In Paris

Well I am here in France safe and sound and have started settaling in and learning how to get around! I lost some lugagge, got it back, saw Notre Dame from a distance (was really excited!) Signed up for French classes. They start Monday. They are five days a week five hours a day! I got a cell phone, that will help when I get lost! I am really excited about how God is going to use me here and what He is going to teach me. I have been meeting new people. I went to a French college Bible study last night that was really good. I had a lot of fun, of course being able to talk to them in French would be even better! Please be praying from my brain to soak it all up and spit it back out via my mouth! And also for adjusting to the differances in culture and just a new place in general.
In Christ,
Bethany

Counting Down

Yesterday was my commissioning at Prairie Baptist and next Sunday is my commissioning at First Baptist Bend. I will be in Bend for the rest of this week, getting my wisdom teeth pulled (ugh), visiting with my brother, my friends and of course connecting with my FBC family one last time. As time comes to an end for me here in the states and I try to get all the last minute details taken care of I find myself reflecting on God's timing and His provision.
In one month all the monthly and one time needs have been provided! This is truly an act of our great God! He is faithful to provide what we need, in His timing, not ours. He has reminded me and retaught me that it is He and He alone who takes care of His children. All that we have is a gift from Him.
Please pray for all the last minute details, all the goodbyes to be said and all the things I need to get when I arrive in Portland on the 30th.
Please pray for my time in France, language learning, good relationships with the Church members there and with the people I will be living with. Pray for Guinea and the people I will be working with.
"Now on the last day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.' " John 7:37-38
My prayer and hearts desire is for the Maninka to thirst for the Truth and to be filled with the living water of the Holy Spirit!
Until the last one hears,
Bethany

France in November

On Tuesday September 29th I was in Portland and got a call from a WorldVenture missionary who "happened" to be in Portland as well. I was able to meet with him. He and his family are missionaries in France, as well as with a missionary couple in Cote d' ivoire. I now do not need a French student visa (which is a pain to get)! I am heading off to France for three months and then will fly to Mali and then be picked up by the Ragsdales (in Cote d' ivoire) and go to their place for a little while, helping them and continuing my French studies. Then when the missionaries in Guinea come back I will go with them into Guinea. God has worked out the details in amazing ways!

So the plan is for me to leave on the 2nd of November from Portland!
Please be praying about this. I have so much packing and sorting and cleaning to do!
Also I am still short in monthly support and cannot go until I am fully supported! Please pray that God will raise up some people for $20 a month.

It is so exciting and amazing to watch God as He works and makes things happen. He truly is all-powerful and gracious! All praise and honor goes to Him!
In Christ, until the last one hears!
Bethany

UPDATE
I am at my CHE training, nearing the end. It has been a wonderful time to learn, build relationships and get excited about the future!

Due to some unforeseen health delays with my WorldVenture team member. I will not be going to Guinea until the first of February 2010. BUT in the meantime I am now planning on going to FRANCE to do language study in order to prepare me for when I actually get to Guinea. I am hoping to leave as soon as possible for France.

I am still in need of monthly commitments and am asking you to pray about becoming a part of what God is doing in the Maninka and in Guinea.. I am currently in need of $450 in monthly support and $2000 in one time. Here is a sample breakdown of what I need. This is a two year commitment.
1 person/family at $100 a month, 4 at $50 per month, 3 at $30, and 6 at $10 a month.

Thanks for your faithful support!
Until the last one hears,
Bethany

Video link posted

On the right side there is a new link to my video where I share about Guinea. There is also a slide show with Guinean music. Enjoy!

All in God's Timing

Well, after a long break of silence from living in the land of Camp Tadmor, I have reimerged once more and should hopefully be more faithful with technology!

Right now I am excited to say that I have finally gotten my video posted to my Facebook group page "Bethany is Going to Guinea" I would encourage you to watch it. It explains most things and has a slide show at the end of pictures from Guinea with real Guinean music!

I am currently at 72% of my monthly-that's all I have left! I am really thankful and am praying that the rest will come in quickly, so I can leave as soon as Brenda says so.

My CHE (Community Health Evangelism) training is September 13-17. Please be praying for me as I go through it, that I will retain and learn a lot so I can be a helpful and useful team member and a clear communicator of the Gospel of Christ!

I am so excited to go and feel like my heart is already there. Thanks for the prayers.
Until the last one hears!
Bethany

Coming Together

I am at Camp Tadmor right now helping my mom with Josiah and Heather with her kids, so I guess I am the nanny for the summer! I am enjoying it a lot, a very different pace from college...

