being a blessing in disguise.

I made more mistakes than I can count during this time, but those mistakes ended up being crucial for my growth later. At the beginning of this, I was still at Elon and I was a complete wreck. Everything people think of when they consider the "typical" college student, was pretty much me in a nutshell. My priorities were not in line, and I had slipped a very scary distance away from God. I had no friends at school who knew God intimately, and it ended up being a very bad atmosphere for me to live in. I also lost a very special family member during this time - he was the first person whose death really affected me. Losing my Pa, on top of the stress than came along with school work and other issues I encountered at Elon, eventually ended up pushing me to my breaking point. I came home over spring break 2010, and never went back to Elon still to this day. I applied to transfer to UNCW for this past fall, got accepted, and have been here ever since.

Since I've been home, the transformation in my life has been incomprehensible to me. I went to Kenya a second time in August 2010 (which you can read about in previous blog posts), and it was totally life-changing. I thought my first mission there was incredible, but it didn't even compare to this one. Since I have been back from Kenya in the past few months, I have made a lot of positive changes in my life. I now surround myself with people who are only going to raise me up, encourage me, and love me for who I am. People who are Christ-like and make me want to be a better person. I am now very involved in volunteer work within my church on a weekly basis, I started attending the college ministry at PC3, and I also joined a small group consisting of fellow college-age girls who love the Lord as much as I do! I have been made new. I am a completely different person than I was 2 & 1/2 years ago, and for that, I am truly thankful. It also wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for my fellow August 2010 Kenya teammates. My life has been blessed by every single individual I traveled there with, as well as by all the children at Mama Hellen's and the people in the Kenyan community. Had it not been for that long, tangled, and twisted road I ventured down, I would not be the person I am today.

So, the next time you hit a bump in the road, or the next time you think something in your life is too hard for you to handle, REMEMBER 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 - "But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Plans to give you Hope and a Future...

When I started writing this blog, I did it to get the word out about my two previous missions to Kenya. My first being in August 2009, and the most recent in August 2010. Since my first blog post, I have gone off on other topics. They've actually been topics that are uncomfortable for me, and I have attempted to explain a positive side to them and a Biblical explanation for things I don't fully understand. That's exactly what I try to do when things get difficult. I think about how much pain Jesus endured for each one of us as He hung from the cross, and how whatever I'm going through at that time does not even compare to what He went through for us. I also try to always remember that everything happens for a reason. Even when I don't know what is going on in my life and feel like I'm lost, God always has a plan.

I don't think it's possible for me to even try to explain the joy I feel when I am in Kenya, and especially when I'm with the children at Mama Hellen's Rehabilitation Center. My "other mother" (my best friend's mom) told me that she thinks some people have geographical soulmates, and that I had found mine in Kenya. I must say, I agree! I truly feel that Kenya is where I am supposed to be - that God has called me to go there for various reasons, some I'm not even aware of yet. It isn't necessarily just because of where on the map Kenya is that makes it so special to me...it's the people!!! I have met people who literally have nothing, yet are so incredibly grateful to God for life! Although Kenya is one of the poorest countries in the world, they are rich in community, compassion, and faith!

I've seen both the most heart-breaking and the most heart-warming things I have ever been blessed enough to witness while I've been in Kenya. And it's all thanks to my Savior, Jesus Christ. The Lord has led me to Kenya twice already with such clear purpose, and I can honestly say, I don't think He's done! After I graduate from UNCW (hopefully in December 2011), I fully intend on pursuing a long-term mission in Kenya working with those precious children I love! A lot can change between now and then, but I have faith that the Lord will lead me where He wants me to go. I ask that my family and friends will continue to pray for me and whatever God has in store for the future! I am so excited to see where He takes me, even if it isn't where I think!

Jeremiah 29:11 - "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"

"Love your neighbors..."

"I have a dream that one day...little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers."

When Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made this statement in his "I Have a Dream" speech, he was speaking to the American citizens on the topic of discrimination and racial equality in the United States of America. One form of discrimination is racism, which has been a problem in our country for far too long. Discrimination takes many forms, though...discrimination of age, ethnicity, gender, disability, religion, sexual orientation, and the list goes on. Some people, myself included, like to think that discrimination is not as present as it has been in the past. But is this true, or just wishful thinking?

It seems that racism isn't as prevalent because we don't see black men and women being beaten to a pulp on the side of the road by police men. We don't see fire hoses being sprayed full force at people of color. And we don't see blacks being arrested because they refuse to give up their seat on a bus like the admirable Rosa Parks. However, discrimination IS still an issue, whether we'd like to admit it or not. I know more people than I'd like to admit that have some sort of "issue" with African Americans, or just Africans in general, as well as people of other races and ethnicities. The sad part is that many of these people call themselves Christians.

I just finished reading a chapter of a book that reminds us that God instructs us to LOVE our neighbors. He doesn't tell us to love our neighbors if we feel like it, or to only love people who are white, or to only love people who are easy to love. He tells us to love EVERYONE. Christians, non-Christians, blacks, whites, Mexicans, Muslims, Buddhists, homosexuals, orphans, widows, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, back-stabbers, murderers, friends, family, our enemies, and all other categories that I have not listed. We are called to love everyone in the same way that God the Father has loved us...unconditionally! God even tells us in 1 John 4:20, "If anyone says, 'I love God,' yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen." He calls us LIARS if we consider ourselves Christians who love the Lord, but hate another human being. What a powerful message.

