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FAITH: Fantastic Adventure in Trusting Him

My decision to join Global Education Ministries was made in one night. When I first met the recruiters for GEM, I told them I was planning on staying in Arizona and teaching at a school here. That had always been the plan. I wasn’t even going to attend their informational meeting later that night, but I ended up getting off work at eight, the exact time their meeting started. I wasn’t allowed to eat at work and they had food at the meeting. For a college student accepting free food is a no-brainer.

Once I got to the meeting, it was like God was talking directly to me with everything the GEM recruiters said. GEM’s teaching philosophy aligned directly with my own, and I suddenly wanted to be a part of this ministry. I think I ended up staying and talking for nearly three hours. By the end of the night, my decision was made. Though I still had to apply, interview, and be accepted for the job, in my heart I was committed. But what could have possibly convinced me to move 1,000 miles to a place I’d never been, where they speak a language I don’t know, and try to fit into a culture I didn’t understand in one night? Simple: It was God leading me to do so.

That is the short story of how I decided to join GEM. The longer story is really more about me learning to trust God. If I didn’t trust God, I wouldn’t have even considered GEM,  so this really is a big part of my story:

I was raised in an amazing Christian family and came to know Christ when I was just three years old. As a young child, I felt like my faith was strong but as I got older, it grew weak. I never fell away from the faith in any visible way. In fact, I tried desperately to grow closer to God by doing good works and being as perfect as possible, but He just felt so distant. So I settled for relying on God for salvation and relying on myself for every other part of my life. Yes, I need God and Jesus for salvation, but the rest of my life? I thought I had it figured out and there was no need for them. I believed I didn’t need God’s help or anyone else’s. I had it all under control.  However, anyone watching me would have thought I was a sold-out follower of Christ, but everything I did was for show; I was trying to prove I didn’t need God to control my life.  I lived this way all the way from high school to my junior year of college. Then God got my attention in a big and very painful way.

Junior year, I went through a very difficult breakup. It was my first ever relationship and I made a lot of mistakes. I was consumed with shame because of those mistakes and went into a shame spiral. 2 Corinthians 7:10 states, “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” Godly sorrow is guilt, which I had felt, but after I repented, I had not embraced God’s forgiveness, so I lived in worldly sorrow and shame and it completely destroyed me emotionally and spiritually. I felt like I couldn’t even come to God with all the sin separating us. A few weeks after the break-up, I ended up in the emergency room with intense pain. There in my helplessness, I was wrecked by shame, was spiritually dead, and was in the most pain of my life.

Finally, I gave up and gave everything to God. I had five hours to think and pray in the emergency room. I gave God control over every part of my life, not just my salvation. At this point in the story, people expect to hear that my pain was miraculously healed, I was freed from shame, and mentally and spiritually perfect again. None of that happened. I was still in pain, still grappling with the fall-out of my relationship; basically a complete and total mess in every sense of the word. But, I felt God’s presence in a way I never had before. I suddenly knew that God was there in that room with me and would continue to be there for me wherever I needed Him. Nothing changed, yet at the same time everything changed. God’s presence is the most powerful thing I’ve ever experienced.

Throughout the rest of that year and the beginning of the next, I was forced to live in that power every day. I had ongoing health issues that resulted in constant pain and emotional issues. Between student teaching and the library at my school I was working 50 hours a week, which usually wouldn’t be an issue, but in pain, it was exhausting. I needed to rely on God and use his strength every hour, of every minute, of every day. And you know what? He provided every hour, of every minute, of every day. Never once did he fail me. He always gave me enough strength for that day. Not for the month or the week, but for that day. So every day I had to keep coming back to him.  I’m notoriously stubborn so it took 4 months of total reliance on God to cement my trust in Him. At the end of that 4 months was when I committed to GEM. I have no idea what will happen in Mexico. The only thing I do know is God will be there with me and for me no matter where I go, so my faith is in Him and only Him. I am so excited for this Fantastic Adventure In Trusting God.

