OK, new plan...

New Year’s greetings from… well, still in Charlottesville at this point, but hopefully not for much longer. The good news is that I’ve reached 66% of the ongoing support needed in my new role as international Theological Education Specialist for Serge, in partnership with EPC World Outreach. That’s an amazing amount of money given and pledged by faithful partners – 10 churches and 36 individuals and families so far. The bad news is that’s not enough yet to fully fund this ministry. The good news is that thanks to some great pray-ers exciting new plans are taking shape.

Last month I asked people to pray:

1. To Ireland by March 2017 if it’s the Lord’s plan, with all the resources needed (God's doing, beyond human ability!)
2. Wisdom and discernment in the next steps if the Lord has a different plan
3. The ability for me to say ‘Thy will be done’ with sincerity and joy, no matter what happens

They prayed and here’s what's happening. After much discussion with the Serge leadership we’ve decided to pare down my budget just for 2017 by taking out the Africa and Asia ministry travel that will be a central part of this work in the future. That means reducing the annual budget (just for 2017, mind you) by about $21,000. Which means that instead of 66% of my ongoing needs, I’m at 90% of what’s needed for 2017 – including some generous one-time gifts from a number of you in December and January, thank you!

So, God willing, I’ll join the Serge team in Dublin on March 1^st for six months (March-August). Then I'm scheduled to teach at the South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies (SAIACS) in Bangalore, India, again for the month of September. Then I'll come back to Charlottesville at the end of September to reach out to more churches while they're budgeting for 2018, as well as additional individual partners, until I'm fully funded to return.

This is not the usual path for a new missionary appointee. The caring and compassionate mission leaders at Serge and World Outreach have been doing their due diligence to make sure I’ll be OK. The conversation has gone something like this:

Caring and compassionate mission leader: “But what if you get to Ireland and it’s not clear where the rest of the money will come from, and you end up with all sorts of uncertainly and upheaval?”
Me: “That pretty much sums up my life now. What’s the difference?”
CCML: “But will people understand that this is just for 2017 and then you’ll need to raise more financial support before you can go back?”
Me: “I think they’ll be OK with it.” (We’ve all got that, right? Just for 2017. Not. Fully. Supported. Yet. Thanks.)

After four years of loss, transition, rest and recovery, I can’t tell you how pleased I am to be on the way again! Joyfully saying, ‘Thy will be done,’ even though these arrangements are a little more precarious than when I’ve worked overseas before. So we hit three-for-three on last month’s prayer requests.

In Dublin from March to August, I hope to:

• Start getting oriented to Ireland, personally and culturally
• Make initial connections with local churches and theological training programs
• Make initial connections with European theological education networks
• Help with Serge’s short-term missions training in June
• As funds allow, travel to Serge fields in Europe (maybe one or two other sites I can’t name for security reasons) to explore theological education needs and opportunities
• Continue teaching online for Fuller Theological Seminary (this income counts toward my missionary support)
• Continue long-term support-raising

Thank you so much for being on this long journey with me. "O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds" (Psalm 71:17). Together, let's see what God does next...