I want to challenge myself, and those of you who read this post, to take action and do what the Lord instructs us to do. To love those who are difficult to love, and to love those who we have a tendency of disliking. Whether it's people of a particular race or ethnicity, or people who are of our own race that discriminate against others. Love people of all ages - from infants to the elderly. Love homosexuals as well as non-homosexuals. Take the initiative of loving the individual who has a major attitude problem, and love those who appear to not want anything to do with you. Smother people with God's love. They will have no choice but to show love in return because they will see God shining through you. Don't be the liar that God describes in 1 John 4:20, instead show God's love to everyone you encounter!

What a Wonderful World :)

I was a relatively "normal" child...at least that's what I like to think. I played with Barbie dolls, I loved to draw and color, I played computer games, I hung out with my next door neighbor on a daily basis, and I strived to be the best I could be in all aspects of my life. I've been blessed with growing up in a Christian family that has invested in me by teaching me how to become a good Christian woman, how to serve God & others, and how to respect & love people unconditionally. I've been through a decent amount of heartache in life - broken friendships, relationships with people who have come into my life for a length of time and then disappeared, and death are not strangers to me. Yet I am grateful for these experiences. Although it seems that life wouldn't be so hard without these things, it is difficulties and brokenness that shape us into the human beings we become. And often, the most difficult situations are the ones that change us the most.

I've been fortunate enough to have spent 2 weeks of the past two summers in Kenya, serving alongside fellow Port City Community Church goers. Our church has a partnership with a pastor in Nakuru, Kenya, and thanks to his obedience to God there has been a great bond established between our two churches. It's amazing how God uses His word to connect us to a group of people half-way around the world. As a result of this partnership, Mama Hellen's Rehabilitation Center for street children was established in 2006. Because of this, there are now about 80 children in Nakuru who were previously poverty-stricken (malnourished, homeless, drug addicted, hungry, parentless, and/or struggling for survival), but now have a place to call home. They have a bed to sleep in at night, clothes and shoes to wear, food to eat for every meal of every day, and a community of other children who have been in similar situations. Probably one of the most amazing things about this is that even though they have ALL gone through extremely difficult circumstances, they are by far the happiest, most faithful, and most wonderful individuals I have ever met!

In July/August 2009, I took my first trip to Kenya and had the privilege of meeting about 60 of these children. They range in age from about 6 years old to 18 years old. Mama Hellen's started out being an all boys Rehabilitation Center, but as time progressed they added girls into the mix. When my team went in 2009, the Center had just received it's first intake of girls, so we were all excited about that. This trip had been a dream of mine for years - I had wanted to go to Africa and felt called to go there for as long as I could remember. I really wasn't sure what to expect going there for the first time. I began a lot of relationships with children at Mama Hellen's and with other Kenyan people we came in contact with. Relationships that I feel certain will last a lifetime. And although the trip in 2009 was absolutely incredible, I wasn't aware of the fact that the 2010 Kenya trip would blow 2009 out of the water.

Going into my trip to Kenya this summer, I had a list of things in my head that I expected to learn through this experience. At the beginning of the trip I was frustrated because God wasn't showing me the things I wanted Him to show me. After being still for a little while and trusting in Him, I realized it was because He was showing me other things. Things I NEEDED to see, not the things I wanted to see. The two things I learned most about on this trip were FAITH AND LOVE. Hebrews 11:6 says, "Without faith it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists, and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him." This was the memory verse we had the kids memorize for the week, and all of the Bible stories we talked about for the week focused on faith. Little did I know, I would end up learning more about faith through them than they learned about faith through me. In my small group of kids I had the honor of listening to some of the kids tell their testimonies. To hear them talk about where they came from and their experiences while out on the streets, followed by how much their faith has grown because of God's unfailing mercy and love was truly inspirational. These kids have been through more pain and misery in just a few years of their lives than I probably will in the entirety of mine, yet their faith is so incredibly strong! It amazes me how God takes people from the worst of circumstances and takes them to a place where they can have hope.

Love is something we talk a lot about in Christianity. Everyone knows 1 Corinthians 13 - "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud...It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." God tells us to love our neighbors. But who can honestly say that they ALWAYS follow this command? There are people in this world that are very difficult for us to love. That person that alwaysss somehow does that one thing that just really gets on our nerves. Those people who drive about 20 mph UNDER the speed limit. The ones who always know just what to say to irritate us at that very moment. It's near impossible to react well in these situations. But God uses this to help us learn how to love people the way He loves us. It will not happen overnight, it's a slow and sometimes painful process. But these situations are put in our lives to help us learn how to become more like Him. The children in Kenya have taught me more about love than anyone else I've ever met. Those kids are constantly loving on each other (and on those of us who get to go over there every so often). Holding hands is the ultimate sign of friendship over there, and they are not afraid to do it on a regular basis. Boys hold hands with boys, girls hold hands with girls, and their sexuality is NOT questioned. What a beautiful thing. I wish we were more like that here - quick to show love to each other. And the beautiful part is that it IS possible for us, however most people don't dare to move when it comes to going against the common culture in America. If we spent more of our time being intentional with people in our own communities and less time being overwhelmed by the things of this world (work, school, errands, and doing this and that) and the fear of man, we may actually become the people God intended for us to be - full of happiness, faith, and love - and on fire for Him!

Romans 12:2

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be TRANSFORMED by the renewing of your mind..."