I spent 8 wonderful years working at Rancho Ebenezer. It was my home, the people there became my family, and I would have been content to stay there for the rest of my life. But those of you who know God know that once you start to get comfortable in your situation, the Lord starts to shake things up. That's what He did with me.
I was at a women's retreat in May 2012. It was after the evening session, and I stayed alone in the chapel area, praying and worshiping God. During that time, I heard the Lord speak again to my heart very clearly. He told me that my time at the Ranch was coming to an end, and that He had something new for me. He didn't tell me what that new thing was. He just told me that in order to continue to work in me and through me, He was moving me on to something else. I began to cry, mostly tears of joy, not because I wanted to leave the ranch, but because I knew the Lord had healed some broken places in my heart, and I was now ready for the next step, whatever that might be. While I was crying, a woman I didn't know came in, saw me, and asked if I was alright. I told her I was, but she gave me a big, loving hug.
The next morning, I ended up sitting at the same breakfast table with the woman from the evening before. It was the last morning of the retreat, so several of us exchanged our contact information. We all worked in different ministries, and it is not uncommon to call another ministry when a situation comes up with someone that you cannot help, but you know someone who can. I left the retreat with a renewed energy, put the contact info from those other ladies in my desk drawer, and began to pray about what God had next in my life.
I did not mention to anyone in WGO that I would be leaving just yet. I wanted to get confirmation from my church that I was making the right move, and that I was on the right track. I met with the missions director and a member of the missions committee from my sending church in VA while home on furlough. I told them the situation, and they felt confident that since they had seen the Lord working in my life in the previous 8 years, that this was from Him. So with their blessing, I began my search for that next step. I returned to Honduras and let WGO know that the 2012-2013 school year would be my last with the ministry, and shared all that had happened in the previous 3-4 months that led to that decision.
I honestly did not know as I began my search, if I was to stay in Honduras with a different ministry, go to another country to serve, or move back to the United States. I began my search within the country of Honduras. As I was looking online to see what was out there, I came across a ministry in Comayagua, a city about an hour and a half north of the ranch, that worked with orphans, teenage moms who got pregnant through abuse, and women with special needs. It was a Catholic ministry supported by an evangelical Christian organization. I was intrigued and wanted to learn more.
Within the previous year or two, I had gotten reconnected with a friend from SUNY Geneseo, where I attended college. His name is Father Francis Mary, but my IVCF Geneseo friends will remember him as Pete Roaldi. Well, it turned out that Father Francis, now a Franciscan Friar, lived in Comayagua, where this ministry was located. I figured since he worked in the Catholic community there, he might be able to give me more information about the ministry. I called him and asked if he knew anything about the ministry and what they did. He knew a little, but not enough to give me in-depth details. Then he said, "There is an evangelical couple that works with that ministry. Let me get their information and I will call you back." So he did. He called me and gave me the name and number of the couple he knew that worked with the ministry. I hung up, and just stared and what I had just written. I then went in to my bedroom, opened the desk drawer, and pulled out the contact info I had gotten at the women's retreat. Sure enough, the name and number he gave me matched the info of the woman who had hugged me the night I was crying in the chapel.
I immediately sat down at my computer and wrote an email to this woman, since I had her email address as well. I explained everything, starting with our encounter at the women's retreat and why I was now contacting her. She, too, recognized the divine connection and invited me to come "live life with them" for a weekend. So I did. My friend Cindy and I went out to Comayagua during Honduras' Independence Day weekend in September 2012, and experienced their ministry. While we were there, Janet, the woman who has since become a dear friend and mentor, also introduced me to other missionaries and their ministries in Comayagua. One of those missionaries (Beth Mohagen)asked me while we were visiting, "What is your dream? If you could do anything, and there were absolutely no barriers, what would you do?" What a great question! The truth was, though, I didn't have a dream. My dream had always been to be a wife and mother, and God chose a different path for me. I struggled with that for a long time, but once I finally reached that point of contentment with my life, I hadn't started dreaming anything new.
