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MARRIAGE, MEXICO, AND MINEFIELDS: THE JOY OF FOLLOWING JESUS INTO THE UNKNOWN

“God is so vastly wonderful, so utterly and completely delightful that He can, without anything other than Himself, meet and overflow the deepest demands of our total nature, mysterious and deep as that nature is.” – A.W. Tozer

CHANGE: WRESTLING WITH THE UNKNOWN

If there is one thing in my life that I consistently struggle with, it’s changed.

Six years ago, I moved away from my family in south Georgia for college in Virginia. At the time I was 21 years old. I had never been away from my family for more than 2 months. Moving away was incredibly frightening. In my case, change meant moving 8 hours away from friends that I had invested in over 21 years of my life. Change meant a lot of new, uncertain things in my life. For a person used to safety and comfort, this was very difficult. It meant that I was moving into a new setting where I was the outsider, the new kid.  Yet, I knew God was leading me away from where I had been for 21 years to grow and live independently from my family.  What I didn’t know at the time was that change was soon to become the mantra of my life. I had no idea that God was going to use the thing I hated the most to shape and refine me, day-by-day, moment-by-moment.

Tim Chester says, “Change is a lifelong, daily struggle that will end with an eternal harvest of holiness.”

God uses change in our lives, good and bad, to refine us and shape us into the image of Jesus, bringing us into fuller joy.

REDEEMING THE UNKNOWN

In my own life, God has used change in several ways to shape and refine me. In college, I was forced to stand on my own. I was taught through the unknown transition into adulthood that God can be trusted in all circumstances. Because of my experiences in college I came to understand the church with deeper clarity and conviction.  I learned that God does not only intend for us to show up once a week to a building to hear his word preached but that the church is his body – a people redeemed by Jesus sent into the world to be his witnesses. I learned that the church isn’t a place at all – it’s a people. I learned that God calls me to worship every single day, not just on Sundays. I learned that the church is this messy, broken, redeemed, beautiful, healed people trying to live in light of the truth and that we have been declared righteous by God through faith in Jesus.

God was also revealing to me that discipleship was much more than just one on one meeting or a bible study. Rather, discipleship is submitting all of our lives to the Lordship of Jesus. Jeff Vanderstelt writes,

“Discipleship—learning to follow, trust, and obey Jesus in the everyday stuff of life—requires submitting to and obeying God’s Word in three key environments: life on life, where our lives are visible and accessible to one another; life in community, where more than one person is developing another; and life on mission, where we experience making disciples and, while doing so, come to realize how much we need God’s power.”

Ultimately God used my time in Lynchburg to grow me and help me to see the beauty of who Jesus is and who He is making me to be. I have found Proverbs 16:9 to be fittingly and sometimes frustratingly true – “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”

MARRIAGE

mcdonaldsRecently, another life change occurred: I married my beautiful wife, Kristen. Marriage, more than anything else, has already been one of the most difficult, joyful, sanctifying realities in my life.

God’s grace is at work, transforming us as we navigate these recent changes together.

Marriage is messy. My wife sees my life for what it is and I see the same in her. This is what makes it so amazing! God is in the works of changing us—through marriage—to His likeness.

Paul Tripp reminds us that God uses spouses as tools of change.

“When your ears hear and your eyes see the sin, weakness, or failure of your husband or wife, it is never an accident; it is always grace. God loves your spouse, and he is committed to transforming him or her by his grace, and he has chosen you to be one of his regular tools of change.”

God is redeeming the difficulties in marriage to transform us. He is using our transition into marriage as a means of changing us. He is using the sin, brokenness, selfishness, and mess as tools of change for the sake of His name.

MEXICO

When Kristen and I were dating, we often dreamed of what our future would look like, where we would be, and who we would be serving. We had plans to settle in Virginia (quite comfortably) for a season before we would eventually move to Portland, Oregon to be a part of a church planting team for the sake of Jesus’ name being made known in the Pacific Northwest. However, God had different plans. Again, Proverbs 16:9,

“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”

My wife was recently attending a local fair for teaching jobs when one particular school seemed to stand out. This school is called Centro Educativo el Manantial (CEM). This is not your normal, American public school. This is an English immersion school that is found in Puerto Escondido, Mexico. It was started by an organization called Global Education Ministries. When Kristen first told me about this, I remember thinking, “there is no way we are moving to Mexico!”  Why would I want to go to Mexico? We already had a great plan! We had a safe plan. We had a comfortable plan. We had a plan that required minimal change. We would stay put for a couple of years and then move to Portland.

