For the glory of God and the joy of the nations

I've often heard about people developing a sort of 'purpose statement' for their lives - something that serves to evaluate and shape their decisions and activities.  Over the last five years, mine has been developing, and - for now, at least - I've settled on "For the glory of God and the joy of the nations." This is what I want to be about.

For the glory of God...

 Sing to the Lord a new song;
    sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, praise his name;
    proclaim his salvation day after day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
    his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;

    he is to be feared above all gods.

               Psalm 96:1-4

God - Father, Son and Spirit - is deserving of all my praise, all my work, all my thanks, all my life.  It is for the sake of his glory that I want to live, making him and his great blessings known among the nations. Basically, I want to make God famous among people who have, through no fault of their own, never had the opportunity to hear!

... and the joy of the nations.

May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
    for you rule the peoples with equity
    and guide the nations of the earth.
               Psalm 67:4

The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad;
    let the distant shores rejoice.
               Psalm 97:1

There's a reason the gospel is called the good news!  The Kingdom of God is breaking into this world - he is setting all things right.  All those things in the world that we look at with pain - with that deep sense of "it shouldn't be this way" - will one day be no more.  Equity, justice, restoration, and peace are coming, this is certain.  And glimpses of this future and total restoration can be known TODAY!  This is good news indeed for all the peoples of the earth.

I'm not talking about cramming western culture down the throats of other people in other cultures.  That would do a huge disservice to the beauty of cultural diversity that God himself created!  And this is good news for all nations, for all cultures, for all people. I'm not even interested in forcing or coercing people to listen to the good news of Jesus.  But for people who are looking for good news and have no chance to hear, I want to be there to invite them into God's big story of restoration. 

And so, here I am - for the glory of God and the joy of the nations.

Why am I studying at Ambrose?  To learn how to better understand and best express this good news in a cross cultural context, whether in Kenya or here in Canda.

Why am I going to Kenya? To help share and equip others to share this good news to all nations.

Why am I getting married?  Because together, Kevin and I can support one another in our similar, yet different calls to make Jesus famous in the nations.  I believe we can do more together than we can apart.

Why am I returning to Canada after my year in Kenya to work as a mobilizer? To help encourage, equip, and send others to do proclaim God's glory for the joy of the nations!

 Read John's stunning vision of this new city that is to come from Revelation 21:1-4, 22-27:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away...”

I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

One day, there will be a new heaven and a new earth, and all the nations will be there.  But for now, there is work to be done!

Let My Feet Be Beautful

This is the concluding section of my Personal and Corporate Outreach exam.  It's a summay of the Good News about Jesus, and how I see my role in sharing it.
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Jesus is the King, and He is putting to right all that is wrong in the world. The pain we see, the injustice, the tears, the destruction – one day He will make all things right. We can find favour – more than that – we can be known intimately and loved deeply and become a cherished son or daughter of the very one who created us. We can be healed of our shared human weakness and join Jesus in his task in bringing God’s wisdom, glory, and new birth to the world.

One day, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the King. People from every nation, tribe, language and people will gather around His throne and recognize who He really is, and they won’t be able to help but burst out into song. Harmony among all the peoples of the earth, enjoying a brand new creation with no more tears, no more suffering, no more pain.

It’s coming, and we see glimpses of it in our world if we look, but we’re not there yet. There are groups of people who are not yet represented in that great multitude because they haven’t heard of the one who is their King, the one who loves them, the one who wants to heal them and bring them into community with Himself.

How can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone teaching them? And how can anyone teach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

It is because of this that I want to go to Kenya. To the Rendille people, who aren’t yet adequately represented in that great multitude. These beautiful people, created and loved so much by God, don’t yet know their loving King. How can they call on the one they have not heard of? Who will go if not me? I am not special. I am not gifted. I am just willing.

Oh Lord, let my feet be beautiful!

New Year, New Adventures!

2013 seems like it's full of promise, and I can't wait to see what it will bring! New friends as I continue to settle in to my new city and new church, new lessons as I start out a new term, new things to see and do and try in my first prairie (foothills?) winter... I'm looking forward to it!

2012 was crazy. The first half and the last half could not have been more different.  Terrible descending to awful, and then exciting rising to awesome (with a whole lot of prayer and crying and working things through in between)!  Oy vey!