– Mattie Napoletano, GEM Missionary

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Complete Trust

Growing up I had always had a heart and passion for missions. This passion first started in middle school when I went on a mission trip to Guatemala. After that I began to go to Guatemala every year and eventually I went by myself. Once I got to college and found a church of my own, I decided to go on a mission trip through my church to Honduras. Little did I know, the Lord was preparing my heart for missions and ministry work in the future. 

At the beginning of my Sophomore year I moved to Wilmington, North Carolina for college and I immediately knew this was where I was supposed to be. As college was coming to an end, I started thinking about what I wanted to do after and praying for the Lord to guide my steps to where I was supposed to end up. I began googling global nonprofits in Wilmington for potential job opportunities. Only one came up in Wilmington and that was Global Education Ministries. Going out on a limb and not very hopeful, I sent an email asking if they were hiring for a position in the states. Within the next few days I received an email asking to meet and talk more, and from there things fell into place. To say God played a part in all of this is an understatement. Looking back, I can clearly and boldly say that God’s hand was in every moment leading up to me accepting a position at GEM. 

As I begin this new chapter in life, I am filled with a wave of emotions. It brings me joy and hope to know that the Lord has led me to GEM all in His timing and will continue to guide me and help me build His kingdom here in Wilmington and around the world. 

Unlike most of the new hires I will be working at the local office in Wilmington. My role will be the Mission Advancement Coordinator, working to recruit missionaries to go and teach at our gospel-saturated schools. As I am preparing to take on this role, I am reminded of Jeremiah 17:7-8 “ But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” 

Trust. 

This is one word that the Lord has placed on my heart. As I step into a new chapter in life, into a new job role, and as missionaries are being brought in, it all comes back to trust. Trust can seem like an easy thing but when we are called to put trust into action we can quickly find out how difficult it can be. I am so excited to put my trust in the Lord and continue to grow in trust as I work for Global Education Ministries. It will be difficult and challenging at times but oh how it will be worth it. So today I challenge you to truly trust the Lord with whatever is happening in your life.

– Taylor Johnson , GEM Missionary

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Living the Life of a “Blank Check”

Hello GEM friends and family! Our names are Bailey and Derrick and we could not be more excited to become a part of the GEM mission and community. We have quite a unique story of how God called us to go and serve in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico but before we share our story we wanted to share our own individual journeys. 

Hello everyone! My name is Bailey Bartlett and I recently graduated from Liberty University with a degree in Elementary Education and Christian Leadership. I come from a strong Christian family and felt the calling to go into ministry when I was a teenager. My parents have been big advocates for ministry and missions and I never thought my story would turn out the way that it did. When the Lord called me into ministry at a young age, I had no idea what the outcome would be. The one thing I was certain of was my desire to attend the Largest Evangelical Christian School in the world, Liberty University. It was at my time at Liberty that God began prepping and preparing me for the calling that I surrendered too, but was still unaware of. You see, I had already planned out my life on my own terms and in my own way. My prayer of being a “blank check” in the hands of the Lord was quickly being filled in by my own will and agenda. For years, I wrestled with the calling of vocational ministry and wanted nothing to do with pursuing a career in Education. I wanted a career in ministry with built-in discipleship and a platform. In reality, I thought the calling of being a missionary could not have been a lower calling. I had no idea that I had idolized ministry and how I was so undeserving of the calling placed on my life. Truthfully we are called to missions and to go and make disciples. The mission has always been the same but the method may look different. I only wish I would have realized this and obeyed sooner. 

Hello, my name is Derrick Wood! At the age of 17, I decided to study to be a teaching pastor of a local church. That is what led me to go to Liberty University to study and graduate with a degree in Pastoral Leadership and a minor in both Biblical Studies and Expositional Preaching. I always told God in my prayers that I would serve Him in ministry, but He could never move me outside the United States. God would use my time at Liberty to show me missionaries and other ministries that were doing great things for the gospel, but that would never be me, I told myself. I had a deep love for the local church and a large heart to see people grow in discipleship. Looking back now at freshman year of college, God had bigger plans for my life than I ever thought to be possible. God would use those passions to partner me with a local church in Puerto Escondido and use me to teach Middle and High School Bible. 

