WRITE: Here I Am, Send Me? Courage in Costa Rica (Never the Same Missions, Part 4)
For the past couple of weeks, I’ve posted excerpts from my unpublished article, “Here Am I. Send Me? Courage in Costa Rica.” If you missed any of the other excerpts, you can find them by clicking these links: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. You’ll want to make sure to read those before you read the final section, posted below along with a sidebar that offers some fundraising tips. Send Me? The courage all these student missionaries displayed came from the same source as the prophet Isaiah’s: a living, loving relationship with a God who wants to draw people of all nations to Himself. Is your courage stuck on Empty? Do you make excuses instead of stepping up and stepping out? Check with your heavenly Father. He has grace for all, on the mission field and at home. No matter the situation, He’ll provide the courage you need to say along with Isaiah, “Here am I. Send me!” [Sidebar: Courage to Fundraise] Do you suffer from EWS, Empty Wallet Syndrome? Not to fear. The God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills can provide moo-lah for missions. Check out these fun ideas from some of our Costa Rica missionaries: KaytLyn: “My mom and I had a dessert business. We sold chocolate strawberries, chocolate pretzels, cake pops and caramel corn. For two years, all the money we raised went toward my trip!” Stephanie: “I had people sponsor beaded bracelets I made to give to children in Costa Rica. I asked for $5 apiece, but some people gave much more. Felicia: “My sister and I had buckets at the front of our church, each with a picture of someone’s face attached. The person whose bucket ended up with the most money got a pie in the face!” Felicia (part 2): “We also forked people’s yards [placing hundreds of plastic forks tine-down]. People had to pay $15 for us to remove them or $20 to fork someone else’s yard.” Have you served God in international missions, or would you like to? Is God giving you the courage to connect? I’d love to receive your questions and comments below, on social media, or through the email link at the top of this page. If you have other fundraising ideas, feel free to add those as well. My husband and I hope to join Never the Same in Ecuador June 29-July 12, 2015. Teen guys and girls as well as adults are welcome and needed to make a difference. Will you be the next one to say, “Here am I. Send me”?...
read moreWrite: Here I Am, Send Me? Courage in Costa Rica (Never the Same Missions, Part 3)
So far, I’ve shared two installments of my missions story from last year’s Never the Same Missions trip to Costa Rica and four stories of courageous people. You should know that I always have more stories than will fit in the word count limit the magazine gives me, so if you want a few more stories, check back to last summer’s blog (try here and here for examples). But I love the stories reserved for Part 3, and I hope you will, too! Courage to Speak: Sammie Unlike John, “I’m a worship leader,” Sammie says. “Not a speaker.” That’s what she tried to tell God one morning as her team prepared for ministry. Her head team leader, Rob Kirkpatrick, needed someone to share the gospel after the second drama of the day. “Who’s gonna do it?” he asked. No one volunteered. “It felt like God was pressing his hands on my shoulders,” Sammie confesses. “I knew He was saying, ‘You do it.’” So she did. So well, in fact, that the crowd in the noisy street market had no idea she was anything but an experienced speaker. So well that God used her to help others receive His message of salvation. So well that she kept sharing with anyone who would listen. Watch out. When you follow God in obedience, He’ll give you courage to speak, too. Courage to Connect: Yemi Yemi, another Faith in the Wait entrant, was the contest runner-up. But when it comes to courage, she’s a big winner. She shared her story before one of the group’s supercharged evening worship services, called FUAGNEM (Fired up and Going Nuts Every Minute). Yemi’s unusual background—adopted from Ethiopia at age 10—helped prepare her for the missions trip in ways she never expected. On their first day of ministry, her team spent time at a home for abused girls ages 12-18. Leah, one of the head team leaders, asked Yemi to share her testimony. “I forgot she was adopted,” Leah says. But God didn’t. As Yemi spoke, she didn’t know that one of the girls listening was in the process of being adopted to the United States. The girl listened intently to Yemi’s story of God’s grace throughout the adoption process. “She was so excited to talk to me,” Yemi remembers. “She was going through some of the same stages I did. I’m so glad God put me there to help.” When you trust the Father, He gives you the courage to connect. Have you served God in international missions, or would you like to? Is God giving you the courage to connect? I’d love to receive your questions...
read moreWRITE: Here I Am, Send Me? Courage in Costa Rica (Never the Same Missions, Part 2)
The other day, I posted Part I of an article that, because of the cessation of Sisterhood Magazine, never hit print. Since I still want others to read the great things God did through the Never the Same missions team in Costa Rica, I’m posting the story in installments on my blog. Enjoy the stories of two more courageous missionaries in Part II of “Here I Am: Send Me? Courage in Costa Rica.” Courage to Care: Kohlie Kohlie also traveled to Costa Rica, but on a free ride. Her winning entry in Sisterhood’s Faith in the Wait contest covered the cost. Not only was this her first missions trip, but the journey from home to Florida was also her first flight. “My mom and dad were nervous,” she confessed during training. “But I want to be the hands and feet of Jesus, I’m excited to learn about the culture—and I want to be brave in my faith and stepping out.” As the trip progressed, God brought opportunities to do just that. “Lord, use me today,” Kohlie prayed one morning. Never the Same teams use a pantomime drama, “Spellbound” to share the gospel. Her team performed that day on a dirt road in one of San Jose’s poorest areas. Afterwards, “I turned around and saw a little girl who looked dead,” Kohlie explains. “Her friend was carrying her like a rag doll. I didn’t know what to do.” But Kohlie remembered her prayer. “I went over to check on her, then ran to get Chris,” she says. The medical clinic, a new ministry on this year’s trip, was operating alongside Kohlie’s team that day. Two doctors, several nurses, other medical professionals and students took turns meeting basic health care needs. When Kohlie called, Chris, a pediatric nurse practitioner, went into instant action. “The little girl really did look dead,” Chris explains. “But when I checked her, I realized she had passed out from dehydration and lack of food. We gave her some water, and soon, she was running around again.” Since the team also operated a feeding station alongside the clinic, this little girl and many of her neighbors received a full lunch. “It broke my heart,” says Kohlie. “I realized how selfish I can be when I don’t get what I want at a restaurant, and here’s a little girl who doesn’t have enough to eat and drink.” For this first-time missionary, Faith in the Wait meant courage to care. Courage to Share: John John’s Costa Rica courage also began with a morning prayer. “I asked for the language barrier not to be an issue,” he says. A short time later, his team arrived at its first ministry site, a park. Many of the teens learned the craft of ballooning from adult leader and “balloonatic” Rex Hanson. “A homeless man asked us for a balloon, then went and sat down,” remembers John. “God was saying, ‘Go talk to him.’” After some inner hesitation, he obeyed. To his surprise, “The man could speak a little English. And as we kept talking, his English got better and better. I found out his best friend had committed suicide only three days before.” John saw the need and shared the gospel without a translator. The man received salvation even before...