Classes last term went well, and I learned SO much!  (I also learned that my friends and profs are right - five masters classes is insane!).  I'll have to work out some major themes that came out of the term at some point, but for now: I took Leadership, Interpreting Scripture, Letters of Paul, Into to Theology, and Evangelism and Discipleship.  It was most definitely a full term, but I don't regret it! (My low level anxiety as I look at my classes this term, however, might have something to do with the fact that I  now know what I'm getting myself into! Last term I was just blissfully ignorant!)

On the roster for this term: Intro to New Testament, Cross-Cultural Church Planting, Missions in Global Perspective, Cultural Anthropology, and maybe Expository Preaching.  I really want to take that one, but I have to leave myself time to breathe, work, and keep doing my AIM prepwork and communication, too! EEKS!  We'll see how it goes!  And I want to get back into photography and blogging again! I've so missed my creative outlets... I'm a little rusty in both, but definitely want to dive back in!  Who knows, I might even find some West Coast Swing in all this, too! (er... in all my spare time!)

2013, bring it on!

The Rink

They were hidden until the very last minute.  Just as I rounded the corner I was struck with a scene that took my breath away.  A half dozen giant trees, winter bare and snow-covered, were glowing with hundreds of strings of lights, casting out the evening darkness all around the newest skating rink in town.  A foot of snow covered the park, the trees, the lagoon, but one section was cleared away to make a rink.  As I walked down the path, the chill in the air and the scrape of blades on ice welcomed me to my new experience of a true Canadian winter.

No zambonis here! Keeping an eye out for rough patches and taking care not to wobble too much, my skates hit the ice for a beautiful winter evening.  Cold toes soon warmed as I skated round the rink, and when fingers were chilled, some hot cocoa warmed them up before another round on the ice.

A new snowfall and a rising wind signaled the end of the evening.  One more lap around the ice, one more look at the snowy scene around me, and it was time to head home.  A beautiful night, indeed!

Good News/Bad News

Remember those good news/bad news stories? Here's mine:

It was early January, and my last night in Vancouver before heading back to Calgary after the Christmas holiday...

Good News: Went snowshoeing with Trudy on Sunday

Bad News: Now my foot really really hurts

Good News: Yay medical

Bad News: No internet at my brother's apartment where I've been staying the last few days.

Good News: Lots of cafes around, including ones whose wifi still works when they're closed late at night from my car parked outside

Bad news: Thought I'd done everything I needed to do online but realized as I was packing at 2am that I forgot one thing I needed.

Good News: I'll just drive back down the street 8-10 blocks to look it up. [I can tell the truth now - I was TOTALLY DYING to see if I had gotten a reply from Kevin. We hadn't met yet, but had been emailing back and forth for about a week...]

Bad News: Ended up with some emails and other things to deal with so I was there longer than I thought I'd be.

Good news: I had had a coffee later in the eve so wasn't really tired

Bad news: There's no 'your lights are on, dummy' buzzer in the car I'm using, so the battery drained and the car was dead (it went fast!)

Good news: It's the middle of the night, so not a big deal I'm parked in a handicapped spot and can leave it there while I walk back up to the apartment

Bad news: Remember I said my foot really hurts?

Good news: I just had a little bit left to do to pack and clean up so I finished up and called a cab to take me back down to the car and give it a jump. It's now 4:30am.

Bad news: Cabbie charges $20 for a jump so, despite the fact I'd tried it a dozen times already, I decided to try the car one more time

Good news: It STARTS!

Bad news: No sleep for me, off to the airport.

Good news: I'll have lots of time to read/sleep/do homework

Bad news: I realize all those extra hours will have to be paid for in the parking lot.

Good news: There's a Starbucks open nearby so I'll read/work there for a bit

Bad news: That coffee made my stomach really hurt!

Good news: Time to head to the airport, I've still got lots of time

Bad news: In all the chaos, I forgot I had my swiss army knife in my purse, so get called back out of security

Good news: There's a post office downstairs where I can mail it to myself for three bucks

Bad news: I'm getting rather grouchy. I've had no sleep, my foot hurts with every step, I have a case of coffee belly

Good news: No more issues as I go through security a second time.

Bad news: Let's hope there is no more bad news! (except that I made you read this long rambly thing!)

Good news: My very own bed, here I come!

How to Pray

Here are a few ideas about how to pray for me.

• Please pray for the Rendille people in Korr where we will be working, that God would be continuing to open people's hearts to the good news of Jesus Christ.  Pray, too, for Rendille believers to continue to be called to share the story of Jesus with others.