 Bailey and I met two years ago at Liberty University while we were both in student leadership. At the time we both were not quite sure where God was leading but we were faithful to follow. The two of us both had a strong calling to go into ministry in whatever form God was calling. Little did we realize at the time what this would mean for us to follow where God wanted us. In the fast-paced rush of life as college students, we both quickly saw the real world starting to become more real as we prepared to graduate. Little did we know that God was already working in the details for we had our wedding date set, honeymoon booked, and everything else accounted for.  

One afternoon we sat down and talked about what we might do for work after graduating, I had no church leads and Bailey was still working hard to finish her degree. Our best option was comfort, which meant moving to Roanoke, VA near Bailey’s family,  to avoid being pushed too far. Even for a while, we discussed both teaching in a private Christian school where Bailey’s mother taught. Really things seemed to be going smoothly for us to start our marriage together. 

One day, Bailey’s “blank check” prayer would be answered when she encouraged me to go to a Ministry Fair that Liberty University was hosting. With little to no hope, I walked into the large and buzzing room to find countless ministries that were offering positions for everything from worship leaders, camp counselors, unpaid interns, and teachers, really anything but being a pastor. After a few painful conversations with people that were not even interested in talking to me, I awkwardly made eye contact and a half-smile with Rachel Hill from GEM. She was gracious to give me the rundown of information even after I told her I was wanting to be a pastor. After Rachel finished, as a joke, I threw out that my fiance was an Elementary Education Major. God was working his plan all along right into the details of this conversation, and Bailey’s “blank check” was about to be written. 

In the month of April, we both committed and signed a two-year contract to go and serve with GEM. We both will be teaching at Manantial School in Puerto Escondido. Bailey will be teaching third grade and I will be teaching Bible while interning at Camino de la Cruz.  Our wedding date is set for July 30, and we have booked a one-way ticket to Mexico. Only three days after our wedding, Bailey and I will spend our honeymoon making our way down to our new home in Mexico. 

We hope our story has encouraged you in some way and that you will be praying for Derrick and I as we step out in faith and into our calling as missionaries. In reality, all believers should live the life of being a blank check in the hands of God. There is no greater joy than experiencing the calling placed on your life, and seeing the Lord fill in the details in greater ways than you could ever imagine. 1 Corinthians 6:20 reminds us that we have been bought for a price and our bodies and lives are no longer our own. We are all called to ministry and to put away with the self-filled life. This is our testimony of what God can do with two nobodies who were willing to surrender their lives and agendas for the glory and kingdom of God.

– Bailey and Derrick, GEM Missionaries

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Gospel Motivated Language Learning

As followers of Christ, we have the greatest motivation to learn foreign languages because we serve a God whose primary means of communicating the gospel is through the use of language.

 

Throughout the Bible, we continually see how God utilizes language in incredible ways to do His will. We start out reading the familiar “and God said…” over and over in Genesis 1 where God chose to speak the entire universe into existence and manifest His power through speech. We see God interacting with His creation through speech and revealing the plan of redemption through language. In addition to this, we have the example of our Savior, Jesus Christ who is Himself identified in John 1 as the Word! Needless to say, the importance of language in God’s creation cannot be overstated or undervalued! 

 

Taking a step into the Old Testament, we see that early on in world history, all of mankind spoke the same language. As recorded in Genesis 11, we learn how rather than using the gift of a common language to live in the fullness of what pleased God, mankind united in their common language to rebel against Him and His command to fill the earth.

 

Genesis 11:4-9: “Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.”

