I have also come to the realization that I am not very good at keeping up with this blog. I don't think I'm alone, but my once a week plan is way out the window! I'm resolving to try harder! : )
Here is a picture of the clinic that has been built in Eburru Kenya (compliments of Bud and Jim from their trip last month). It's amazing what has happend in the last 4 years since the team I was with had the first church service with 8 people!! Now they have a growing, thriving church and facilities such as this clinic that are being built and supported. Pastor Steve and his nurse wife are very passionate about Eburru and give everything they have to bring Jesus to this remote village in the mountains. I look forward to hanging out with them this summer AND working in this clinic.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Planning....
I'm a planner. Always have been. I find myself planning my future (near and far) based on what I know and what I would like to see happen. Lately I've been challenged on surrendering my own plans and looking to see what God may want for and from me. I've had a good idea what that is but my compliance is usually very conditional. This devotional today was very timely and sums up exactly what I need to learn but am still resisting to some degree.
From Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest:
"After sanctification, it is difficult to state what your purpose in life is, because God has moved you into His purpose through the Holy Spirit. He is using you now for His purposes throughout the world as He used His Son for the purpose of our salvation. If you seek great things for yourself, thinking, "God has called me for this and for that," you barricade God from using you. As long as you maintain your own personal interests and ambitions, you cannot be completely aligned or identified with God’s interests. This can only be accomplished by giving up all of your personal plans once and for all, and by allowing God to take you directly into His purpose for the world. Your understanding of your ways must also be surrendered, because they are now the ways of the Lord.
I must learn that the purpose of my life belongs to God, not me. God is using me from His great personal perspective, and all He asks of me is that I trust Him. I should never say, "Lord, this causes me such heartache." To talk that way makes me a stumbling block. When I stop telling God what I want, He can freely work His will in me without any hindrance. He can crush me, exalt me, or do anything else He chooses. He simply asks me to have absolute faith in Him and His goodness. Self-pity is of the devil, and if I wallow in it I cannot be used by God for His purpose in the world. Doing this creates for me my own cozy "world within the world," and God will not be allowed to move me from it because of my fear of being "frost-bitten.""
God is good and I always see Him dealing with me ever so gently....
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Great news!!
I received an exciting email today:
Amy Jo,
Seth asked me to touch base with you and let you know that our ministry in Nsoko, Swaziland is growing. We have just received a verbal commitment from a donor to build a medical clinic there. We already have a community center and staff who live on the campus and are feeding orphans daily through our care points. 
I could hardly stay in my seat at work! God is good and the doors are opening!
Monday, July 21, 2008
New dates!
The LSCC Zimbabwe trip postponement has "officially" been set for Aug 6-23 2009. I use the term loosely as it is always subject to change depending on the situation there. : ) It seems like a long time from now, but time flies and it's nice to have a date set once again. You can find pretty good coverage on the BBC world news website if you want to keep up with what's going on there. Be praying for our team, the plans and God's direction as we utilize the extra year we have.
I'm off to a meeting to help a small group plan their trip to Kenya in October! Life is good!!
Thank you for your prayers and support!
AJ
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Video
There is so much info about the disturbing situation in Swaziland, a country spiraling downward at an alarming rate. Here's a short video that describes AIMs response and gives a glimpse of the precious people there.
Untitled from Rusty Jackson on Vimeo.">
Swaziland
Swaziland has been on my mind over the last 6 or 9 months. Somehow I know that is where I will end up for a while in some capacity. Swazi is part of the reason that I'm still lamenting a bit over the fact that I'm not going this year. Not all the time...just every once in a while. But then I'm reminded of all the good things God has going right now....so I can wait on His timing. Regardless, I still ache and daydream for Swaziland.
Here are the Swaziland facts in a recent article:
One in three Swazi women have suffered some form of sexual abuse as a child; one in four experienced physical violence, a new United Nations survey revealed.
The study by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) is the first of its kind conducted in a country where anecdotal evidence suggests an alarming number of female children are victims of abuse. More disconcertingly still, the mushrooming population of orphans and vulnerable children in Swaziland provide yet more opportunities for sexual exploitation to occur.
In two years, 200,000 Swazi children will have been orphaned by AIDS - more than one-fifth of the current population, according to UNICEF. With HIV prevalence at 33.4 percent among people aged between 15 and 49, the country has the world's highest infection rate. As a result, life expectancy has halved from nearly 60 years in the 1990s to just over 30 years today.
Read the rest of the article here:
Someday I'll make it to Swazi as a nurse Lord willing...
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Trust and waiting...
Sometimes I'm struck with sadness that I'm not going to Africa this year. Most of the time I'm fine knowing I'm only waiting another year, but then sadness will come over me at the most inconvenient time....like at work or in the car. Right now, I'm sitting on the back porch on a beautiful morning with an incredible view of the valley finishing up quiet time, but really I long to be sitting with my friend Michelle in her little house, smelling the kibera smells and listening to all the people and matatus outside on the busy road. Or sitting in an orphanage in Swazilnd....something like that. On really hot days, if I close my eyes, it almost feels like I am there...minus the smell which I don't miss as much. : )
Another missionary that is on medical furlow for a while is frustrated in similar ways. Hers is different given that she has lived in Nigeria for years and is home in Texas by necessity and has no idea when she will get to go back. I'm really sad for her becuase I have a very tiny taste of what she feels. Recently, she read a book I read in Kenya that I had completly forgotten about called "Hinds Feet on High Places". She wrote about it in her blog and I thought it was a perfectly divine reminder for me as well:
It is an allegory about a character 'Much Afraid' who has two traveling companions 'Sorrow' and 'Suffering'. They are on a journey to get to the High Places, where the Shepherd lives and promises joy and freedom. They face many obstacles, including traveling through a desert, with the High Places out of sight.
