Old Funding verse

While in funding school one of the verses we looked at was II Cor 4:16-18. I was praying over it the other day and found it encouraging.

¹⁶Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ¹⁷For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. ¹⁸So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Ariel and I just returned from our last funding trip and slept for over 15 hours. I've never been more exhausted since as far back as I can remember. I found this verse extremely encouraging.

p.s. sarah i liked the picture idea so much that I had to copy you...

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Journey Stories...

What stories a week can bring! I left last Sunday afternoon for Cherokee, IA to visit some dear friends. We caught up, talked about ministry, and they even took me boating. What a blessing! I took off from Cherokee Monday afternoon. This week was full of ups and downs. I had 9 meetings scheduled in MN, and stayed at my old apartment with the two roomies. Here are a few cool God stories, or ways in which He worked in my heart and the hearts of others this week...

The Challenge: I was reading in 1 Samuel 18 about how Saul, the king, rushes to make a sacrifice before Samuel, the prophet of the Lord, arrives. Samuel rebukes Saul and as the story goes on, the Lord removes His blessing from Saul because of his lack of obedience. It made me think, how often do I rush and make decisions before seeking the Lord and His guidance as to what I should do or how I should act? It was a challenge to put the Lord first in all things, including fundraising, and be patient.

Coincidence or Providence? As I was reading in 1 Samuel, I continued to read about when David must flee the presence of Saul because he is afraid for his life. David runs to a place where the king is Achish (Samuel 21). Now, this king has heard of David's reputation, and many in the town were saying, "Saul has killed his thousands, but David his tens of thousands." David was again afraid he would be killed, so he pretended to be insane before the king. In the book Trusting God by Jerry Bridges, I read about the author's favorite Psalm to read during times of discouragement, which happened to be Psalm 34, one David wrote when he pretended to be insane before the king. Coincidence? I think not. It's amazing how the Lord orchestrated that I read that passage of Scripture along with that chapter in Jerry's book. The day before I read that chapter, the Lord had placed Psalm 34:8 on my heart as well, "Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him." Amazing...

Caribou Ladies: So, it was Wednesday night in MN, and I was feeling rather tired, and discouraged. I was crying out to the Lord for strength, and feeling overwhelmed by the amount I yet had to raise and the quickly approaching deadline of August 15th. I knew and continue to know that God is good and faithful, but at the time my emotions were trying to take control. Little did I know that one of the friends I was staying with recognized my discouragement, and began praying the next morning, "Lord, please allow Sarah to feel encouraged this day. Help something happen to her just to remind her You're with her in this process." So, I had a meeting at Caribou Coffee, and afterwards was doing some work and my devotions. I overheard these 3 ladies talking about "born-again Christians" and differences in denominations. Eventually one lady struck up a conversation with me about my MacBook. We all started talking, and eventually I told them about the ministry of The Navigators and what I'd be doing. It was amazing! They were all Christians, and wanted to get updates on the ministry at ISU this upcoming year. They prayed over me, and one of them even provided me with a monetary gift. When I shared this with my friend, she exclaimed, "That's crazy, because I prayed for you this morning that something encouraging would happen!!" What an answer to prayer, and encouragement.

Wedding Friends: After my week in MN, 2 of my friends and myself traveled to Sioux Falls for a NWC friend's wedding. We sang 2 songs during the ceremony. To be honest, I was slightly concern with the cost of travel, etc., along with losing 2 days in the fundraising process. Yet, I was super excited to celebrate my friend's big day! I didn't want to miss it. What blessings the Lord had in store! One of the friends I traveled with blessed me with free lodging. Another purchased me breakfast! I also received a call from my mom about a friend blessing me with a significant gift towards the ministry. Isn't it incredible how the Lord provides?

I hope that these stories are encouraging to you. I pray that whatever life circumstances you are going through, you will truly "Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is that man that takes refuge in Him." Psalm 34:8

In Christ,

Sarah Ann

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Your country, your kindred, your father's house

Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing."
-Genesis 12:1, 2 (ESV)


I kinda feel like Abram right now. God's calling me to leave everything behind. Today, it kinda hit me just what everything means. Our jobs. Our family. Our friends. Our comfort.
I read these verses, and it's difficult to comprehend. I mean, I know what it says, but I can't see verse 2. I can's see the great nation or the blessings. I see "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house."
It flat out scares me. Leaving the country, the kindred, the father's house, it freaks me out. It almost feels like I'm running away from problems (and the problems have been piling up here).