After the dispersion of language in Genesis 11, we see God move in incredible ways through language in the New Testament. After Christ had finished His mission on earth and ascended to Heaven, He left the command known as the Great Commission for His disciples to preach the gospel to all nations. As the disciples waited to be equipped for their mission, they waited for the Holy Spirit, the promised Helper who would come to them with an extraordinary gift:

Acts 2:1-11: “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”

The first gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit was manifested in the gift of language to God’s people! They were blessed with the ability to speak in other languages so that they could fulfill the command of Christ to disperse the gospel to all nations. We see that God gave the gift of language fluency in order to communicate the gospel to those who were being saved. 

What happened in Acts 2 was not a commonplace event- the disciples were divinely given the ability to speak in other languages fluently at that time, so that they could declare the mighty works of God. However, for most of us preparing to share the gospel with people who don’t speak our language, we’ll need to learn their language using commonplace tools and methods- with the help of the Holy Spirit. As we strive to learn the language of the people we are serving, may God open doors and grant opportunities to speak the truth of the gospel in a new language and may God use the spoken Word to give faith to the hearers: Romans 10:17, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” 

May God speed the day when we will all witness together the reunion of all of our languages being used for their highest purpose: Revelation 7:9-10: “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

– Mallory Knight, GEM Sponsorship Coordinator

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Abundantly Clear

When I look back on my journey to Global Education Ministries it is quick in time but very detailed in how. Each step you will hear about may not mean much when you read it, but at that moment for me or my family, or even someone around me, that was a clear message from God that this is what I was supposed to do next.

I was saved at a very young age but my mom and pastor at the time wanted to make sure that I truly understood what I was doing. After a little while and many questions, everyone decided that I was ready and there was no reason to stop me from inviting Jesus into my heart if it was what I really wanted to do. From then on I have always been very strong in my faith and knew that I loved God and even helped others around me to love God too. I came to notice this not because of all the VBS events or camps I had volunteered at but after leading my high school Fellowship of Christian Athletes club. Here I was able to see many people who were not too sure about God or what it meant to really live out your faith. I knew when I was president of our FCA club that I needed to be living out my faith as an example to others.

In my senior year of high school, I applied for a scholarship program to teach in Wake County for three years after my graduation. I planned to return to my hometown after I graduated to teach locally. Although, now I am excited to tell you how God has shown me he has a different and much bigger plan for me than I could have even planned for myself.

Within just a short month, starting in mid-March God began to set pieces into motion for His plan to take place. In mid-March, I attended a career fair through UNCW and this is where I first interacted with Global Education Ministries. This led to a more in detail meeting the next day to discuss what the organization is, and it was supposed to be about an hour, but we sat talking for over two hours. As these meetings took place, I felt comfortable and excited and continued down the path I felt was right. Nearly a week later after this meeting, I was asked to interview with the founder of this organization. This meeting was supposed to be in person at the GEM offices in Wilmington, NC. The weather in Wilmington on this day was unsafe, so we met through Zoom for two and a half hours and somehow the weather did not interrupt. After that interview just four short days later I was extended a contract to teach with Global Education Ministries for two years at their Manantial School in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca.

This contract came with lots of excitement but also many nerves as this made this opportunity real and something I needed to seriously consider. In the same week, I received my contract from GEM I also submitted my edTPA (internship assessment for graduation requirements), started teaching all subjects in my internship classroom, took my final licensure test, had my second formal observation, and then substituted for my partnership teacher for the first time. To say that week was a busy week would be an understatement. I had briefly discussed this opportunity to work with GEM with my family but not at all as much as I would have liked to. My family is very important to me so I really wanted their opinions and support with this new opportunity.