I left that weekend still unsure what God had for me. I didn't feel peace about joining the ministry Janet and her husband Greg were working with, nor any of the other ministries I had seen. I did, however, feel strangely drawn to the city of Comayagua. I also began to ask God to give me a dream.
As I continued to pray, two things began to happen. One was that I felt surer and surer that God was leading me to Comayagua; I just didn't know where and doing what. Second was that God began to give me a dream. I started dreaming of starting a school in Honduras that would give other kids outside the ministry of WGO a similar advantage in life. It wasn't until I took my next step that I realized how desperately that was actually needed.
I had the opportunity to attend another women's retreat in November 2013. Janet was there and we reconnected. While we were talking she said to me, "I don't know why I didn't think of this before when you came to visit us, but there is another woman here from Comayagua that I think you need to meet." Janet went to find this other missionary woman. She returned with her not long after, and introduced me to Wanda Agosto. Wanda and her husband Edgard are missionary pastors from Puerto Rico to a local church in Comayagua.
We began to talk, Wanda telling me about her church and the Compassion International program they had at their church, and me sharing about this new dream that was starting to develop in my mind about possibly starting a school. Wanda told me that she and Edgard were wanting to eventually have a school connected with the church. I was very honest with her and said, "I know I have the skills and abilities to run and maintain a good school, but I am not a 'get-something-new-off-the-ground' kind of person." Wanda looked at me, smiled, and responded, "I am. That's one of my gifts."
We ended our conversation with an invitation for me to return to Comayagua and visit their church and Compassion site. I was able to return for a brief visit in December, but was getting a ride from another missionary family and arrived after the kids had already left. I at least got to see the church and the facilities. I liked what I saw, but I really wanted to see the Compassion program in action. So I returned for another visit in February. The second time, I did get to see the program in action. As I watched, I believed stronger and stronger that this was exactly where I was supposed to be.
I returned for one final visit in April. At that time I brought my friend Cindy back with me to help me confirm if this was the right decision. We met with Wanda, Edgard, the director of the Compassion program, and the church supervisor who was visiting from Puerto Rico. Wanda and Edgard's only concern was that they didn't know where to put me, as there was no specific need at the moment. The church supervisor's counsel to them and me was this: Let her come if that is what the Lord is calling her to do. Trust that He will show where to put her when the time is right.
I left Comayagua knowing that the next time I returned I would be moving there. I didn't have a place to live and I didn't have a place to work. All I knew was that I was going back there to live and work - somewhere.
A couple of months later in June, Wanda called me and asked if she and Edgard could meet with me in Tegucigalpa. They came and we met for lunch. After we were just about finished eating, they shared with me that the church was going through a difficult time and that the director of their Compassion program was stepping down due to unforeseen circumstances. They asked me if I still wanted to come with the turmoil that was happening, but would understand if I changed my mind. I told them that since I felt it was God sending me there I still wanted to go, if they were still fine with my coming there. They were but just wanted me to walk in to the situation with my eyes wide open and no surprises. I appreciated that, but knew I had to walk in obedience to the Lord.
I left for furlough still not knowing where I would live in Comayagua. Some missionary friends of mine offered for me to stay in their home when I arrived back to Honduras and to store my personal belongings there. I returned in August, but Edgard and Wanda's family were on their furlough. They arrived back at the beginning of September and notified me that the house next door to their's was available for me to rent. God waited until the very last moment, but He provided me a house next door to the pastors and a half block from the church. It was ideal!
I began just observing the Compassion program and helping out in whatever ways I could. By the beginning of October, Wanda and Edgard asked me to take over as Director of the program. None of us knew there would be that need when the Lord first started calling me to Comayagua, but He did. He had prepared a place for me, as well as resolved a situation for the Pastors. The timing and the fit was perfect. On top of it all, my new role as Director allowed me to learn some additional skills that would be needed for my next calling, as well as help me see the desperate need to help these kids get a better education.
No comments:
Post a Comment