read moreWRITE: Here I Am, Send Me? Courage in Costa Rica (Never the Same Missions, Part 1)
Dear Friends, I don’t keep my love for missions a secret. Over the past few years, I’ve had the privilege of serving the Lord in six different countries (two of them twice) on mission trips. For the past five years, I’ve traveled with Never the Same Missions and first SUSIE¸ then Sisterhood Magazine as the writer for their annual missions trip. In 1996, author and speaker Susie Shellenberger, then of Focus on the Family and Brio Magazine, first partnered with Steve Goley of Big World Ventures on an international mission trip. The goal, as Susie says, was to produce a trip that gave teens the combined experience of “missions, youth camp, and an old-fashioned revival.” Over the years, Never the Same has refined the trip, taken thousands of students and adult chaperones overseas, and seen tens of thousands come to know Christ as a result. This past year, my husband and I served with NTS in Costa Rica, our first mission trip together. My article about the trip was scheduled as the cover story for Sisterhood’s January issue. But near the end of 2014, the publishing house that produced the magazine closed temporarily and shut down Sisterhood permanently. That’s a loss not only for me but for the thousands of teen girls who need and want a positive, Christ-centered print magazine. Rather than waste my article, I’ve received permission to share it. You’ll find it in four parts, posted in this blog both this week and next. If you have any interest in missions, I hope you’ll read, share, and visit the links above for more information. Here I am, Send Me? Courage in Costa Rica by Marti Pieper Think you’ve got excuses to avoid the mission field? Check out these beauties: I’m not qualified. I’ve got a lot going on. I’m needed at home. I’m in mourning. I’m unworthy. Meet a man who could have used all these excuses and more. In fact, if we matched him up to a checklist of qualifications, our missionary candidate would score a perfect zero. Except in one area. When God called Isaiah, the Old Testament prophet, he responded not with excuses but faith-filled courage: “Here am I. Send me!” (Isa. 6:8). And so did the nearly 200 Never the Same summer missionaries to Costa Rica. When I spent two weeks with them this past July, I saw courage in action—over and over again. Courage to Ask: Jordyn Join me on a journey (co-sponsored by Big World Ventures and Susie Shellenberger Ministries) that began long before our training time in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. For a soccer-playing girl named Jordyn, it started last summer on the Never the Same trip to Peru. There, she noticed kids playing with worn-out, flat soccer balls. “Our school gets new balls every year,” she says. “And our old ones just sit there.” Her need to complete a National Honor Society service project sparked an idea. She began contacting soccer teams (school and club) about donating used balls. Her five needed service hours became many, and the few balls she hoped for, an unbelievable 103. Jordyn and her good friend Josiah brought two gigantic bags of deflated soccer balls to missions training. Instead of weighing the bags ahead of time to make sure they’d miss the penalty for...
read moreSPEAK: Travelin’ On in 2015
Dear Friends, Celebrating a new year allows us to look ahead, to pray, plan, and set in place various activities and opportunities for the months to come. Once in a while, I use my blog to share my professional calendar so those who wish can see where I am/what I’ll be doing in the months ahead. I know I have readers in all different situations and all different places, but please know I’d love to meet you if any of these interest you. I’m providing links to the various conferences so you can check them out. Here’s my speaking and teaching schedule for the first few months of 2015: FEBRUARY 6-7: Books & Beyond Mid-Year Conference, Northland Church, Casselberry, Florida; workshop leader, “SAT Prep” and “Secret Mother-Daughter Power.” FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 1: Florida Christian Writers Conference, Lake Yale Conference Center, Leesburg, Florida; conference chaplain and workshop leader, “Mastering the Memoir.” MARCH 10-11: Great Religions class, Asbury United Methodist Church, Maitland, FL; teacher, “The Historical Development of the Baptist Church.” MARCH 14: United Methodist Women, Asbury United Methodist Church, Maitland, Florida; keynote speaker: “Sister Act: Mary, Martha, and the Love of a Lifetime.” MAY 13-16: Colorado Christian Writers Conference, Estes Park, Colorado; conference staff and workshop leader (classes TBD). If you’re interested in having me come and teach or speak to your group, check out the “Speak” tab on my website. I speak for writer’s conferences, churches and women’s groups, as well as homeschooling conferences. I’ll add to this schedule and post an update later this spring. My husband and I are still praying about this summer’s missions opportunities, but I hope to post those soon. If you have a question about any of these, feel free to leave a comment or email me through the link at the top of the page. I’ll do my best to respond and provide the information you...
read moreWelcome
I've asked God to use my writing and speaking to count for eternity. I'm passionate about relationships and creativity.