Thankfully, Spring Break for me was right around the corner, so I was able to come home and discuss the contract and opportunity with my family then. This is when I saw even more that this is what God wanted me to do. As each step of the way, God continued to open doors but not just for me but my family as well. On Easter Sunday I was at home in Raleigh for spring break and at church, our pastor’s message felt like it was directly for myself and my family to hear. He said that we need to not hold onto this message inside the four walls of the church but to go and tell, and do not be afraid for God will roll the rock away. Then as I thought through more questions there was little to no push back in each situation. Things like my healthcare coverage or phone plan that I thought may have been an issue were both already covered in Mexico. God has taken care of everything along the way and made it so clear at the same time so that I know that I am truly supposed to combine my passion for teaching and love for God to work with GEM.

Now I am so thankful for this opportunity and have loved sharing how God has been working in so many ways throughout this new journey. Also, I am thankful that God knows our needs and has a specific plan for each of us because as I look back, I see how many other things have been tied to me being able to do this now. I am so thankful that God will turn our mess into our message and that he loves us no matter what.

– Sydni Williams, GEM Missionary

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Blessing Amidst Hardship – A Message from Casey Herring

Hey GEM family! I am writing this in hopes that it is encouraging to you and gets you excited about everything God is doing through our ministry.  I recently just got back from Puerto Escondido. I came to meet with our school directors, meet with staff, and participate in some end-of-the-year events (like graduations).  It was an AMAZING week and I want to share some of the highlights. I hope you take away from this post how awesome and great our God is! He is great, and greatly to be praised!

First, La Luz (Juquila): I met with Tito and Betty and started our meeting by saying how hard this year was and how it was probably the worst we’ll ever have because of the pandemic. I tried to be encouraging… and then I let them talk. I wasn’t prepared for what happened next. I thought we were going to work through program problems, staff problems, money problems, etc. Instead, they just shared about how this was actually the best ministry year we’ve ever had in Juquila. They shared that the pandemic created the perfect opportunity in Juquila for our La Luz team to go and be with our school families in their homes (virtual schooling wasn’t possible).

Tito and Betty said that over the course of this school year, because students couldn’t come to classes, they were in different homes every day and 4 school parents came to faith and made decisions to follow Jesus!  They are currently meeting with each family in their home once a week studying the bible and discipling them! In addition to that, there are 10 more families (non-Christians) that they have started to study the bible with on a weekly basis. They said it started by just dropping off homework each week, then it turned into real conversations about hardship and life, and then finally over time Tito and Betty and their teachers were given permission to open the bible and share from God’s word. It’s been an amazing work over the course of the whole school year! I am confident there will be more salvation and rejoicing in Heaven!

The meeting with Cornerstone (Huatulco) was basically the same.  This is their second year in existence as a school. Talk about a tough time to start a school, right?  Nope, according to Sandra and David, it was the perfect time! Last school year they built relationships, this year they spent the whole school year in their homes.  Sandra and David said 8 families made decisions to return to the Lord and recommit their lives to Jesus (and be committed to gathering with their local churches)! They also said there were 5 new converts (all adults) this school year…including the water guy who delivers water weekly and a construction worker who was hired to build new bathrooms on campus!

I wish you could’ve heard their stories and seen their excitement. They’re tired, exhausted really, and have had so many hard things to deal with this school year. But mostly they’re just so happy to be reaching their communities and serving God in a meaningful/impactful way.  They had so many stories of God’s grace and how lives have been changed.  This post is a very poor replacement for their stories.  It’s truly incredible how God is working through our schools and moving in those two communities.

For Manantial, staff has been working through hardships in the midst of an unprecedented time. Virtual school in a developing country is NOT easy! However, this trip has given me the chance to meet with and talk to our directors, leaders, teachers, and school parents. It was a hard year–for sure–but our people and our school parents LOVE Manantial and are so grateful for our school. Parents are hopeful and excited for this next school year.  I’ve heard so many stories over the last week from parents about how much Manantial means to their children and to them.

God is at work and He’s doing great things.

Thank you all for your encouragement, support, and prayers. The Lord has proven Himself once again to be so faithful in tough times, and in the darkness His glory shines ever so bright.

I pray that you are encouraged and blessed by all the ways Christ is working throughout Global Education Ministries. May Christ be glorified, honored, and praised.

