Grace Upon Grace

Lately, I’ve been sharing more at my church and other places and talking with more people about my upcoming time in South Sudan. And there are times when it’s pretty overwhelming, but at the end of the day I’m so much more overwhelmed with God’s grace to me through the love and support of my brothers and sisters in Christ.

I have an awesome MST (missionary support team)! I know they are covering me in prayer, have already devoted much time and energy to helping me prepare, and have just been pretty amazing, supportive, and loving sisters in Christ :) I love it when friends randomly text me to see how the process is going and see I’m doing. And I’m thankful for the friends who text or email to help keep me accountable to get my work done. It’s been great to have so many questions from church family who are so caring.

This week in particular has been FULL of encouragement, so I wanted to share my week!

Sunday: I attended a prayer meeting that focuses on missions and it was encouraging to hear people’s hearts for the nations in such specific (if sometimes unexpected!) ways!

Monday: I shared for a few minutes at a class called Perspectives, and it was such a blessing! I was able to share a little about how God has been growing my heart for missions and shared more details about South Sudan and what I’ll be doing. And then a class of about 50 people prayed for me :) After the class was done, I was able to talk to a lot of people and it was just SO refreshing to be in a room full of people who are EXCITED and PASSIONATE about missions.

Tuesday: Had an MST meeting (for another missionary at my church) and had a great time of fellowship and prayer. And I ALWAYS leave feeling energized and convicted after talking with this girl.

Wednesday: Spent time with my youngest niece and nephew and loved every minute of it. I’ve gotta spend as much time with them as I can before I go!

Thursday: Went to my new small group for this season and spent the evening studying the beginning of Acts and talking about transformation, sharing openly about areas we’d like to grow in, and praying for specific people we want to share the Gospel with. I really love my small group :)

Friday: A different small group from my church invited me to come share with them. And after only being there for a little while, I left feeling so loved and genuinely cared for by my church family, many of whom I was just meeting for the first time! They jokingly mentioned they were “grilling” me with questions, but the comment “You sound like her father!” made me feel so thankful for the fatherly concern. After I shared, they prayed for me and as I was walking out the door they already had ideas for a care package of things I might need. I was really touched by their thoughtfulness and example of Christ-like love.

Saturday: I unexpectedly got to spend time with a cousin who hugged me tight, handed me a card and a check, and said she’s praying for me!

At the beginning of this post, I said things were overwhelming. But a more honest and accurate way to describe my heart and attitude last week is anxious and discouraged. But as I look back on the week and I look at this list, I see tangible evidences of God’s goodness. When I choose not to be blinded by my sins of selfishness, pride, fear of man, and lack of trust….the truth of God’s sovereignty is so much more evident.  It’s my prayer that in all circumstances I would choose Christ and praise God for His grace upon grace upon grace.

Headed to South Sudan!

Hello! If I haven’t had the chance to meet you in person yet, I’m Lisa :) Over the past few years, there’s been a lot going on and God has been SO good in it all! So I just want to share with you guys a little bit about how God has been at work in my life and also how He led me to go to South Sudan for seven months!

I became more aware of missions through Intervarsity Christian Fellowship while I was in college. But I have to be honest; back then my focus was more on the physical need, rather than the spiritual need. I was taking many Sociology classes and was in a city and university where conversations regarding social justice issues were common and regular. I wanted to see clean water, healthcare, education, and food given to those in need. And while none of these things are bad to desire, I was completely ignoring the only need in anyone’s life: Jesus Christ. I was too busy caring about the physical and social injustices to realize that clean water, food, education, etc. do not give eternal life--only Jesus Christ can do that.

It wasn’t until the last few years post-college that God changed my heart. He graciously humbled me, showed me the gravity of my sin, and reminded me of my desperate need for a savior. The more I grew in understanding God’s grace in my own life, the more God gave me the desire to see others’ lives transformed by the gospel.

In March 2013 I went to Kenya on a short-term mission; that trip was really huge in my decision to go for a longer period of time. In Kenya, it was really amazing to be able to serve alongside and see God’s church in another country. I had really only been exposed to American missionaries going out to the field, and it was such eye-opening grace to see Kenyans serving Kenyans, and even Kenyans going to neighboring countries to minister to those in need. When I was little, I remember thinking at one point that all Christians had to be Chinese because all the Christians I knew were Chinese. I laugh about that now, yet twenty years later I was still in that place of being so blind to the beauty of God’s church around the world.

After Kenya, I thought more seriously about going for longer than a week. And it took an entire year for me to actually decide to go and turn in my application in 2014. And I can’t tell you how excited I am!! On November 25, 2014, I’ll be leaving for South Sudan for seven months with a missions organization called Africa Inland Mission. More specifically, I’ll be living in a village called Nagishot and living amongst an unreached people group called the Didinga people. I’ll be joining long-term missionaries and helping with administrative work, teaching, and discipleship of women and youth. More info on South Sudan and the Didinga people can be found on the Links page.

As I’m continually convicted about how to live intentionally and eternally minded here in the states AND preparing to go to South Sudan for seven months, I am encouraged by this picture of Heaven from Revelation 7:9-12:

⁹ After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, ¹⁰ and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” ¹¹ And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹² saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

Thanks so much for reading this lengthy post and for your support, prayers, and encouragements! Walking alongside brothers and sisters in Christ, friends, and family has been such a blessing and I’m thankful!