So we prayed. And prayed. And we sought wise council and deliberated with friends. Finally, after much consideration, wisdom, and prayer, we can say with confidence that the Lord is leading us to follow Him to a country neither of us knows, in an area we are unfamiliar with, and in a way we never could have expected. Six months after being married, we are about to embark on the biggest adventure of our lives. Here is what we are learning – God calls us into unfamiliar situations that require us to obey and trust in His faithfulness.In light of all of this, we have committed to two years in Puerto Escondido, Mexico for the Glory of His Name! We are very excited about how the Lord will use this in our lives to grow us, mold us, draw us closer to Him. We are equally excited to see how He uses us to lift up the name of Jesus in Mexico!

PURSUING JESUS IN THE MINEFIELDS OF CHANGE

If there was going to be anything I’ve learned through all these changes it is this: Jesus is worthy of all our time, possessions, decisions, and personal desires. Psalm 103:2-5 gives us a beautiful picture of our God and who He is to us.

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”

Nothing else in this world will give the satisfaction that Jesus offers. He is good and there is no one like Him. We were created by and for Him. It doesn’t matter if you are living in the states or in another country, God desires that you seek him with your whole heart. He has given his church a command: to make disciples of all nations. Therefore, all of us have a mission and that mission is to love and serve your neighbors, co-workers, classmates, roommates, spouses, and those you encounter on a daily basis. That mission may lead us into uncomfortable situations and deep into the unknown, but there is so much joy in following Him. Hebrews 12:2 says, “For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” If Jesus, in joy, endured the cross, how much more can we, with joy, seek Him and follow Him wherever he leads us? He is our joy, our treasure, our hope.

There are a lot of unknowns when it comes to moving to Mexico. Where are we going to live? How are we going to raise enough money? What are we going to do with all of our stuff? It can be overwhelming thinking about all of these logistics, but there is beauty in following Jesus into these unknowns.

The less we know about our specific plans, the more we will be able to trust in God’s promises to keep and guide us. We have nothing to hold onto except for Jesus. What a joy it is to trust in His promises to take care of us!

God’s word tells us to follow Him regardless of the cost. Following Jesus will most likely take us through minefields of change. This means, we never know when some kind of change will happen in our life. We will continue to encounter change — sometimes to the extent to moving to another country. This will be a constant reality for the rest of our lives. The good news is – we can walk through minefields of change with an understanding that God is worthy of our trust. His name is worthy of our lives, regardless of the cost.

13002621_1137203002997725_8962894918079717680_oDaniel graduated from Liberty University with a B.S. in Communication (2011) and a Master’s of Divinity in Evangelism and Church Planting (2014). He will be serving as the Director of Communication for GEM. Kristen graduated in May 2016 with a B.S. in Elementary Education and will serve as the 4th-grade teacher at the Manantial School. They enjoy playing sports, eating good food with friends, and exploring with their wonderdog, Nala. Above all, they desire to make disciples by making Jesus known in Puerto and around the world. To read more posts on Daniel’s personal blog, click here.

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Tews to Mexico

We are very excited to join Global Education Ministries in August to begin the next phase of this journey of life that God has given us! The mission of GEM lines up exactly with the desires of our hearts! Serving and loving others to help them see the Father’s love is something we always want to be sure is the core of what we are doing!

It’s funny how we came to know about GEM. In 2014 Nate was on a flight to Haiti for a mission’s trip and sitting across the aisle was a semi-bald guy (maybe fully bald, depends on the angle and lighting…as well as the intentionality) who was reading the Bible, and as conversation was struck up he told Nate about this new school in Mexico that he and his wife started and how it was growing quickly. This guy is, of course, Casey Herring, who explained how they were fortunate to be a part of what God was doing in Puerto and how this school had been such a great tool to lead people to Jesus and to give quality education. With this great education, they were in need of more teachers so after hearing that Haley was in school for early childhood education, the seed was planted for us to come down and check the school out and what life in Puerto Escondido would look like. With that seed planted in the back of our brains, we had no idea how serious we would consider joining GEM two years later.