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A Calling

Hey everyone! My name is Heather Hall. I am a recent graduate of Asbury University and a new missionary with Global Education Ministries. I will be serving as an English teacher at La Luz School in Juquila, Mexico. I would like to begin with an introduction about who I am and why I am going to Mexico. Like I said earlier, my name is Heather. Since I was a kid, I wanted to be a teacher. I used to play school with my dolls and even created a binder where I would store their assignments! I also had a passion for overseas missions, even though I didn’t have a full understanding of what that was. My dream was to teach at a small school in a rural village overseas. God used this idealistic childhood fantasy to open my heart towards missions and prepare me for the future.

 

When I was 16 years old, God gave me the opportunity to travel overseas for the first time, and I went to Costa Rica with a mission team from my church. I was amazed by the kindness and generosity of the people I met and kept in touch with a few local girls in the following years. It broke my heart to leave those people after only a week and, after that trip, I knew that a mission trip wasn’t enough. God had given me a desire to live life with the people and not just drop in and out at our convenience. After the trip, I also decided to continue learning Spanish with a newfound motivation and used it to communicate with a few of the girls I met in Costa Rica.

 

When I entered college, I chose to pursue a missions degree because my heart was still drawn towards long-term missions. Other students had told me that “Missionary Methods and Problems” had caused others to realize that long-term missions wasn’t for them. However, I loved the class and it only fueled my fire for missions. During my freshman year of college, I began volunteering as an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher at my church and fell in love with it. During my college years, I taught English as opportunities arose and became involved in the World Gospel Mission center at my university. We hosted missionaries from all over the world, and I got to have conversations with them as I wrestled with God’s calling on my life.

 

After my Junior year of college, my plan was to go back to Costa Rica for a missions internship, but I was unable to travel due to COVID. However, God opened the door for me to use my COVID room and board refund to complete my CELTA (English Teaching Certificate) coursework and teaching practicum online with a school in Mexico over the summer. That summer, He also gave me a vision of myself kneeling in a classroom, confirming my calling as a teacher. This past Spring, I did my internship with a language school in Spain, where I taught English classes online. While teaching, my face would light up, and I knew in my heart that this is what God created me to do.

 

During this time, I was searching for something to do after graduation, and I found some job postings for English teachers at Global Education Ministries. The more I looked into the organization, the more I was drawn in. I could see their heart for Jesus in the centrality of the Gospel in their schools, the honoring of local leadership, and the open invitation to all regardless of their background or how much they can pay. I began the interviews and was able to witness these ideals being lived out in the lives of real people who faithfully follow God’s call. I came to a point where I knew that this was the next right step in my journey with Jesus. He used a sermon to break down my fears and lead me to commit. Ever since then, my calling has been confirmed. Yes, there are still fears and doubts and questions. But God is bigger than all of that, and He will provide what I need. He says, “So do not fear, for I am with you; Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10 NIV)

 

**You can follow my adventures here: https://heathergranaventura.blogspot.com/ and join my prayer team on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/408866517078866)

or by email (herha8@gmail.com)!

– Heather Hall, GEM Missionary

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Go.

I want to start off by saying Christ is so AWESOME!! I am truly so humbled that He can take broken sinners like me, and use us as vessels to overflow and outpour the grace, love, and mercy He has ceaselessly given us. May everything I do be done through Christ and for His glory alone. If for any other reason, then it’s for nothing. It is not I, but Christ in me. I pray that this would be the song of my heart and at the forefront of my mind with every step I take. I pray that I may continue to boast in all of my weaknesses because Christ’s power is made perfect in them!!

I have been learning this more and more throughout this journey thus far.

