The Back Story

DISCLAIMER: I don't like blogs. I find them to be self-serving for the most part. Although, I do have some friends and blogs in general that I find interesting and get a kick out of, I think they're overall really annoying. With that said, I want to use this blog to inform people of what's going on in my life and I hope to keep it updated regularly if/when I get to Bolivia. I have friends all over the country and, unfortunately, I can't call them all and tell them this long story of how I got where I am. This post is super long. I promise they won't all be like this. I'm not that self-involved, people! :)

ROBBING THE CRADLE! I had coffee with a 19-year-old boy. I asked him out. Yes, there's 10 years between us and yes he attended the school where I taught last year and many of my coworkers were his teachers in junior high. But this guy is cool, interesting and I wanted to get to know him better. WE ARE NOT INTERESTED IN EACH OTHER. But as God would have it, His Holy Spirit was going to speak through this young lad. Let's name him Giuseppe.

WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? So Giuseppe and I grab coffee and he asks me all sorts of discerning and probing questions that I haven't asked myself. Things like: what have you done with the last year of unemployment? and have you ever thought of doing missions? My water almost came out of my nose with that last question - ME? Missions? Haha! This kid so doesn't know me! I told him that the reason I have never thought of missions (and never even done a short-term trip) is three-fold: 1) I don't look good in long skirts 2) I swear sometimes 3) I have been known to make fun of missionaries or MKs. He didn't laugh. This kid was serious!

WHATEVER, GIUSEPPE. I left coffee time with G thinking "wow, that was bizarre. I'm totally putting that crap (see, potty mouth) out of my mind." But God wouldn't let me. He was incessant about it. He put my devotion time into Philippians, which is pretty much all about doing missions. He convicted me of my mocking attitude towards missionaries. And He challenged me in why I felt like I couldn't be a missionary.

THE JONAH RESPONSE. These are the things I struggled with for the coming weeks. I cried out to God - literally - during my quiet times! "God! Are you kidding me? I have FINALLY found a church that feels like home! I've FINALLY made good, Christian friends in Minnesota! I'm not going. You've got the wrong girl". I will call this time in my journey The Jonah Response.

BOLIVIA? HOW'D WE GET THERE?! So I figured I could throw God a bone and go on a short-term trip this summer. I can do that. I can go to Mexico and help with a VBS for a couple of weeks this summer. Maybe that will get God off my back, I thought. I went on my denomination's website (http://www.sovereigngraceministries.com/) to see where they have churches planted in Spanish-speaking countries. I figured I could at least learn some more Spanish while I'm doing this crazy thing. SGM has churches in Mexico, but not in the safest places. And then I saw there is one in La Paz, Bolivia. Bolivia? Well it's a country below Peru and I've been there. Hmm... I wonder if they need anyone for their VBS. So I shot an email to one of my pastors to dig a little bit. In the meantime. I looked up some mission agencies that I know of to see if anyone has a short-term trip to Bolivia this summer. No one did. So I Googled "missions organizations" and the top hit was SIM - Serving in Mission. Hmm... I've heard of them... I wonder if they have anything?

SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHER NEEDED. Turns out, they did have something. Something so specific and lined up with my education and desires, I couldn't turn away from the post. I read it once, I read it three times, and then I clicked on it. (http://sim.org/index.php/opportunity/7220) A Christian school for MKs and Bolivian nationals needed a junior high/senior high social studies teacher? Seriously? I couldn't believe it. So, you're saying I could fulfill this new-found desire to do missions through teaching in my content area? I could gain experience, fluency in a language I have been wanting to learn more of and follow God, all in one?? But wait... can I really do this? Am I serious about this? I feel like I need some back-up.

BACK-UP NEEDED. I emailed the women in my small group. The email was titled "But I Don't Wanna Go..." I should've signed it "Jonah". I asked for their feedback, their prayers, their counsel. And then I sent it. I made this month's long journey REAL by actually putting it into words and telling people who are close to me about it. What was I thinking? Is there an"unsend" button on this thing? Oh no, and here come their responses. They're going to say "here are the top 10, nay, the top 100 reasons why you're not a good enough Christian to become a missionary" and they'd all be true! Oh no, this girl has been my prayer partner for the last year and really knows my sin - she's going to rip me apart! But here's the thing - they didn't. They encouraged me. They said it would be bittersweet to see me go, but that I should do it. They said it was an evidence of God's grace in my life that I was even considering going. They loved me. I'll be honest, I kind of wanted them to talk me out of it. To give me that top 100 list so I could wave it at God and say "See? You've got the wrong girl!" Now what?

PARENTAL ADVISORY: Now I need to tell my parents. So I told my mom that I wanted to talk to just her and dad that night. In retrospect, and knowing what she does for a living (a counselor at a crisis pregnancy center) she probably thought I was going to tell her I was knocked up. Yup, another immaculate conception, I guess. So I told them and then even they were excited for me. What? Why is no one giving pause to this? Why is no one shooting up big, red flags? Who is going to stop this madness? I went on SIM's site and did the preliminary application. The wheels were in motion - in motion, people! And then I saw where SIM was headquartered - Charlotte, North Carolina. The very same Charlotte that I would be in a week and a half from that day, visiting a friend and doing a Premier jewelry show. Seriously, God?

FAST FORWARD. In a nutshell, this is where I'm at and what has happened since the application:
1 - I met with my recruiter while I was in Charlotte and we talked about whether this would be a 1 or 2 year commitment. We decided to do 1 year and see how it goes; if great then I could sign up for a second year, if not so great, I could come home and curl up with the basset (Lord willing. She's getting so old, people!)
2 - I told more people, mostly from church, about it. And, not surprisingly at this point, they were excited for me. They were sad about me leaving, but encouraged me to move forward. And that's what I've been doing - walking forward in faith.
3 - I talked with the school's principal on Skype for an hour one night to find out more about the actual position. I'd be teaching 7-10 grade social studies (my favorite ages!) and one of the courses would be sociology/psychology, which is what my undergraduate degree was in. The school sounds amazing - you can check it out at http://www.carachipampa.org/welcome-to-ccs
4 - Now we're waiting for all my references to get their paperwork back, for me to take the MMPI psych evaluation (dying to see what that says about me!) and then a portfolio of all my information will be made up and given to a committee at SIM. If they approve me, I'll be set to start fund-raising. The cost to be there for the year isn't cheap. But it's nothing to God. I have seen him provide financially so many times in my life, over and over, so I'm not worried about that part of it. Yes, it's a big leap of faith to live off of people's generosity each and every day, but I have a feeling He's going to teach me a lot about stewardship and trust this next year.

Thanks for reading all of this. I'm sure I left details out. Please pray for me - the evil one likes to attack those who are moving toward God's work. Pray that I don't start to doubt myself or get anxious about raising funds. Pray that I keep GOD the focus and not myself. Pray that I stay strong in my devos and prayer life.
Excited to take this new adventure with you guys! Feel free to email or call if you have any questions or concerns. bex813@hotmail.com 952.239.0750
Love yas ~
Bex