To catch you up on some of the major happenings in the past year... the debriefings I was able to help MTI with in Colorado last summer were...I can't think of a good word to use, so I will just say "WOW!" It was so awesome to see how God worked through all of us staff to reach the missionaries and MKs that attended each one. It never ceased to amaze me that God opened up hearts and allowed us to walk through so much stuff together in the short 4 1/2 days we had each program.
During the year I was able to visit a few area colleges and spend some time with a number of the MKs that came through our summer program in Cedarville, Ohio. I was also able to, once again, help with and attend the NE MK retreat in Scranton, PA. Although this year it turned out a bit different. Instead of the 40-50 students we usually have, we only had 11 this year (with 4 staff). It was a really good weekend though, and I enjoyed being able to spend more quality time with the few who were there. In January we had the opposite happen at the annual MK Snow Camp in North Webster, IN. Instead of the 90 we have had in years past, this year we ended up with over 140!!! It was amazing! I am so thankful for the church that has sponsored and run it for over 25 years!
After I got back from that I had just over a month to get things prepared for my Europe trip in March. While there I was able to visit a family I used to work for in London, stay one night in Paris (due to train connections), and visit friends who pastor an international church in Lucern, Switzerland (one of the most beautiful places on the earth, in my opinion). All that was on the way to Germany where I visited a couple of MKs who were attending a year of Bible school near Friedrichshafen, and spent a week in Kandern with both Dan and Michelle Tebbe (and their 3 girls) and Black Forest Academy (an MK boarding school). While at BFA, I had the privilege of sharing with the seniors for a few minutes in their World View classes, and speaking in chapel to close to 300 of the high school students.
This summer, MTI's high school and young adult numbers were down, so I didn't get to travel to Colorado (but next year that will probably be back on the schedule). That opened up a few weeks for me to spend traveling around Ohio visiting family, friends, and churches. In June I attended Barnabas International staff meetings in Lake Geneva, WI (thanks, Faith Church, for allowing me to borrow a car with a/c), where we celebrated 25 years of ministry.
After staff meetings, I had just under a week to get ready to head to Seattle. That's right- Seattle, not Cedarville. You see, a couple of weeks before I had been asked if I could change my plans. They had ended up with no RA staff for the girls' floor, and unless someone else came, the program director would have been doing double duty. So, that's what I did. I spent 2 weeks on a floor with the 14 girls that attended the transition seminar (another Barnabas program like the ones in CA and OH). At the end of the time, I was exhausted, but it was so much fun and so great to see how God worked through all of us.
Now, I am looking ahead to this school year trying to make plans for when and where I will be. My finances are low at this point, but I am trusting that God will provide the funds to do everything He wants me to do. So far, I have plans to attend a retreat with the Taylor U group in northern IN, attend Mu Kappa staff meetings in WI, help with the North East retreat in Scranton, PA, share with The Gathering Community Church in Elyria, OH, along with visits to Asbury (KY), Mt Vernon Nazarene (OH), Judsen, Wheaton, and Moody (IL), and Indiana Wesleyan (IN). I am also hoping to travel to Colorado to spend some time with the Barnabas MKs that live there and to Arizona to visit a close friend from college (so thankful for the travel voucher I have from being bumped from a flight last year)...And that's all before Thanksgiving!!!!
In HIS care!!!
Melissa
No comments:
Post a Comment