This is a letter I wrote that will go out to all the jr. high families at the church I work at. The letter informs them of the exciting new adventure Chris and I are walking through. I thought it was worth sharing...
“The way to make room for God is to expect Him to come, but not in a certain way. No matter how well we may know God, the great lesson to learn is that He may break in at any minute. We tend to overlook this element of surprise, yet God never works in any other way. We must live in a constant state of expectancy, and leave room for God to come in as He decides” -Oswald Chambers
December 1st marks six months that I have been on staff as the JH Female Associate here at Grace. In this short season I have seen students encounter God for the very first time. I have prayed with many and have watched God provide for his children through answered prayer. I have witnessed students bring friend after friend to church. I have heard from families that are drawing closer to God because of the influence of their son/daughter. I have been privileged to work with wonderful leaders that love God and love JH kids. I have been sharpened, strengthened, encouraged, and supported. My time at Grace has been nothing short of incredible.
My story with Grace began back in April, when I was referred to apply for an open position from a pastor at RockHarbor. I had been attending RockHarbor for 6 years and had recently returned from a six-month missions trip with YWAM to South Africa. Although I had never really thought about doing Jr. High ministry before (I had only worked with Children’s and High School ministry), God absolutely revealed Himself to me when He open the doors for me to work at Grace. At the time I envisioned myself being at Grace for the long haul… or at least until I had a baby (I had only been married 1 month when I started, so that seemed logical). My husband, being a musician, is committed to his band and loves his job. God had truly blessed us, what more could we ask for?
Well… God seemed to have one more thing on His mind, which was totally off our radar. About a month ago Chris and I were contacted out of the blue and asked to prayerfully consider partnering with RockHarbor and their Indian partnership, Harvest India, to join a residency team with the intention of planting a new church in South East India. We were caught completely by surprise but excited (and to be completely honest, a little fearful) at the opportunity God may be giving us. The truth is, we really should not have been so surprised, seeing as Chris and I both have spent much time in India, as well as raising awareness of the desperate need for Jesus in this nation. When we met a year and a half ago, the very first conversation we had was about our mutual love for India. As we leaned into the Lord over this potentially life-changing decision, we began to feel more peace about going than about staying.
I am absolutely confident that God has used my short time at Grace to mold me and prepare me for this next step in my journey of faith. What I find so unique about this situation is that it is not going to be A church sending missionaries to go build another church. Instead, I feel as though God has allowed me to become part of the body at Grace and RockHarbor (as well as two other churches that Chris has been apart of for a number of years). As a result, we are being sent out by THE church to build THE church. It seems altogether biblical to me.
The plan is to leave for India the second week of January. We will spend the next three months in India; we will pray, assess needs, and gather information to assist Harvest India in starting a God glorifying church directed towards University age students. We will also be working along side Harvest India in all their other various ministries. Upon our return in April, the residency scouting team will spend the following six months back in the states planning and training an even larger team that will go on to live in India for the next two years with the purpose of planting a healthy, completely sustainable church that will be lead by Indian nationals.
My hope is that this will be an incredible opportunity to bring my Jr. High kids along. My being in India will have an impact on the students. I will not be able to be at bible study or take students on one on ones anymore, but I will be able to share our story through a blog and send video messages via YouTube. I am confident in the extraordinary ways God will use this experience to shape this young generation. Please know that this decision to step down from staff to volunteer was not made lightly. I will miss you guys very much, but the cool thing is that this is not goodbye. As I will continue to pray for each of the JH students and families, I ask that you would keep Chris and me in your prayers as well. Pray that we will know God more deeply, experience His power more fully, minister more effectively than ever, and be completely surrendered to His will.
If you are interested in following us on our journey, please make sure to visit our blog www.chrisandlizzi.blogspot.com where we will keep you informed about everything God is doing in and through our lives. There is also a link on the blog to donate finically. We have committed to raising $9,000 by the time we leave in early January. "In all things, pray without ceasing." Please consider partnering with us.
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