Florida Life in Photos: Where I Live and Where I Work

A few of you have been wondering what my new world looks like. Well, here it is! Talk about a long post! I'll start off with the brief view of the office and then take you on a more extensive tour of my home.
This is the view from the elevator as you enter the office. The map on the left has a red pushpin for each city in each country where we have missionaries serving. In the middle you can see a bit of the Mail Room. Each missionary has a mailbox there, whether they are overseas, support-raising, or in the office daily. If you want to send me an encouraging word, my address is: P.O. Box 547, Fort Myers, FL, 33902. To the right is the reception desk. We don't pay a receptionist, so we each volunteer an hour or so during the week to answer the phones. I'm there on Tuesdays at 2pm.

This is the conference room, where we have devos, pray, and do announcements each morning. We have meetings with our division from 8:00-8:15 and meet here from 8:15-9:00 every morning. The chairs are pretty much all filled up each day, even some that you can't see. I believe there are about 45 people who work in the office.

This is the marker board in the Publications Office (aka "The PUB") where we list who is doing what job, what type of job it is, when the request was submitted, when the job needs to be completed, and what the status is on that job---how close we are to getting it done. There are a few things with my name next to them! Writing newsletters is allowing me to have faces for a few people that I haven't met yet and read about all that God is teaching them around the world. I have now helped with several newsletters and done a few on my own! They say I'm learning fast.

This is the living room. The dining room table is to the left, though we often eat at the chairs by the counter in the kitchen. Tonight we had a missionary family from Mexico over for dinner and used the "big table" for one of the first times since I've been here. In the next few weeks we're hosting some board members and others that are traveling here for the official board meeting to determine what future course of action the mission will take concerning Phil, the past president. Please be in prayer for that; it's on January 23 and January 24th and a lot of big decisions will be made then. Last week, during Blackout Week, we got a chance to hear from each of the Executive Team members (who have taken over Phil's responsibilities since his confession). They shared their vision for the mission and reminded us to remember all that God has done in the past, how powerful He is, and how much we can trust Him (Susan), to remember His strength, how present He is around us all the time, and that there is no need for fear or pride (Andrew), to not give up asking genuine, probing questions during hard times in order to best love others (David), and passing on a legacy of faith (J.D.).

This is the kitchen and I'm standing at the front door to take a picture of it. To the left is the living room. We've already had many a tasty meal there---both of my housemates are great cooks! Today NMSI started a "Biggest Looser" contest among the staff at the Center for Global Outreach (CGO) and the missionaries on the field, so we'll be making more of an effort to watch what we eat and get outside to bike, run, etc. more often for the next three months. If you think of it, you might pray for me about that... I think it will be a great opportunity for unity, especially since both of my housemates are doing it and we eat almost every meal together (great accountability!).

This is my room. I'm actually sitting on that bed right now, typing on that very lap top. And the lists on the right part of the wall are all the people praying for me. I pray for you guys every morning. God has blessed me so much through you and I wouldn't be here without you! There are several older buildings on campus that are going to be torn down and rebuilt. My house, however, is one of the newer ones. And that is the biggest bed I've ever belonged to!

The blue house is the newest addition on campus! In fact, some of the girls are moving in today for the very first time! This gives you an idea of how close the houses are together. Also, if you look closely, you can see lots of pine needles on the ground next to the path. There are pine needles all over the place, but they are especially to layer on top of sand, so that you don't track tons of sand into your house. Plus, I just like that little path, so I thought I'd show you that, too.

This is the outside of my house. Notice the picnic tables that are sprinkled around campus for outside eating enjoyment. We are in the process of a capital campaign called "How Will They Hear?" in order to build more housing to train more missionaries to deploy in the next few years. You can donate to this campaign in the same way that you donated to me online, just click on "How Will They Hear?" when you get to the page with a list of names (www.nmsi.org/donate) Have you been thinking about donating, but haven't actually filled out the information yet? I'm at 92% support, there's still time to join my team!

On the left is my house, in the middle behind the trees is the office, on the right is the guy's house. This gives you an idea how close I am to work. I can walk there in a few short minutes----talk about convenient! This picture also gives you a glimpse at the combination of palm trees and regular trees in Florida.

