Trying to remember that God IS in control...

So, we've sent out 200 update letters. 200 pages of oh-so-brief summary of what the last nine months of 2008 were like. 200 pages of photographs giving a brief glimpse into our life in Peru. 200 postcards asking people to consider how they might be able to support us financially so that we can go back to Peru for our second year of teaching.

I hate asking people for money; especially NOW, with such turmoil in the economic lives of those around us. Elkhart County, where we live in Indiana, is apparently one of the hardest hit counties in the nation, with a current unemployment rate of 12%! The newspaper is filled with story after story of factory and plant closings, lay-offs, relocations, etc. And in all this, God wants us to start asking people for money???

It has been a very difficult adjustment for me (Emily) to accept the idea that human plans have once again fallen down in shambles, and that God's plan apparently is for me to ask people for their money. It's not hard to accept that human plans have been changed; I know that already. The difficulty is in the whole asking people for money thing. It seems SO presumptuous. Yes, I know that we're not really asking for "just us"; we are asking people to support a ministry that God has led us into... but here's the thing: i'm enjoying that ministry so much more than i've enjoyed almost anything else i've ever done as a career/job/employment it just seems somehow wrong to ask people to give me money to keep doing something i love so much. i can't get a job in the States teaching like i can in Peru- i'd need to go back to school. and some day i plan on doing that. Teaching in Lima has completely solidified that teaching is where i am supposed to be in life. And I love teaching hand in hand with God and the Holy Spirit.

I guess I've spent so long gearing myself up every day to go to jobs i don't really enjoy at all (or even despise) so that I can fulfill my financial obligations and needs for living, that having a daily employment that i enjoy so much is a bit miraculous for me. and I guess part of me says, how can i ask other people to pay for my happiness? I have to keep reminding myself: I'm not asking them to pay for my great job, i'm asking them to make it possible for me to serve God by doing exactly what He created me to love doing.

It's still humbling and more than a tad bit overwhelming to get notes from one unexpected source after another committing to give us hundreds of dollars. We were humbled last year at several large gifts (lap top computer, a $2000 and a $1000 gift) that made it possible for us to meet all the financial needs we had. I cannot thank people enough for their support: not just in material matters, but also in the prayers that we felt lefiting us up through the toughest moments. I cannot thank you, except to promise to go back and do my best as a teacher, a woman following God, a sister, and an ambassador of Christ from the United States.

Thank you. We love you all.