I haven't blogged much about this subject yet... I'm sure there will be more posts soon to follow tho! So yes, I am going on an "expedition" (as e3 calls them) to Thailand from October 12th-24th, 2011 with e3 Partners Ministry. And yes, we will be recruiting help for Mark :) It's weird to think I will be gone from my family for that long... I wonder what that will feel like. Will I miss them terribly? Will I be so engulfed in the new place, the work at hand, that I don't have an extra few minutes to think about them? Will the foreign land make me miss them more? I have so many questions, I cannot even keep them straight in my mind.
If you want to be on my prayer team, please let me know! I'm planning on sending prayer updates every other week or every week... we'll see how time goes :) I need people to pray for me now! I already know that Satan will try to undermine God's work, starting with the common ways He debilitates me at home. I need people who are with me in doing God's work and stopping Satan from hindering me while I am gone, and I need to make sure that starts at home. You can start by praying that the planning part of me would rest easy in God's purpose. I begin to think about how less than 1% of people in Thailand call themselves Christians... I cannot fathom how this came to be! How are there countries that are free religiously and yet still completely without the knowledge of Jesus life, death and resurrection? Anyway, this gets overwhelming to me fast and I need to remember that God's purpose is so far beyond my ability to understand. I keep trying, but I cannot, and I need to not let that send me in a whirlwind of questioning God's purposes and not be overwhelmed at the enormous task of God bringing people to Himself - He's got it! I want to trust that 100% and I am not close to that now. Don't get me wrong, I know it is true, I just need to let go of my pride and my own idea of what's best and recognize that God is so far beyond the best plan I could ever come up with.
So, that's just a small peek into what's been weighing on me lately. Please, if you want to commit to praying for me every week until my trip, and then every day during my trip, let me know! Give me your email! Don't let the thought of it intimidate you... if you miss a day, God can still take care of me. But I know how rewarding it is to pray for someone overseas and then later learn of the amazing ways God revealed Himself to people in a far distant land... you don't want to miss out! Keep checking my blog for updates on trip information, fundraising info (you can donate online at www.e3partners.org/joellenarmstrong) and general updates on how I'm feeling and what I'm learning. I'm sure God is going to use this time in my life to prepare me for other events in my life. Exciting, scary, weighty, intimidating - lots of things, but definitely all good! Thanks all, you'll be hearing from me.
If you want to be on my prayer team, please let me know! I'm planning on sending prayer updates every other week or every week... we'll see how time goes :) I need people to pray for me now! I already know that Satan will try to undermine God's work, starting with the common ways He debilitates me at home. I need people who are with me in doing God's work and stopping Satan from hindering me while I am gone, and I need to make sure that starts at home. You can start by praying that the planning part of me would rest easy in God's purpose. I begin to think about how less than 1% of people in Thailand call themselves Christians... I cannot fathom how this came to be! How are there countries that are free religiously and yet still completely without the knowledge of Jesus life, death and resurrection? Anyway, this gets overwhelming to me fast and I need to remember that God's purpose is so far beyond my ability to understand. I keep trying, but I cannot, and I need to not let that send me in a whirlwind of questioning God's purposes and not be overwhelmed at the enormous task of God bringing people to Himself - He's got it! I want to trust that 100% and I am not close to that now. Don't get me wrong, I know it is true, I just need to let go of my pride and my own idea of what's best and recognize that God is so far beyond the best plan I could ever come up with.
So, that's just a small peek into what's been weighing on me lately. Please, if you want to commit to praying for me every week until my trip, and then every day during my trip, let me know! Give me your email! Don't let the thought of it intimidate you... if you miss a day, God can still take care of me. But I know how rewarding it is to pray for someone overseas and then later learn of the amazing ways God revealed Himself to people in a far distant land... you don't want to miss out! Keep checking my blog for updates on trip information, fundraising info (you can donate online at www.e3partners.org/joellenarmstrong) and general updates on how I'm feeling and what I'm learning. I'm sure God is going to use this time in my life to prepare me for other events in my life. Exciting, scary, weighty, intimidating - lots of things, but definitely all good! Thanks all, you'll be hearing from me.
July 16, 2011 at 9:55 AM
I think I already responded on facebook that we'd love to be praying specifically for you, so do add me to that list. I'm praying now that, through all the questions, God lets you rest with the peace and assurance that He has it all under control and that He will use you to help in just the right ways while He perfectly orchestrates all these amazing plans we need not worry ourselves over. 'Praying that He keeps satan well away from your homefront in your preparations and that He gives you strength, peace, comfort, and wisdom, and that you are filled with all the fruits of His Spirit; and that you won't be anxious, worried, or intimidated along the way.