"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth..." actually that may be going back a little too far. When Matt and I started dating I asked him what his dream job would be. He responded with outdoor education potentially overseas. I then asked him what was holding him back from going. He said he wanted to be married so he could go with his wife. I also mentioned that I had thought about going overseas and teaching (actually I was looking in to going to Korea after I graduated to teach English... probably a good thing I didn't. I might not have met Matt if I had gone). I also wanted to wait till I was married to go overseas. We both had the desire to have someone to go with us. Now that we are married, we re-visited that desire to GO. Plus we have been working through a few sermon series at Church pertaining to money (Bling series http://northview.org/index.php/messages/) as well as living your whole life for Christ. The purpose of our lives is to serve Christ. It does not matter if you have a house of your own or how big that house is. It does not matter if you have stuff it is just stuff. It has no purpose in Kingdom work. What matters is what you are doing with your life to serve Christ. We also recently had missions month with our youth group (Elevate). These were all little nudges from God that we need to GO.
Last Spring, Matt and I were looking for opportunities to teach overseas because the job market for teachers out here is just ridiculous. We went to a conference/expo called Missions Fest. The first person we encountered upon entering the facilities was a lovely gentleman with an organization called Mission:Teach (http://missionteach.com/). It is a website/database of teachers' resumes as well as schools that need teachers. So we posted our resumes. We wanted a way to narrow down our options and decided we naturally wanted to teach PE in a Spanish speaking country. Most of the emails we received were from Asia and we did not feel that was our calling. There are tons of opportunities in East Asia if anyone is interested. Eventually Matt received an email from El Camino Academy (ECA) letting him know that they had PE positions available. He asked if there would be a position available for me and there were. By the time we were at the point where we wanted to say yes, we had about 6-8 weeks to find a missions board to handle our finances, raise all our money and cut our road trip short. We opted to say no for now. We packed up our stuff to store at my parent's house, went on a road trip of a lifetime then moved to Langley. Even though we were/are content with where we are at, we began searching for what God had in store for us next. After an option to work at Camp Qwanoes did not pan out, we started thinking about Colombia again. Matt found the jobs were still posted and we inquired about them. After a quick double check with our references, they offered us the positions and we said yes! Matt will be teaching middle school and high school PE as well as health and math. I am going to be teaching elementary PE and planning student activities. They have also sent us their PE curriculum and said that it is in need up up dating! We are really excited to re-vamp the program! Matt brought home a few books on PE curriculum for me to start working on.
What's next? Last night we had our interview to become members of Northview Community Church and I must say it went rather well! This weekend they announce the new members. I do not see any reason why we would not be accepted so that is a rather exciting step. Through Northview we were directed to an organization called Multi-National Ministry Foundation to potentially handle our funds. We have an interview with a man named Helmet Weins on Monday (please pray about it). Basically we need to find an organization to partner with that can handle donations from both Canada and America. Then we can start raising funds! *hint* We are going for two years and by our estimations (with the help of the budget planner from ECA) we will need to raise between $36,000-$40,000 over two years. God is in control! He will provide the funds and the missions organization. We are starting to put together our support team. Yes, we need people who are willing to give money for us to go but we also need a solid prayer support team. If you are interested in either, please let us know. All in all, there are lots of things that need to happen. We are planning to sell a lot of what we own so we do not have to store so much stuff at my parents house. Then obtain our visas and all the other documents approved and purchased. I need to change my name on ALL my documents to make the process easier. We have made a list and are trying to stay organized. Oh and we are practicing our Spanish. The school is going to give us free Spanish lessons but still, it's nice to have a head start on the class.
I am very excited that you have decided to join us on our adventure. Thank you for taking the time to read this post and I look forward to writing to you again soon! With joyful anticipation of our next encounter remember that each day is a gift from God and an adventure where He has provided opportunities for you to serve Him. So be joyful in all circumstances and in everything you do praise the Lord!
We are so excited for you and will definitely be praying for you! We're so glad you're coming to visit us first. You can practice your Spanish a little too!
ReplyDeleteAll the best as you prep and GO...it'll all work out! Lana and I have talked about doing something similar with aviation after I'm done with the Air Force. We'll be praying.
ReplyDeleteSo happy to see that a) you've started a blog, and b) you're going off on a Colombian adventure! Interestingly enough, my brother Kelvin and his family were in Bogota a few years ago while he was working on a recording project with some locals. I'll have to find out the details and get back to you.
ReplyDeleteAWESOME news Milecs. :)