When I share with people that I am moving to Mexico for a couple of years after I graduate college, I have received responses of all kinds. I have got the question, “are you sure you can do this?” or “are you sure you want to do this?” I am sure that the ones who were asking these questions were doing it out of care and love for me. However, over time, these questions on repeat started to wear on me. I began to ask myself… “can I really do this? I must be crazy for thinking I can!” Following that came the urge to prove to myself and to others that I could. Well, God used this to teach me a hard but beautiful lesson.

I found that the more I tried to prove myself capable, it only magnified my incapability.

The answer to the question, “do you think you can really do this?” has a simple answer: I know I can’t…

…but hallelujah I know the one who can!!

Christ in me who has called me by His great name! I can do all things through Him because He strengthens me. That is the only way.

Vessels are best filled when empty, so that’s what I want to be. Empty before the Lord so that I can be filled with more and more of Him.

Here’s a quick summary of how the Lord got me to say a joyful “yes” to moving to Mexico with GEM:

In college, the Lord started revealing things in my life that I had a death grip on. He kept saying to me over and over again that He wanted it all. Not just a piece of my life, but the entire thing. When I submitted to what Jesus did on the cross for me 10 years ago, my life had died. I had known this, but I was suddenly burdened and was made heart-wrenchingly aware of the blueprints I sketched for my life that I had been hoarding for myself… my comfortable kingdom I was building here when there are souls dying every day who have never heard of the name of Jesus! The name that had set me free and given me Life…people were dying without even knowing of Him. (As I am writing this I pray that this Truth will continue to overwhelm our hearts and bring us to our knees. May it send out laborers! For the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few — Matthew 9:37) This began to wreck me…but it also stirred up a passion within me for the gospel that was overwhelming me to do something about what had been shown to me. At college group one Sunday night, I was sharing what was on my heart and my youth pastor pointed out to me that it sounded like I had a calling to ministry and to pray about it/look into different opportunities.

After months and months of prayer over where the Lord wanted me/what He wanted me to do, I went through some interviews as well as looking at different avenues I could take in the mission field. Nothing seemed right, and at one point I thought I was trying to force something that wasn’t supposed to happen, so I stopped looking yet kept praying.

Boom.

One Wednesday night my youth pastor mentioned Global Education Ministries (GEM) to me. I was immediately intrigued just from reading their website, but there was a problem… I was a marketing major… not an education major. I didn’t think they’d have a need for someone in Marketing.

Not mentioning my major, my youth pastor’s mom, who has been a part of GEM, reached out to them about my interest and this was their reply:

That right there is undeniably the Lord. I get chills thinking back to this moment.

To be honest, Mexico was not where I would have chosen. The only way I would have even considered going to Mexico was if the Lord gave me a heart for it.

Well after all of my interviews… I fell completely in love with GEM and what God is doing through their ministry. It is like my passions and the Lord’s desires beautifully meshed together it is so awesome and exciting!!

Throughout this entire journey, I have been saying that I don’t want to do anything for Christ, but I want to do everything with Him and through Him. I know without a doubt that He is with me and has given me a heart to serve Him and the beautiful people down in Mexico.

I am so honored to get to be a part of what God is doing through GEM and pray that He is glorified through everything that is done in my life and through this ministry.

– Sarah Beth Moore, GEM Missionary

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Learning About a Perfect Creator

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see. (Colossians 1:15-16)

How sweet is to be reminded that God is the creator of all things. Everything that exists finds purpose in Him. These verses are a great inspiration and encouragement, and also a source of peace knowing I can rest in the presence of my Creator, that made me and made all the things.

Life here on Earth can often be really unstable and feel senseless. And in one of these kind of moments the Holy Spirit guided me through the Scriptures to remind me of this powerful and gracious truth: God is the creator of all things. All the things were created by Him and for Him.

As a teacher, sometimes I feel overwhelmed and pressured by the responsabilities of teaching my young students the bases for the subjects they will be using for the rest of their lives. I think over and over, subject after subject: “I should go deeper in this concept, they will need it a lot when [insert a hypothetical situation that can happen but I can’t know for sure now]”.