I graduated with my B.S. in Community Health Education from Portland State University on the 13th of June, very excited about that!

I am now leaving for Guinea at the end of September due to some changes in people's training as well as the CHE training moving to September.

I am now at 93% of my one time! And 65% of my monthly. So that means that I just need $474 one time and $466 monthly. Please be praying for this to come in by the end of this month so I can start my visa applications and buy my plane ticket.

Denver was such a joy. It was great to meet the missionaries and talk with them about Guinea. I am so excited to work with them and be a part of the ministry there!

Thanks so much for your support and prayers!
In Christ,
Bethany

Endings and Beginings

Sorry I haven't been faithful on here. Life has been crazy but mostly it was because my computer crashed on April 24th...the day after I wrote my last one, but I have a new computer so here we go!

This is my last week at Portland State University...I have so much to do it isn't even funny. Please be praying for me! I am graduating on the 13th of June and move out of my house (where I have lived for over a year). I am ending a chapter of my life to start a new and exciting one. The past four years have been full of blessings and challenges, joy and sorrow and I hope - lots of growth! I will miss Portland and PSU and my life here but I am even more excited about what God has in store and what He is going to do in me and through me...I can only imagine.

I fly out next Monday to Denver to meet the Guinea team - a new beginning of friendships and challenges.

I will be working at Camp Tadmor again for the 5th summer...a familiar new.

And I am heading to Guinea now most likely in September due to the CHE training being moved to then. I think it is a blessing in disguise. I have no idea how I could get everything done if I had that this week!

Thanks for your prayers.

Update. I am at about 60% both for monthly and one-time. Please be praying that it will all come in.
Blessings
Bethany

This weekend I am going to Prairie City and will be sharing about Guinea at Spring Rally a woman's retreat that will be in Haines Oregon...near Baker City. Please be praying for me as I share what God has placed on my heart. Also, my mom and I will be leading worship for the day too. I am excited about this opportunity to share and worship with the women from eastern Oregon! On Tuesday I shared with my home community group. It was such a special thing to me, to be able to have them be a part of what I am doing through prayer and encouragement. On the 17th of May I am being commissioned by Imago Dei. So lots of things about my ministry are coming up. Once June hits it will be crazy! I will have CHE (community health evangelism) training the first week and then I will be flying to Denver for most of the second week, then I graduate on the 13th and leave for Tadmor right after that! And all before that I have my internship and a class that I need to be completing as well as raising more support. Please keep me in your prayers!

Jesus tells us not to worry about what we will wear or eat, that our Father will take care of us. I am so thankful for that promise. He is with us. He can produce the money needed to go even in a bad economy. God is not limited. Amen!

Car accendent

A week ago Monday I was driving home on a absolutely beautiful spring day praising the Lord for his creation and thinking about all the things I needed to do when I got home. Then in a split second my stopped car was rushing forward and I was propelled in a forceful jerk forward and then backwards, slamming my head against the back of my seat. I couldn't believe it! Out of nowhere I had been hit from behind. I pulled over and dealt with the situation, then got back into my sad looking car and drove home to call insurance. I began to feel strange and not be able to focus and was wondering what sort of internal damage had been done to me, when there was no outward physical damage. The doctor said I had sprained my neck and my back in two places along with a concussion. Some strong meds and a lot of sleep later I am starting to recover, slowly. I begin physical therapy tomorrow.

So often in life things hit us unaware. Tragedy strikes when we least expect it and difficulties arise just as everything is starting to go well. Many things are unavoidable and all can be used to learn more about our Savior and to grow closer to him. In the 'spiritual' world (I only differentiate to make a point, we live in world that is both physical and spiritual) it is important to be ready for any sort of attack or distraction in our lives. We are called to put on the full armor of God and to be ready. We are to be testing all things and to be taking captive every thought. While I cannot take captive every car that comes near me, and I have little control over my physical surroundings, I have much control over my spiritual surroundings. When we are walking faithfully and being proactive in our faith, fender benders don't happen. In James it talks about how sin is carried out, the process. We don't wake up super spiritual one day and then that night go and kill some one just because they cut you off in traffic. It is a slow gradual process of giving up spiritual ground. Sometimes we think we have been blindsided, that there was no pre-event warnings, but it is not true. Just like king David, a man after God's own heart, his fall into adultry was a gradual process of becoming less and less sensitive the sin of the world around him, he became unguarded in his spiritual life and ended up causing himself and others a lot of pain.

