Today I finally got around to sharing with my supporters what I have been doing, what God has been doing, and what their prayers and donations have been doing for the Kingdom of God! This is just the smallest bit of what my time in CGA has been like, but a little something is better than nothing! To God be all the glory for all of this!
Here is a bit:
Class has been really, really good! It’s been like trying to take a drink from a fire hose most of the time, but God’s timing is His own and He is taking me through and teaching me just what He wants to in His own timing. I feel like I have learned everything from deep, profound spiritual lessons, to really practical skills like how to mediate conflict management and ask good questions. The overall structure for the semester is “Know yourself; lead yourself. Know others; lead others.” So the beginning of the semester was a lot of internal work, growing self-awareness, giving and receiving feedback, learning about ourselves and our needs and tendencies (good and bad ones) as leaders but mostly just as humans, refining each other and really opening ourselves up to be refined by the Lord. That first part was a lot of heavy, deep, rich stuff. We have now moved onto “Know others; lead others.” We are being equipped with and already practicing some really good, practical tools for leadership. We have read many good books and are getting to grow into some of the most difficult aspects of leading and discipling. This week I am preparing for an hour long teaching I will be giving… woohoo! Thanks, God!
Each of us just co-led a domestic short-term mission trip through AIM. I led a group of families ages 8-65 yrs old (51 total individuals) to Appalachia. It was challenging, empowering and soooo good! It was a little weird to be in the role we were, doing the administrative, logistical work, grocery shopping for the whole group, having very adult discussions, and making hard decisions, rather than being the ones getting our hands dirty in ministry and such. We got to teach, facilitate worship, and ultimately empower the participants to dive into the service work, relationships with each other, and the Lord. Some parts of last week were really hard, some were super rewarding, but the Lord was in it all, so I’d do it again for sure. I’m not a huge fan of short term missions, but I have seen such benefits of them this week. I think I’d like to lead a 1-3 month long trip next. Some of the participants heard God’s voice for the first time, decided to follow Jesus, three got baptized (I got to baptize one sweet girl, Rachel), experienced the principle “it is more blessed to give than to receive”, all realized how blessed they were to have a family, community, home and food (many worked with a homeless ministry); one girl, Rebecca was away from her mom for the first time, sang in front of people for the first time, and had her first pillow fight! Some individuals were set free from sinful habits, and all grew in their faith, experienced God in new ways, and relationships with one another. Our top three objectives for the trip: to receive God’s love (1 John 4:19), and love God and others (Matthew 22:36-40) were certainly achieved and in cooler and bigger ways than we imagined. This was a great way to apply the things we have been learning and lead others in the same way. Thanks, God!
Once a week we have “track” instead of class. My track is called church planting, however, it is not church planting with the goal of a typical building, pastor, and congregation. We are starting with and (for right now) staying with the basics of evangelism and discipleship. We have learned and practiced some biblical tools for both those things.
We began the semester by going into two particular apartment complexes in the area, Park Hill and Melrose (the Lord highlighted these two apartments complexes to one of the elders at AIM and through a few crazzzzzy stories, we now have really beautiful and God-ordained connections with both of them). In the Atlanta metroplex, 2,000 people are church-goers and 4,000 are considered “far from God”. 3,000 of those 4,000 are unwilling to go to church, but 75% of them are willing to have spiritual conversations. We are pursuing those people. We are not asking people to come to a building to hear a guy in charge share the gospel because they are resistant to that for different, quite valid reasons. We are coming to them, knocking on their doors (I was not all about this in the beginning, but I have been shocked at how welcoming and interested people are to meet us and hear what we have to say). We have takien the simple gospel to these strangers in these apartments and people are accepting and believing in Jesus left and right. One of the first people we met was a pastor from Eastern Africa and when we came to his door he welcomed us in and said he knew we were coming. He had a dream from God that his whole apartment complex would come to know Him and he knew we were going to be a part of that. It has been CRAZY and so encouraging, especially for me to see in the states. People aren’t just praying a prayer, but we are seeing them pursue God, understand His Word, and there is clear fruit of the spirit in their lives. We are maintaining these relationships as well as discipling these families and individuals and teaching them how to do the same with others.
The spreading of the gospel should never stop at a single believer, and these new believers are sharing the good news and making disciples like we are. Sure there are plenty of obstacles and difficulties and questions in all this, but my biggest take away from these experiences is the simplicity of the gospel and greater belief in God’s promises and pursuit of people. The Word says,
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (Romans 10).
God has shown me how simple while still profound the gospel is, and that people believing in Him and choosing to follow Him depends on nothing but faith and faith comes from hearing the Word, Truth. They don’t need to know all the Bible stories; they don’t have to understand the three parts of salvation; they don’t have to know who Paul is or how many books are in the Bible; I don’t even have to build a relationship with someone before I can lead them to the Lord and give them an opportunity to choose Him. The Holy Spirit has also come to life to me more as one who actually goes before us and who is leading and guiding us when we abide in Him, yield to Him, and listen to His promptings and words. God is SO GOOD and is SO IN PURSUIT OF PEOPLE and is SO KIND TO LET US JOIN HIM IN INVITING OTHERS INTO THE FAMILY OF GOD! Thanks, God!
For a month or so now, God as shown me that He has more for me here in Gainesville, GA – in discipleship relationships, at work, in my church, in counseling, in the Adventures in Missions community, etc. So, I will be staying here until God directs me otherwise!
I just got a job as the JV assistant and Middle School head and coach at Gainesville public school. (Go Red Elephants!) I was wanting to coach again and mentor/disciple girls via volleyball so bad and God literally laid this opportunity right in my lap. I didn’t, however, want the responsibility of a head coach and really wanted to learn under a superb coach. It turns out that God has a better idea! I’m now excited to have my own team. I will have just finished a leadership/discipleship school and have the prime opportunity and support system to practice, try and fail, and excel at coaching, mentoring, and leading these girls. We are already in the swing of summer open gyms and summer camps and stuff will be starting soon, so a lot is on my plate. But once I graduate CGA, I will be very glad to get to just focus on my team for a bit! I will continue to work at Midland Station, the coffee shop I am at. I will hopefully get to be more involved with my church, which I really love and do childcare for a couple times a month. I am also taking a Perspectives class (you can google it if you haven’t heard it, but basically is a really sweet and fruitful class on missions that is taught all over the States). It’s kind of expensive, but I got a great scholarship to help me pay for it, and I know it will be totally worth it! The class will be one night a week for 15 weeks, and I’m glad I’ll still be learning in a classroom for this next season, because I thrive in that. Here in Gainesville, I am also very close to my grandma who lives in NC and I got to see her one time since moving here and hopefully will get to see her more and more! She has been such a blessing to me!
God is radically transforming me. Literally weekly I look back and say, “Wow, God, you did this massive thing in me this week – thank you!”
That was so much. I hope it encourages you wherever you are at! Thanks for your love and support! It’s remarkable. Love, Ellie