This fear is more present in my lesson plannings than I’d like to confess to you all. But when I put some thinking into how to weave the gospel in the topics I’m teaching… That’s usually the moment that God reminds me: all the things I have to teach my students were created by Him, and all the things I have to teach my students find purpose in Him, ultimately.

One of my favorite things about weaving the gospel in my classes is the a great oportunity to share this truth with the kids. All the things we study in school, God has created in this world: the nature, the relation between nature and humans, how people communicate and behave, and the variations of these areas. All things were created by God and find purpose in Him.

Whether in the relations among geometric shapes making sense because of each detail of their characteristic sides and angles; or studying the water cycle and how many times water changes its state of matter… In all things we can see God’s great and thoughtful character. What an amazing thing it is to use the learning of school subjects to contemplate how great our Creator is.

God is so gracious for allowing us to enjoy the world He created. And more than that, there’s so much of His grace when we take more steps toward understanding His perfect thoughts as the creator of all things. I’ve been finding so much grace in teaching Science, Math, Social Studies, different languages… And as a consequence learning more of the perfect God that made all things. God is so good and gracious for letting us find the evidences of His greatness as we learn more about this amazing world He created. What a sweet gift is to be a part my students journeys while they learn different subjects, and even more than that: be part of their process of discovering a God who loves them so perfectly and created all things so wonderfully.

– Jady Vaneli, GEM Missionary

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Humble Faith

In a world where circumstances constantly shift and life is fragile, there is an everlasting hope that will never waver. God has been teaching me that in order to experience this hope, we cannot allow pride to gain a foothold in our heart. 

The other day I was reading a devotional based on the story of the bleeding woman and Jairus’ daughter who both were healed by Jesus. At the end of the devotion, it asked the question, “What was it that the bleeding woman and Jairus had that allowed them to be a testimony of the power of God?”… Then it asked, “in what situation do I need to have more patience and wait in faith?” 

These questions hit me like a ton of bricks. I had been walking through a season in which I felt like my prayers were not being answered in the way I wanted. In my pride, I began hesitating to trust in God’s faithfulness and goodness. I began living as though Christ wasn’t enough simply because I wasn’t content with His plans or timing. This kept me from experiencing the transformative work of God in my life. Not only that, but my heart became filled with ungratefulness, selfishness, fear, and lack of joy.

In contrast, the bleeding woman in Matthew 9 displayed genuine humility and faith in Jesus. She waited 12 years without answers for her suffering, and even after enduring for so long, she chose to trust in the capability of Jesus, “for she said to herself, ‘if I only touch his garment, I will be made well’” (Matthew 9:21). Because of her humble faith, the suffering woman was changed forever by God’s miracle-working power, and she was used as a living testimony to show God’s great power to others.

When we humble ourselves before the Lord, He promises to pour out His grace: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:8). As we submit ourselves to Him, He can use us in powerful ways to demonstrate His glory to those around us. It all comes down to remembering who God is: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD” (Isaiah 55:8). “The LORD is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works” (Psalm 145:13). Whether we want to believe it or not, God is trustworthy and He promises us that He works for our good. He isn’t just in control, he also loves us more than anyone else can.

Even through painful circumstances or seasons when we don’t see our prayers answered the way we expect, we must lay aside our pride and trust in God’s all-sufficient, loving goodness. Abiding in Jesus produces gratitude in us, thankfulness, and contentment because His way is truly better. “But I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16).

Unlike humility, pride leads us away from Jesus and puts us at odds with our Heavenly Father. It distances us from the source of life and only fills our lives with destruction.

Although pride is something that we will inevitably wrestle with, we have the ability to reject it. Be encouraged that even in the worst of circumstances, making the decision to humbly trust in Jesus like the bleeding woman will always lead to experiencing His blessing. Instead of running from Him in doubt, draw near and reach for His robe. Remember that He promises us life in abundance, He will never let you down. “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” John 10:10-11.

– Natalia Saint Clair, GEM Missionary