Tews weddingAfter we got married in July of 2015, all of our thoughts and plans for our near future were completely changed and God taught us what it means to trust Him solely. We learned that yes we make plans, but it’s The Lord who establishes our steps. After recently moving to Raleigh, NC, Nate has been working from home and was about to start a career in Real Estate while Haley was applying for teaching jobs in the public school system.

We both were praying about our next steps and what we should do but weren’t exactly sure what that was. One day recently, we talked about what we wanted to do and what we felt like God was putting in our hearts. Everything that we both described lined up together and the thought about GEM came to our minds. We lost contact with GEM and honestly couldn’t remember the name of the organization and how to get in touch with Casey but eventually did through a friend. After talking with Casey and Megan a few times and learning more about the school, the mission, and the staff we really prayed about what kind of commitment and huge life change this would be. We both had peace about it and have been excited about the opportunity!

We know this is a big change and we will miss our family and friends a lot, but we are excited to jump in with the staff and really become like a second family to each other and loving the students and their families! Though we can’t know exactly what to expect, we know our life will be centered around Jesus, the precious people in Puerto and the GEM community. We look forward to the hard times, rewarding and fun times, creepy bugs, the heat, the beach….and apparently amazing tacos!

TewsNathan and Haley Tew have been married for almost one year, and they are super excited about joining the GEM team in Puerto Escondido next fall! If you are interested in supporting them financially or with prayer, you can find their contact info here.

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The Walking In Between

Sometimes the most captivating parts of a story are not the mountaintops. Not the end results. Not the final product. But, simply, as Ben Rector so eloquently states it, “the walking in between.”

Right now God has given me a mountaintop. To do what I love, teach in a school filled with God’s love, in a land filled with stunning beaches and majestic mountains. I have been blessed. And not that every moment is easy or bursting with laughter, but He shows me His goodness so evidently even in the hard times.

Today I want to share a story, for words in the form of stories have always left me feeling a little more inspired. A little more ready to conquer the world for Christ. This story is not about a special moment with one of the students or watching a parent come to faith. It is merely how God can use a place of confusion and unrest to show His children the most wonderful plan of all. His.

Growing up in a Christian home and attending Christian school since the 5th grade, meant that the idea of missions was not a crazy concept. Family members were missionaries in Japan and Spain, and the real life visual of sacrificing your life for Christ was something that I strived to achieve. But, there was always a part of me that yearned for the comfortable, for the white picket fence kind of life. And now I truly realize that it’s a marvelous thing that God knows us better than we know ourselves.

Let’s go back to March 24, 2015. In my planner, for every type A teacher has one, there was a U.S. History test due online, and Jury Duty written in big bold letters. Having read every John Grisham novel, I was excited for the prospect of being involved in a thrilling courtroom experience. Listed a little below my excited bolded print was…Teacher Recruitment Fair. A required event for all seniors in the education program. God had blessed me with an amazing host teacher (thank you, Mrs. Smith if you are reading this!), and I had put all my hopes into securing a position at that elementary school. My true thoughts about the job fair…I didn’t need those awkward conversations! Obviously, God had other plans.

Short story even shorter, that morning I called the Jury Duty number, and as you can now guess, my presence was not required. A quick change from semi-professional attire to “I want to teach at your school” attire, and my best friend and I were ready to hand out some resumes. Fast forward two hours and many (actually very exciting) conversations later, we were on our way out the door. Ten feet from fresh air and lunch waiting for us at Panera Bread, an enthusiastic voice penetrated my thoughts, “Have you ever thought about teaching overseas?!” Seven simple words that changed my life.

I like to think that if I had never paused to hear about Global Education Ministries at that teacher fair, or if my jury duty hadn’t been canceled that morning, God still would have directed my path to Mexico.

Because He has a plan. A plan that is greater than we can ever ask for or imagine. A plan that may involve killing tarantulas in your bathroom, or getting in the wrong taxi and having to walk an embarrassing extra 15 minutes home. But it also involves getting sweaty hugs goodbye after a school day, and loving people you never would have had the privilege to meet.