I talked to God and told Him that I don't know what to pray. There's just so much unresolved crap that's going on here that I literally don't know how to pray. I usually pray my will (which I know I'm not supposed to do, but it's so hard to do otherwise), but I'm not sure what my will is.

Nobody said that this job was going to be easy, but nobody said that this was going to be so hard (no Coldplay reference intended). I'm looking for the easy yoke and light burden, but it seems to have gotten lost in all the chaos that is my last month in this place that I call home.

Please pray for me (Jason Jefferson), for clarity in how to handle all that's going on here (I'm sorry for the vagueness, but I don't want to share other people's junk). Also pray that I will be able to accept that which I can't fix and leave behind what I must. And, of course, for funding, both that the funds would come in and that I would be able to focus on it and this upcoming year. I need to focus a lot of attention on fundraising right now.

Am I the only one feeling this? Is anyone else scared out of their minds about this? Is anyone else feeling attacked?

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-Romans 4:20-21

Yet he did not wavier through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

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Are you sure?

I remember way back in the day when I was just a navigator....like 2 months ago. I remember thinking about all the EDGE members and really the Navs staff in general that I had encountered in my time bouncing around AZ, or in California or Japan. They were all such great, amazing, on-fire people. They had that feeling like no matter what the question, you could ask one of these people and they would be able to give you a wise, bible-based answer. Then I realized, that's supposed to be me in just over a month! I'm so far from being the person those people were. I wish I could say that I was confident in my following of this path that God laid before me, similar to the "Here I am send me"attitude of Isaiah. Truthfully it's probably closer to Moses' "You know what I'm not a very good speaker and these guys they aren't going to believe me. God, don't you have anybody else to send?" (paraphrased from Exodus 4).

So I've spent some Q.T.'s talking to God about how strange it is that He brought me to this place, yet at the same time I realize God knows me better than I know myself. He has this thing masterfully planned out in a way that he considers beautiful and glorifying to Him. A way I may never see. He sent Moses down there performed miracles for Him, led him patiently by the hand in front of Pharoah, through the Red Sea and out into that nightmare of a desert, where he was kept safe by bread that fell from the sky! And I realized, this fundraising, these phone calls, these letters are God things. I couldn't mess them up if I tried. Not that I would, but still standing outside the front door before a Face to Face, knowing that God can't wait to show me how He planned this one out; it makes me sure that God most defintely could have chosen a better person, but instead chose to allow me the honor and blessing of seeing these things first-hand. That's been an encouraging thought.

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please leave a message...

Man, I don't know about you guys, but one think I was not anticipating was how hard it would be to set up the face to face appointments! With 1 1/2 months to fund-raise, the people I am trying to reach are on vacation or juggling family members and it has been really hard for me to actually set a time to meet up with folks. I keep clinging to the one verse that says a loving father will not give his son stone when he asks for bread. I know God is going to come through.

My main prayer is I will be 100% funded by Aug. 15th to report so that God may be glorified in some of my friends and family's disbelief. Their disbelief is not that I won't be funded, but that I will not be funded in the amount of time I have. I would love nothing else than to see them come to trust God and understand more of His love and providence!

Sometimes I want to look upon the number of face to faces I have done and the percentage raised I'm at and think..."wow, maybe they are right." But that is a thought I quickly want to take captive! I think of Romans 4:20-21 stating, "Yet he did not wavier through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised." God's perfect timing is truly perfect..and if we believe that, we have to press on and keep trusting Him to provide. He knows exactly when we need to be on campus by! And He will provide what we need in the exact moment He chooses for His glory. For His loves endures forever!

Let's not let Satan trick us into thinking we are alone in this!

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Lull-a-byes

Sometimes there are lulls in my fundraising, where I don't have a face to face that day or the next and I feel like I'm letting God, myself and others down. Is that a normal feeling that's a lie, or am I not doing enough?

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