Just as I had no outward signs of injury, the spiritual life symptoms can be hidden for a time and people may not know. But eventually the pain, the sin, comes out in how we act. I began to walk slowly and had a grimace on my face. With sin we begin to lash out or say something unkind. And just as it takes a long time to recover physically, so is it true with spiritual recovery. It is always very easy to get out of shape, but very painful and slow to get into shape! Stay fit.
With all prayer and pettition pray at all times in the spirit, and with this in view, be on the the alert with all perserverance and petition for all the saints. Ephesians 6:18

Faith

Sometimes one of the most difficult things in life is trusting and continuing on when you have no idea what is going to happen or see any way that it could all happen. As I journey in obedience to Christ I am constantly amazed at how Christ takes care of the little things in life that seem like insurmountable mountains in the moment only to be small little bumps in hindsight. When Jesus says to not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will take care of itself, I don't believe so much that He meant tomorrow will take care of itself but that He will take care of it. We don't have to stress out about how the bills will be payed or how to fit 48hrs worth of work into 24 hours. God can literally stop time, though He usually just helps us get things accomplished in record time! Money is His and He can stretch it in ways that are impossible on paper. He can move mountains!

As I look at all the things that need to be done and how much everything costs and wondering how it will all be taken care of I am reminded that the most frequent phrase by the Lord is "Do not be afraid", He really means it. He says He is with us and that is why we need not fear. He is faithful and He is all-powerful. So as I see the dollar amount that needs to be raised and as I see the time-line and how crazy busy it is, I stop and rest in Christ. Whenever I look ahead and see "Himalayas" of obstacles in my path I read my Bible and see the stories of men and women of faith who have gone before me and have watched as those Himalayas were crossed or laid flat. It is so true, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. He can do all things through me and for me and for you.

I am so thankful for this opportunity to dig deep into my faith and watch as my wonderful Savior provides and shows His strength in the most unsuspected ways. He is doing the same thing in your life. I hope you are able to see Him in the little things as well as the big!
Blessings,
Bethany
P.S. In order to make it more enjoyable to read. I will be trying to post regularly on Thursdays. Thanks for being a part of this journey!

Servanthood

This past week the idea of servanthood specifically in the form of feet washing, has been brought up multiple times. I usually figure that if something is repeated in a bunch of different settings in a short time, I should be paying attention! Just a thought...

Jesus was and is God but it talks about in Philipians that He didn't consider equality with God something to be grasped. So often I want what I deserve, or what as an American, I think is my right. But I am reminded that first I must be a servant and empty myself just and Christ did for us. When Jesus talks to His disciples He tells them to follow His example, that He came to serve and that no servant is greater than his master. Too often I am caught up in how 'great' I am or the praise I think I deserve, when in reality, all the praise and all the greatness should be directed back to my Savior.

My prayer is that I will be a servant who follows in the heart of my Master, my wonderful, kind and loving Father. Jesus does the will of the Father and has asked me to do it too. My serving Father doesn't make me great, it proclaims His greatness. And if all I ever do in going to Guinea and serving the Maninka is show just how awesome and wonderful my Father is then I have accomplished all that I can.

It is because of His wonderful love and greatness, through the Holy Spirit, that people are transformed. I am in the ministry of living for Jesus; Jesus is in the ministry of transforming lives! What an awesome thing to be a part of!

Missions Training

Well my time in Denver is almost at the end, just part of Friday left. It has been a wonderful time, getting to know other mid-term missionaries as well as all of the fantastic staff at WorldVenture. There is a lot of information to retain and act upon. But it is also encouraging to know that Jesus is enough and that He is helping me get through this crazy time in my life! Please keep praying for me as I start sharing with everyone what God is doing in Guinea and in me and as I discover who it is that God would have partner with Him in the work He is doing in Guinea. He is faithful
Bethany

Also please note the links that are now on my blog, thanks to the wonderful support of the WorldVenture staff!

Denver

On Sunday I head off to Denver for a week of training. I am excited to see all the people I have been working with in the flesh and to have face-to-face conversations about different topics regarding my trip and all that comes between now and going. I head out at 6am on Sunday morning (March 1st) and get back at around 8pm on Friday night (March 6th).

Brenda, from Guinea, called on Saturday and talked to me about what I will be doing and what it is like to live in Guinea. It makes me so excited. She said they do about three health clinics a year, the first I will be a part of will be in October or November. I also am going to be going to a health conference in Burkina Faso (I think that is where she said). In my defense, she called from thousands of miles away and the reception is only so good and my memory is even worse! I will be living in the Guest House, which means I get to host those who come through, which includes a medical team from Minnesota that will be helping with the health clinic.