These are the community vehicles. NMSI has planned ahead in a lot of ways for many of us to live on campus and conserve resources. We can check out a van and pay a certain amount per mile, which covers maintenance costs as well. I feel like a "soccer mom" when I drive the vans!

This may have been the tenth time I tried to get both of our faces in the camera! Ha! This is my friend Helen. Not only is she one of my housemates here, she's also my favorite person on campus! It's really nice to have someone to process life with and laugh with! Notice how tiny my pupils are in the picture---it's very sunny here!

I hope you enjoyed the tour. I took these pictures on the weekend, so I realize there are a lot more of outside and my house than the office, but that should still give you an idea of what it's like here. I'd love to hear from you sometime!

Staff Retreat: Stages of Enculturation

Monday to Thursday this week were spent at the annual Center For Global Outreach (CGO) Staff Retreat. (The CGO is a fancy name for the office). All the people that work in the office here in Fort Myers traversed a few hours north to Lake Aurora Christian Camp to refocus, reconnect, and have a little fun (i.e. There was a guest appearance by the band "Don't Blink," the members of which looked suspiciously like a few hilarious guys from the NMSI office who were clad in thrift store clothes and also orchestrated/officiated our very own NMSI Olympics). Somehow I ended up being a team captain in the Olympics; our team name was, "Blink a Little." Though we lost the Olympics overall, we did laugh a LOT and won the paddle boat competition. The camp itself was beautiful, especially one morning when fog covered the grounds.

As far as reconnecting, I was surprised at how many staff members I already know here! Of the approximately 45 adults at the retreat/that work in the office, there were only about four that I didn't know the names of. Craziness! Additionally, I had opportunities to talk at length (or sometimes just listen) to some of my current housemates and some of my housemates from last summer. You know how I'm a fan of one-on-one conversations, so that was just nice!

I got to spend some time reflecting on how good God is in general and how good He specifically has been to me over the last few weeks. Sometimes I just found myself amazed by Him and wanted to sing---a symptom of a grateful heart, I think! Today the song "Mighty to Save" was stuck in my head. Well, the chorus was anyways...we sang it one night, but I don't know it that well yet.

Verse 1:
Everyone needs compassion
Love that's never failing
Let mercy fall on me
Everyone needs forgiveness
The kindness of a Savior
The hope of nations

Chorus:
Savior, He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
My God is mighty to save
Forever, author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave

Verse 2:
So take me as you find me
All my fears and failures
Fill my life again
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in
Now I surrender
I surrender...

Coda:
Shine your light and
Let the whole world see
We're singing for the glory
Of the risen King

Not only was there fun and reconnection, there was some refocusing on the gospel through skits, times of solitude, devos, and corporate prayer. Lastly, there was some corporate processing time with Phil (the former president of NMSI); it was intense. We learned a little more about what Phil and Gwen have been learning and how they are changing and growing in the aftermath of his confession. They are changing and growing, and that's exciting. I think we all learned a little more about how deeply one man's sin can affect so many people as well. Wow.

Part of me felt like I belonged with these people, doing these things, and part of me was thinking, "Oh, I'm at camp! I'm going to go home to St. Louis at the end of the week!" In reality, it will probably be Winter of 2009 before I visit St. Louis. Being here in Florida doesn't feel "real" yet. In a way moving to Florida and onto the NMSI campus is like transitioning into life in another culture and so the Florida enculturation process can be similar to moving to another country. Typically, they say there are five stages of enculturation (I stole these from a fellow missionary's blog):

1) Every thing is great
2) Everything is horrible
3) Some things are good, some bad but that is the way it is
4) You are a part of the culture
5) You have become one of them…

Obviously, having just arrived Saturday, I'm in Stage One---everything is great and exciting and new! Please pray that God will prepare me for and carry me through each of the next stages. I especially value your prayers as Stage Two---Everything is horrible---is next in the process. No person or organization is perfect. There will be hard times, hard people, emotional exhaustion, physical exhaustion, attacks by the Enemy, etc. Pray for regular rest, increased trust in God, deep friendships, and humility (continually refocusing on God and not myself) as I continue to transition during the coming months.