When they reach the desert, Much Afraid cries out to the Shepherd, "You really mean that I am to follow that path down and down into that wilderness and then over that desert, away from the mountains indefinitely? Why ( and there was a sob of anguish in her voice ) it may be months, even years before that path leads me back to the mountains again. O Shepherd, do You mean it is indefinite postponement?'
The Shepherd replied 'It is only postponement for the best to become possible... Do you love Me enough to accept the postponement and the apparent contradiction of the promise and go down there with me into the desert?'
He was leading her away from her heart's desire altogether and gave no promise at all as to when He would bring her back.
Much Afraid replied with tears and trembling, "Even if You cannot tell me why it has to be, I will go with You, for You know that I do love You, and You have the right to choose for me anything that You please." pgs 109,110
I'm reminded of the importance of trust. God knows both what I desire and where I'm actually headed. More than I long for Africa, I long to not get in the way of that.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Zimbabwe 2009 Update
The Zimbabwe team met earlier this month and after fasting and praying we made a difficult but unanimous decision to postpone our trip that was scheduled for this August until next summer. Pray for Team Zimbabwe that we would know God’s perfect timing of our trip.
We have been watching the news since the elections on March 29th and it seems to go from bad to worse. But it is not our own safety as much as the safety of Emmanuel and Betty and the others we would be working with that we are concerned about. The very fact that they are friends with westerners could attract the wrong kind of attention. We also have been in contact with missionaries that have more experience working in Zimbabwe then we do, and they were not able to recommend that we go. They have postponed their plans for going as well. Pray for the safety and well being of the people in Zimbabwe during the re- election which has been rescheduled for June 27, for Economic recovery and that God would be glorified through His people.
Understanding God’s calling is a very difficult thing. As a team we all feel called to Zimbabwe to help build the orphanage, work with the children and encouraging the adults there. Our desire as a team is to make sure we are moving in God’s will and His timing for this trip and not according to our own desires. Pray for us as a team that we would be united and ready for however and whenever He will use us.
All of the funds that have been given to the team for the purpose of building the orphanage in Zimbabwe will remain with the team for our trip in 2009 and are designated for that purpose. We will be continuing with the task of raising the remainder of the funds needed, preparing for our ministries that we will be doing and uniting further as a team. Pray for team unity, for us to remain focused on the tasks that we need to do in order to prepare for the trip.
Thank you all for your love and support for the people on this team and the people of Zimbabwe.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Zimbabwe....
It's been great to be focused on nursing school the last couple of years,
but I'm so very grateful to have the opportunity to squeeze this trip in
before I finish the last two. The process has been tough at times but
stretching, exciting and clearly God organized! I don't sit still well and
always love a new adventure…especially when the Lord is in the middle!
We met Emmanuel and Betty from Zimbabwe a year ago as they told us a little
more in detail of the great need in their country. The economy is one of
the worst in the world, basic needs like bread are simply not available and
the unemployment rate in is the 90's. They are a desperately broken people
in need of some hope. They need to see the hands and feet of Jesus and know
that they are fiercely loved and not forgotten.
While we are there, our team will be building a "feeding station" to help
feed the many orphans and street children they currently work with. We will
be able to help with some of the feeding programs, have a VBS for the
children, encourage some community church groups, churches and help
Emmanuel and Betty in whatever ways they need. Personally, I will be doing
some women's programs, working with the street children and facilitating
the team discipleship and daily debriefs. All the things I love!
It's possible that this trip may include visits with possible partners for
the future as a full time missionary nurse. More to come on that later!
Please pray about whether you would like to support and participate in this
new adventure either financially, or in prayer. $3500 is required for the
Zimbabwe portion of the trip by the end of May (financial info below). A
solid group of prayer supporters is my greatest need and currently, I have
2 prayer partners for very specific needs. I would love more to join us so
please let me know if you would like to receive more specific updates on
what I am doing while I am gone to know how to be praying, and I will
gladly do so! I have learned over the years as a missionary that if you
focus on that, God takes care of the rest. It's still always a test of
faith!
It's interesting to look back at where you've been and think ahead to where
you are going. 6 years ago when I went on my first trip to the Philippines,
I would never have guessed that I would be pursuing a nursing degree and
hoping to someday be a career missionary nurse! Now I'm looking forward
and believe this is the first stop on the road to full time ministry once
my nursing degree is complete. My life with God has been a great adventure
so far and nothing is more exciting than stepping out in faith to do
whatever crazy thing He puts in front of you! I highly recommend it! : )
Joyfully,
Amy Jo Ford
Please make all checks payable to Lake Sawyer Christian Church (LSCC) and
send them to: 31605 Lake Sawyer Rd SE Black Diamond, Wa 98010
Posts
