Somewhere, beyond the sea....

So I've been alluding to this one in my last 2 posts, but it's a biggie. Since committing to this trip God has done so many amazing things that I cannot possibly put everything into one post, hence the need for several posts. And not just in my journey. He did an amazing thing for my friend Evelyn! Anyway, a few weeks ago, the day I found out about the opportunity to write the training curriculum, in fact, we had an informational meeting at church for our trip. Dr. Roe gave us a lot of information about the trip that we needed to know. He also told us more about the host couple we would be working with. They are a wonderful couple who have 2 schools they run in Romania, and they use their schools as a missions outreach to spread the Gospel. Anyway, as Dr. Roe was going over our itinerary and telling us all we would be involved in, he said there would be a new activity his teams had never done before: educational consult. Of course my ears perked up at that one! Here is the God thing...Are you ready? For months now this couple has had a burden and a need that God would send them someone, an educator, to come into their school, who could walk through their schools, talk to them, help them make changes, give them ideas for new teaching strategies, and just basically help them come up with new ways to do things. Did you hear that? This host couple, the ones who are spearheading our activities in Romania have been praying for MONTHS that God would send a TEACHER to their country who could advise them and talk with them, an educational consult, because they could not afford to pay for one on their own...I just got cold chills. From miles and miles across the ocean this faithful couple was praying for a teacher to come to their schools to talk to them, and I, a TEACHER, had told God that I would go if He would provide the means for me to do it. Does that not just blow your mind? To GOD be the glory, GREAT things HE has done!!! I still get cold chills when I think about it and see how minuscule I am in this huge world. But to think that me, ME, just simple old me from SC was chosen to be the answer to the prayer of a faithful couple in Romania? That just blows me away. What will God do next? I don't know. But I do know this. He is going to do some amazing things through the lives of everyone involved with this trip. I know He is. I still have to come up with the balance, but I am not worried because look what He's done so far. Is there any doubt? I think not.

Please be in prayer for my friends who are going, too. They've all committed things to God as means of going, so pray blessings over these names: Alisha, Evelyn, Steve, Shelby, Russ, Gerald, Cheryl, Alex and Myles. Pray that God will provide for their needs as well. God has taken care of Evelyn's need already and man, it's a whopper! Alisha is selling her amazing cakes! Pray, and know that He will answer if it's in His plan.

Ask And You Will Receive...Big Time!

The night Dr. Roe shared the trip with us my heart yearned to go, but I told nobody. The funny thing is that both my mom and my husband made comments to me later that night and the next day affirming my desire to want to go. My response, of course, was "If God will provide the means then I will go". I continued to pray and offer myself as a willing vessel, promising to use any additional income from trainings and TPT for the trip. I already had 2 sessions in the books, and then a 4-part series at a school on my calendar, so that was encouraging. (Now, keep in mind that the first deposit is to be paid by March 1. That is key to this whole blessing.) I told God that if He would continue to provide the opportunities for me to train at other schools all of that money would go to the trip. This was on a Wednesday night. On Thursday I got an e-mail from my coordinator asking me if I'd like to take an additional 4-part series at a school that would be 4 consecutive Mondays in January and February. I. Was. Floored. That was absolutely God's way of affirming that He wanted me to go on this trip. But He wasn't done yet. With Those trainings on the books I was still $600 away from the initial deposit, but I wasn't worried. I knew that He would provide if it was meant to be. So I prayed again. I told Him that if He wanted me to go and would provide the means then I would go. Well, He did. The next day I was e-mailing with my coordinator and hashing out the details of one of these training sessions I would be doing. Through the course of the conversation I asked about something and she said, "Oh, and, by the way, if you'd like to develop an 8-hour training session to use for iPad trainings for the Early Childhood sessions we would pay you a stipend to develop it. Just let me know." What? How? What? Yes, just like that. God showed up again. In talking with her I found out that the time involved to develop it and what they would pay me would be equal to E.X.A.C.T.L.Y the amount I needed to have enough for the first deposit. To. The. Penny. When she told me that, having absolutely NO knowledge of my trip or any of this, I just cried. This was God showing me without a shadow of a doubt that He wanted me in Romania on this trip. Why? I still didn't know, but I was about to find out. And when I did, well that just blew me away again.

"For my God will supply all of your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus"- Philippians 4:19

Planting the Seeds

Late last fall our interim pastor, Dr. Gerald Roe, shared with us his testimony of how he got involved with missions in Romania. His presentation was amazing. He shared photos, stories and a testimony that blew me away of how God showed him and his wife Cheryl that Romania was their country. He spoke of the gypsy children in the dumps in which they ministered, the schools where they went, the churches, etc...and I was drawn to this place for some reason, (that I would find out later would be an answered prayer from across the ocean). He then opened up his trip to anyone who was willing to go. The cost was beyond my budget but my heart wanted to be there, so I prayed. Dr. Roe told us they had never taken anyone who ever had to pay out of pocket because God had provided the money for everyone who ever went for the last 12 years. If that was true, and if God wanted me there, I knew He would provide. So I prayed. I committed myself. I told God that I would use the money I earn as an adjunct technology trainer for the school district and anything I earn from my Teachers Pay Teachers store to pay for the trip if He would provide the opportunities. He called me, I answered, I committed myself and my work, and then I waited....and then He blew my socks off. Provide he did.