I'm Here! My Inauguration Into Life In Florida

Friends, I just wanted to let you know that I've arrived safely and am now all moved in! I am one of three missionaries living in my house, though up to four more will move in for the COAT training program at the end of January. They'll be here until the end of March-ish and then the next group will arrive for training at the end of May.

Right now things are quiet and lovely in my house. One of my roommates, Renee, worked in Ukraine for five years and is in her late 30's/early 40's. She loves art and also works in the Publication Division (affectionately known as "The PUB" here), which is where I will start working tomorrow. Helen is in her late 20's, just a few years older than me, and was a missionary in Kenya for a few years. Helen was a part of my COAT training group this summer and is very wise and insightful. Both of them are very good cooks and very sweet! Renee worked in the office during the time I was in COAT this summer, so I already knew both of them before moving down to Florida. That was just a really nice thing for God to arrange for me to have them as roommates. It was a very welcoming feeling to hang out with them last night.

Did I mention that I'm in Florida now?!?!?! I am! Right now, at this very second, I'm in Florida! WOW! I've worked a long time to get here and now I'M HERE! When I was leaving the Florida airport and climbing into the car to drive to my new abode, the Switchfoot song "Dare You to Move" was playing on the radio. I thought that was ironic, even though the song is obviously not talking about packing your belongings to relocate to another state. It was kind of like God was reminding me that He asked me to do something big and I did it! The next year is sure to be an adventure in trusting Him!

Today Helen and I did some typically Floridian things:

1. We went to the beach. Yes, it is January and technically winter, but the temperature was in the low 80's today and it was sweaty and warm and relaxing and wonderful, just like beaches should be!

2. We went to church a Hispanic church...so the whole service was in Spanish. That was SO FUN! We understood most of the praise and worship part and were struck by the attitude of celebration, joy, unity, and excitement there! They seemed so much happier than the English speaking churches I've attended! The sermon was harder to understand, especially when the pastor got excited and passionate and talked faster and smooshed some of the words together (which he did often). We learned some new words and were reminded that resolutions for the new year shouldn't be empty promises. Let us resolve to trust God in 2009!

3. We ate a really good orange. This sounds insignificant, but it was incredibly juicy and delicious---probably the best orange I've ever eaten in my life! I didn't even think about that being a Floridian thing to do until we were actually eating it, but Florida is known for it's oranges. It might have had a fun name like "tangelo," too. (So maybe it technically wasn't an "orange"? All I know is that it was wonderful.)

So there you have it, my inauguration into life in Florida. I'd love to hear from you! I have the same e-mail and phone number. I included my new address in my previous post.

Last Week on the Roof (For a While)

My home church in St. Louis is called Rooftop Community Church. Sometimes people wonder if we actually hold services on the roof of our building, but that's not the case. In fact, the name comes from Matthew 10:27, where Jesus the disciples to "shout from the rooftops" all that He'd been telling them in private. In essence, I think that's what evangelism is----telling everyone you can about what God's been telling you/who He is/how he's changed you. (The loud volume part being optional).



For the last four years, since I graduated from Truman and moved back to St. Louis, Rooftop has been my church home. It's been my Antioch, if you will. My sending-church. My home base. The intensity of my love for the people there has grown significantly even in the last year! Not only that---as a congregation and as individuals and as families---they have stepped up to provide about 75% of my monthly funding and much of my prayer support for future ministry. They have called, e-mailed, prayed, encouraged, worshiped, laughed, and cried with me over the last year. They have inspired me and challenged me. I'm sure they have only a hint of an idea about how much that has meant to me!

Last week we said our official "good-byes" as Pastor Matt and various leaders prayed for me. Starting tomorrow, most of my "shouting" will be done from other rooftops, in other locations. Possibly even in some places that don't have roofs!

First I'm moving to Florida to work the office of New Mission Systems International in the Publication Division, writing about all that God has been doing around the world and discerning what foreign country and type of ministry God is calling me to. Chances are I'll be "shouting" from Fort Myers for one to three years. Later I'll "shout" the good news from a still-unknown, yet much-anticipated foreign place.

Join me in praising God for Rooftop's involvement in the preparation process and the sending process! May He prepare both of us to "shout" His truth more fearlessly, passionately, and selflessly in 2009! Praise Him for 92% of my support!

My address at NMSI:
P.O. Box 547
Fort Myers, FL 33902