So, the “walking in between.” Those days that seem mindless and discouraging. When you are waiting for the mountaintop and the start of an incredible adventure, remember, the first step of an adventure is often times the most important. It requires determination, patience, and an excitement for the unknown. The first step requires the adventurer to say, “Here I am, send me.”

Sarah Quigg graduated from Liberty University in 2015 with a B.S. in Special Education. She loves running and growing closer to God while exploring His creation! We are so happy to have her on the team, teaching 5th grade.

 

 

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No Place I’d Rather Be

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of a teacher is, “one whose occupation is to instruct.”

I am here to tell you that after only three days as a teacher (most moments I still cannot believe I am actually a real live teacher now), I know for a fact that this definition barely scratches the surface of what being a teacher entails.

No amount of planning, college instruction, watching teacher movies, or hearing testimony, can prepare one for the moment when the first student enters your very own classroom for the first time.

Mine just happened to be the cutest little boy…who spoke no English. My first procedure was teaching my students to answer a Question of the Day when they first entered the room. So, with a perplexed look on his face, he followed my hand motion instructions to copy the question on his paper. After that task was complete, I tried to explain what the question, “What was your favorite summer moment?” meant…using the limited Spanish words in my vocabulary. His confused smile made me switch tactics and try to explain that he could just draw a picture instead. I pointed to the painting of a tree in the classroom and mimed drawing on his paper. He smiled and nodded, proceeding to draw a tree on his paper. My next three students all spoke only Spanish, and so they too copied the unknown words on the board…and drew trees on their papers. Hey, I love nature too.  🙂

A few unforgettable moments:

~A mischievous boy tried to grab the pencil case on the girl’s desk next to him, causing it to fall and scatter across the tiled floor.  I looked at the mess, and responded with, “okay, let’s pick it up.” A boy stared at me and replied, “Miss Quigg, you have a very patient face.”

                    “Lord, help me choose patience in every moment with my students, so they might know you more.” 

~As the class was lining up for lunch I looked back to see if everyone was lining up correctly and noticed busy hands writing, “I love Miss Quigg” on the white board.

                    “Lord, help every student see your love for them through my love for them.”  

~After lunch I was at my tree position, monitoring the soccer being played. These kids could outplay most adults, the ability to move with the ball seeming to flow from their souls. The same mischievous boy, who has added much fun and challenge in the classroom, was trying to get the ball from one of his buddies. They were past the tree, which is no soccer territory, and I tried to explain using hand motions that they could not play over there. A few minutes later the ball was kicked past the tree again, and he ran to challenge the student who had arrived first. Then, as if sensing my eyes, he turned, flashed me a smile and walked back. It’s just the little victories sometimes.

“Lord, help me to focus on the good in every child.” 

~We played a get to know you game: two teams with a sheet being held between as a barrier. One person from each team sat near the sheet, and as it dropped whoever said the other person’s name faster won the point. In one particular instance, a boy said four names before guessing the correct girl’s name on the other side. By the time the name was guessed every child was laughing with such a free abandon, I wanted to live in that moment forever.

“Lord, help me show the freedom in joy that can be experienced through a relationship with you.” 

I love hearing “Miss Quigg” as it comes out sounding like, “Miss Quick,” or “Miss Queek,” or teacher, or maestra.

I love being told by a student that he told his Mom, “I can’t wait to go back to school tomorrow.”

I love being the one that my students run to when they need help.

I love having the responsibility and challenge to meet every student’s needs.

I love watching their natural and talented soccer skills after lunch.

I love sweaty hugs goodbye and Buenos Dias as they come into school.

I love knowing I am right where God wants me to be.

On Friday, I had never felt so emotionally drained, so physically exhausted (when do teachers sit down?!), and empty of all creativity. On Friday, I had never felt so overflowing with love, excited about seeing my students again, and filled with an unmistakable peace.

I know that I am young, naive about the amount of hard work and time-consuming labor that it takes to prepare each night, and lacking experience and wisdom in many situations. But, I will choose to remind myself why I am here, why these students were placed in my life, and the way God worked all things out for me to be in this place, in this moment in time, with these particular people.

Miss Quigg, 5th-grade teacher

More of Sarah’s thoughts and stories can be found at her personal blog, “How Missions Ruined My Life.”