I Make Outdated References - The We-Wu for August 26 - September 6, 2024

Does anyone else feel like the Energizer Bunny right now?

going and going and going and going...

So! We’ll start with last week. For a couple of days, I was working from downtown Indy where I was dog sitting a cute Spaniel. I got some thank you notes done, I did some Outreach magazine proofing, and I remotely attended a safety meeting. The latter was quite timely because we have had some incidents on campus. Mostly people going through cars, but some other things that are a tad more alarming. Unfortunately, we are getting some trickle-down from Indy (though I’m sure Greenwood has its fair share of ne’er-do-wells). I think we’ve felt isolated from all of that because we have our own little pocket of space, but the world continues to encroach.

We don’t want to be completely separated because then how do you share Jesus with people? But you also have to keep people safe and ensure some kind of security. Plus, we have kids living here. Gotta keep the kiddos safe. Thus, the safety team meetings.

I took a couple of days off last week because we (my parents, my uncle, and I) were going to spend Labor Day with my sister in Michigan. Unfortunately, their area had a major windstorm and about half a million people lost power for a number of days. My sister was among them. And we really didn’t want to add to their stress by descending on them expecting food and lodging.

So, we all stayed at my parents’ house and did some day trips. It was still fun, though some people need to do better about updating when their boats are actually running!

I came back to Greenwood on Monday night and was back at it on Tuesday. We had a lovely production team meeting that included Mike and Lloyd, two people who were instrumental in getting Train & Multiply up and running with OMS. Two of my team worked with Lloyd years ago, and it was nice to see them reconnect. We’re actually going on 25 years of OMS using T&M (which you can read about in the next issue of Outreach). The history of these booklets is kinda crazy. From a lone missionary in Honduras to more than 40 languages and dozens of countries, God has really done a mighty work, and I am honored to be part of it.

I hope to continue to be part of it. A major source of anxiety for me right now is funding. As you may know, I am a self-funded missionary. That means the bulk of my salary comes from amazing people who give sacrificially to support my ministry. I do get a small amount from our T&M project fund, but the majority comes from people like you.

You guys are amazing. Like, you have no idea how thankful I am for you. But I also know that times are tough right now. A lot of people are struggling, and I totally get that. That does mean that some of my supporters have had to decrease giving or cease altogether. I started the year knowing that this was going to be a rough one, and I wanted to increase my funding efforts. I have been doing some traveling, some visiting, writing letters, researching grants, and soooo much praying.

I believe God will provide. I love what I do, and I believe it is making a difference. But I also know that when I first started at OMS, I laid out a fleece.

Now we can argue about the wisdom of laying out a fleece until the sheep come asking for their wool back. But funding has always been my biggest source of anxiety as a missionary, and my fleece is that as long as the money is there, so am I. It’s one way I know God wants me to stay here. (And between you and me, there have been times I wanted to leave when God tapped me on the shoulder and showed me a healthy support account as if to say ‘you ain’t going anywhere.’)

So I will continue to do my work of seeking new avenues for support, and God will provide one way or another. But I will ask that if you have any ideas, please reach out to me. God is essential for this, and so are you.

Anyway, this is all part of feeling like that freakin’ pink bunny. I’m dog sitting another pup this weekend (as a means of making some extra income), and I could use a couple days to just breathe in my own space. But dog snuggles are pretty good, too.

I hope your own Labor Day plans were successful! Be good.

Bye!