• Please pray for Nick and Lynne, Jim and Laura, and other short term volunteers who are currently working in Korr, teaching, building, working on the completion of the Rendille New Testament, and a myriad of other tasks to advance God's blessing in Korr.


• Please pray for me as I study, that I would have the mental energy to keep on top of a heavy course load and that God would direct the projects I choose to be the most relevant to the situation and work I will encounter in Kenya.  Pray, too, for adequate work and all the little preparatory details that are involved in getting ready to leave for Kenya.


• Please pray that I would continue to encounter God not just through my studies but in a very real and personal way, and that I would continue to grow in my faith.


• Please pray for the development of my support team, that God would raise people who will provide both the prayer and financial the resources needed for my time in Kenya.


• Please pray for my relationship with Kevin and the girls as we enjoy our engagement and look to plan a few wedding details, that we continue to grow together and towards Christ and have quality time together, learning about each other and planning our future.

Also, please let me know how to pray for you, too!  Just send me an email at hello_hillary (at) yahoo (dot) ca - I'd love to hear from you and know how I might pray for you!

Join My Team!

Partnering in any way- in friendship, in prayer, or in finances - is an essential part of my ministry. I am so excited to build a team that together will work towards extending the blessing of God to people it is only just beginning to reach!  My financial team is an essential part of this ministry, not just because these people will provide the funds, but because they are an integral part of what God is doing in the Rendille people.

The Details

I am required to raise just shy of $20,000 for the year.  The details of this budget are listed below.  I will need I need to have 100% of my support in place (through gifts or pledges) by April 15, 2014. 

Orientation and Training - 3%      Pre-field Expenses - 3%     

Ambrose internship* - 5%     Administration* - 9%     

Medical insurance - 14%     Travel and visas - 21%

Living expenses and ministry - 45%

This budget is preliminary and subject to change somewhat in the months leading up to departure, however, this figure gives a good target to start with, and shouldn’t change drastically.

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I am thrilled to say that I am more than fully funded! Thank you to all who gave and are giving - may God bless your generosity greatly!

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If you feel God leading you to join me in this way, there are three main ways to partner with me:

 

(1) Direct Deposit for monthly contributions

Fill out a pre-authorized debit agreement (download the document by clicking here) and mail it to the address below.  Or, go online (in Canada) to www.aimint.org/can Choose “Give” then “Automatic Contributions” and follow the steps.

* If you are outside of Canada, see below for details

 

(2) Cheque for both monthly and one-time contributions

Make cheques payable to Africa Inland Mission.  Please enclose a separate note stating the contribution is for me - do not write my name anywhere on the cheque.  Cheques can be mailed to the address below.  Post-dated cheques for monthly giving are also accepted.  Cheques received before departure are recorded but not deposited until all clearances are given one month before my departure.  If your cheque isn’t cashed right away, don’t worry!

* If you are outside of Canada, see below for details

(3) Online Giving for both monthly and one-time contributions

Go to www.aimint.org/can and choose “Give” then “Online giving.”  You can enter my name under “Specific Missionary” and choose whether you’d like to make a one-time or monthly contribution.

* If you are outside of Canada, see below for details

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If you would like to join with me financially, you can send donations to the addresses below or donate online.  All donations in Canada and the USA are tax deductible.   

In Canada:

Africa Inland Mission Int'l (Canada)
1641 Victoria Park Ave
Scarborough ON
M1R 1P8

Canadian Online Donations: http://www.aimint.org/can/en/give

In the USA:
*** Please very clearly indicate that the donation is for me, and that I am a CANADIAN member of AIM ***

Africa Inland Mission USA
P.O. Box 3611
Peachtree City, GA 30269-7611

US Online Donations: http://www.aimint.org/usa/give

In countries other than Canada or the USA:

Go to http://www.aimint.org and choose the region that best represents you.   

*** Should you contribute in any region other than in Canada, please very clearly indicate that the donation is for me, and that I am a CANADIAN member of AIM.***

Many, many thanks!
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* Ambrose internship - The final piece of my MA in intercultural ministries from Ambrose Seminary is an internship.  This will be fulfilled by my time in Kenya, though there are some Ambrose-specific costs associated.  If you would like to contribute to the internship portion (approx. $1000), please contact me.  These gifts, too, are eligible for tax receipts.

* A word about administration - Administration costs cover the expenses related to having people in the offices in Canada and Kenya who take care of critical parts of my work like financial details, communication, assistance with immigration documents, safety planning, and receiving and receipting financial support.