My journey back to Faith Academy has been, in a word, unbelievable. There have been so many things that I would not even believe could happen and yet I experience them. The Lord’s leading has been clearer than ever before, His goodness and faithfulness unmistakable. There are so many instances that this post would be very very long.. so I’ll name a few.
When I returned to the states from Faith in June of 2007 I was left wondering what the purpose of the whole exercise had been. Did I enjoy it? Sure. Did I make wonderful new relationships? Absolutely! Did I make a difference? About that I wasn’t so sure and yet it didn’t feel finished. It’s only now that I can see the myriad of ways the Lord used that time for both my life and for others–filling a temporary teaching need, being a fresh perspective, getting involved in Threads of Hope, getting a glimpse into the purpose of ever getting that college degree… and the list could go on. It’s just so good even now to see purpose in that time.
I could say the same has really been for the last 3 years at Beulah. I have grown to love the media skills I’ve learned through my time at camp. There is no question about my love for the camp and it’s ministry but it didn’t necessarily feel like a long term commitment–at least in living there. I couldn’t have imagined being able to continue to serve Beulah and be here and yet the Lord brought it about not even of my own idea. Not to mention that now I have a whole new set of skills to offer here as well.
When I visited Faith with my mom in April I’ll go ahead and admit that the timing of the trip was a bit selfish. I wanted to see friends, see the show, see the new facility. Here again, the Lord used that time to encourage my desire to come back and also call my mom into serving more with the bracelet ministry. At that point I saw no way of being financially able to come back but it’s been through fundraising bracelet sales (and the Lords opportunities and blessings in that) and my wonderful friends that the financial worry was wiped away. Does that mean it will never been a struggle? No. I will continue to need support from individuals but the Lord has proven I need not worry by providing a way I could not have come up with. I pray that as the Lord provides individual support less and less of the funds raised will be necessary for me and can be added to other needs.
The speed at which everything happened… enough said.
The actual process before hand and travelling here went almost without incident. I had no security issues with all of my camera and computer equipment and even my seats worked out to be good ones! It wasn’t til Philippine immigration we had a problem. The plane was already 1.5hrs late when I was held up by another hour because they wouldn’t let me into the country. I didn’t have proof of a return ticket, oops. They tried to make me buy a return ticket for 21 days from then and as I sat there crying and praying, “Lord, please don’t let me have to buy a ticket,” my credit card refused to be vaildated due to internet problems. Obviously they eventually let me go. It was super frustrating at the time but it worked itself out to be nothing but a baggage guy playing games. I am thankful I was saved from buying a ticket I didn’t need and wouldn’t use. Whew.
My roommate is great. Where we live is great but noisy. Although a neigbor was kind enough to come in and kill an animal on our kitchen shelf. And by animal I mean spider but by spider I mean animal! Seriously the thing was huge and we’re pretty sure was feeding itself a cockroah! Well, we can’t all be grown ups all the time! 🙂
Other things are still working themselves out. The urgent teaching need was actually not as urgent as I’d been told so I won’t be teaching until January but there is still plenty to do. I will have a little more time for things for Beulah and will also be doing some design things for the school. Then there are shows. I’m quite certain there will never be a dull moment in my life again. Perfect. 🙂
Now, everyone come visit!