Please continue to pray for me as I slowly mark off things from my to do list and have more going onto it then coming off!

I am starting to work on what I will be sending out to all my friends and family and of course that includes all of you! So hopefully in a few weeks after I get back my video will be ready to be emailed or sent to everyone as well as a letter!

Please keep praying that I will use my time wisely and that I will be falling more and more in love with Jesus!
Also for French, the Maninka and Guinea.
With lots of love
Bethany

Finances

I have finally received my financial breakdown for WorldVenture. It will change as new things are added and a few things will cost less or more than budgeted. But it is nice to know a rough estimate of how much everything is going to cost me!
So it looks like it will be about $1300 a month that I will need and around $7000 in one time costs.

I bought my plane ticket for Denver; I will be there March 1-6 for training. Please be praying for me as I soak in all the information.

And be praying for me as I start to raise support.

And for my French!!

In Christ alone,
Bethany

Jesus is so good and faithful! In Ephesians 3 it says “Now to Him who is able to do more exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen” (vs20,21). It is a rue statement that He does so much more than we could ever ask!

I have been praying for an internship for quite a few months and I thank you for all your faithful prayers for one as well. When I found out that I would not be doing my internship in Guinea I was slightly confused and frustrated, but I knew that God is bigger than my small understanding and that He has an amazing plan. So it looks like I will be doing and internship with CompassionConnect, a grassroots, non-profit organization that partner’s local churches with the community to set up health clinics in the Portland area. I will be working as the Follow-up coordinator for the South East clinic as well as assisting the director of CompassionConnect. This is an exciting opportunity to be behind the scenes on a project like this as well as be a blessing to the organization, the churches and the community I live in as a whole. Please be praying for me as I start this up. Between my internship and the time and travel it will take to raise support I am going to be one busy girl!

This afternoon I had a phone orientation on more information for WorldVenture and all the papers I need to sign and send in and the order that it goes in. Soon I will be having another phone meeting on my finances. It will be so nice to finally know how much I need to be raising.

I need to start getting people together who would like to be a prayer team for me, committing to pray for me and the ministry God has called me to. If you are interested please let me know!

I have started back up with French. Bonjour! It is a hard language to remember how to spell so even though there are a few things I can say, I don’t remember how to write it!

Thanks for all your prayer and interest in what God is doing in my life!
Blessings,
Bethany

Accepted

As of 10:08am this morning I am officially with World Venture!!!! I am really excited! I cried after they said that I was accepted and then I called my dad who thought that I hadn't been due to the fact that I was crying. But no, I was so overcome by joy and some sort of chemical imbalance ( I am sure) that the tears just came.

So now on to actually finding out what I have gotten myself into. WV should be sending me information within the next couple of days and giving me access to even more information online. So I can hardly wait to know all the new stuff and I will post it as soon as I know anything. Because I am sure everyone is waiting to hear their dating policy! Ha, just kidding.
In our wonderful Savior and friend,
Bethany

New Year

Well I have been poor on keeping this thing updated so here is all the new information from the last month or so.

My application was accepted by World Venture and my final hoop (a phone interview) will be taking place on Wednesday morning at 9am. The 14th I guess. And I have a meeting with a World Venture coach, I have no idea what that means... sometime on Monday the 12th. After that I can officially start begging. No, no I am excited to watch as God provides in crazy ways and brings people I would never have expected to come and partner with me in this adventure for Jesus!

I actually already have $350 promised by my two home churches and I haven't even started yet. So I know God will bring it all in in due time.

Tyler Walsh a friend from Camp Tadmor and I sort of had a meeting to discuss my news letter which will actually be a viewletter. I think I just made that up. Anyway it will be a video news letter, which I am really excited about. So right now I am waiting on a green light from World Venture as well as all the details they will give me after I am in and some pictures from people who have been to Guinea. Pictures from Nepal just wont quite do it, I have a feeling.

Over the Christmas break, actually just days before Christmas the president of 24 or so odd years in Guinea died. The Military took over and it seems so far to have been a peaceful transition. Please pray that it will stay calm and that the gospel will not be hindered because of this.

Next on the list of things to do include:
finding an internship (please pray for this one)
going to Colorado for training
graduating from PSU
taking the Community Health Evangelism course in June (in Portland)

May Christ bless you as you serve Him and remember to live for Him in all you do.
Blessings,
Bethany