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God’s Great Love

Before coming to Mexico to serve at Manantial, I had never left Brazil. And even though I had seen different places and cultures in my home country, nothing can compare to the experience of knowing and being part of a community here in Puerto Escondido.

There’s so much beauty and richness in recognizing God’s great creation and how He manifests his glory through his creation. And even more than that, building relationships with other brothers and sisters in faith to impact the community we’re in is also so powerful and invigorating to our faith.

On my friend’s daughter birthday I was invited to make tamales, a special Mexican dish that requires many hours of work to prepare. And in this unique experience of watching her mixing the corn dough for hours while I separated the best parts of the cooked chicken I couldn’t stop thinking of how much effort it is to prepare this dish… Wouldn’t it be easier to buy it ready or make something else? Probably, but this whole process of preparing the dough, selecting the meat, cooking the sauce, spreading the dough with the meat and folding it with banana leaves made it so valuable and appreciated by the birthday girl. I feel convicted that the effort this family put into this activity just shows a part of the love they have for this 10 year old. How much more would God also love her?

In a comparison, God also pursued us and made a great effort to show his great love. He gave his only son to die on a cross for our sins, and not only this, he resurrected to be the first of many in this new and  holy life God has for his children. He still pursues us to show his great love while correcting us and turning our ways away from sin and death. And just like this family considered all that work worth for the love for their daughters, God shows me once again that all the sacrifice was worth for having us as his children.

In unique experiences like this, I feel so grateful for God’s grace in showing me over again that the manifestations of his love are found in every heart that is opened, in every culture and every family that welcomes him. And going further than that, I’m grateful because just like this family invited me to be a part of this celebration, God has me here in this community to manifest his love for those who live here.

“In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us (Colossians 3:11)”

– Jady Vaneli, GEM Missionary

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Expectations, Challenges, and the Character of God

It has been five years this month since we uprooted our lives and moved to Puerto Escondido to serve with GEM. Those five years, we saw God do many things. We had many expectations of what we believed God could do. We saw lives changed by the Gospel. We saw some of our school parent’s marriages restored. In those five years, we saw God do many things and He will continue to do them through His people. As well as all the things we saw God do, there were many challenges. Conflicts that arose between staff members at the school, covid shutting the school down for two years, and many more challenges that arose. In light of all these things, God didn’t change who He was and what He does.

God is faithful to keep his promises. He is loving, kind, gracious, compassionate, and forgiving. These aspects of his character are the foundation for all the things He does. It is out of these things that He forgives, cares, loves, and pursues the lost and broken.

Recently, I have been reading through the book of Numbers. It is a continuation of the story of the people of Israel whom God had rescued from slavery in Egypt. God rescues them from slavery in Egypt and desires to guide them into a new land, the promise land. In Numbers 13:1-2, God tells Moses to send spies into the land of Canaan in which He is going to give them. God is promising in these first two verses that He will give Israel this land.

Somewhere along the line, the people of Israel missed this. Israel sent twelve spies into the land and they came back to report all that they had seen. The report revealed that the land was exceedingly great, a land full of milk and honey, and the produce was rich. However, ten of these men stated that the land was occupied by people who were very strong and the cities too strong as well.

Caleb and Joshua were two men who believed in the promises and character of God. Yes, there was the challenge of this land and all the people that had occupied it, but they had an expectation in their God and his character that proves true over and over. When the people heard Joshua and Caleb’s encouragement to go into the land, they almost were stoned by some of the people of Israel before God intervened. The story goes on, but because of the people complaining, God led them into the desert for 40 years. Those that complained against God and doubted his promises did not see the promise land.

There is a major difference between Joshua and Caleb and the ten other spies. We could say that for Joshua and Caleb that they had expectations of God’s promises to come true and embraced the many challenges that Israel faced because they knew they could trust the character of God. The other ten spies had expectations of what life should be like. They complained because life was not as they had expected which led to the challenges moving them into fear and doubt because they did not trust in God’s character.

May we all remember that “The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression (Numbers 14:18). It is through our hope in the never changing character of God that we can embrace challenges and difficulties knowing that Christ is with us all the way through. Because of this, we can hope in the promises of our faithful God.

– Daniel McDonald, Director of Global Engagement

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Prayerfully Guided

My partnership with GEM came about as most life-changing things with the Lord do: quietly and unexpectedly; with the details unfolding in time and the only way to notice them was through prayer. 

I have worked in full-time ministry before but I had a few years where I took a step back. Those years were spent in a lot of prayer; prayer unlike I had ever done before. 

At the time, I lived just an hour from the Blue Ridge Parkway. I spent several weekends driving up and down it, stopping at specific overlooks, and praying. Praying for guidance, praying for understanding, praying for what is next for me. Additionally, I started praying about what I loved to do: writing and photography. After all, what better way to learn how to pray than to pray about what tugs at the heartstrings the most?

My life had taken an unexpected turn and I was really unsure of where to go next– both literally and figuratively. But, as I prayed I began to learn so much. I learned about prayer– our selfish desires even in prayer– I learned about my expectations, I learned about how truthful Scripture is, and I learned more about myself. Mainly, I learned how grounding it is when we take Him at His Word; when we decide to trust that not only does He know best but He also knows what we’re going through, and that just being present with Him really does change everything.

I have nothing to offer that Christ has not already given to me. I learned that whatever gift / talent I possess was given by the Giver, Himself, and that anything worth doing was something that I could give back to Him. 

So, I started asking Him about my love for writing. For the first time, I started praying about how to use it. 

I started thinking about Wilmington, North Carolina. The town has some old history in the creative arts and I was drawn to it because of that. I figured that I could get involved in that scene somehow and, at the very least, live a fulfilling life in the town simply because I was around creativity. I started really praying about it and began to watch how the Lord directed my steps to where I am now. 

After a visit to Wilmington at the start of the new year, I ended up connecting with GEM via LinkedIn and the process of our partnership began. 

The process took several weeks and I was so encouraged and blessed to talk with the team so many times. It was healing for me to be able to talk with them about where I had been and where I felt the LORD was calling me into. 

Not only was I able to experience such an answer to prayer but the team at GEM expressed how they were experiencing such huge answers to prayer as well. 

I’ll be working with GEM to build the Missionary Care Department as their Transitional Care Coordinator. In this role, I will write devotionals for our missionaries as well as meeting with them to encourage spiritual growth as their year progresses. 

I am humbled to be in this position and eager to see how the Spirit works within it. 

It is a joy to be able to offer my gifts and talents back to the Lord to uplift and edify His Church.

– Ashleigh Gyatt, GEM Missionary

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Living Outside of Comfort

This past year was spent in a lot of prayer, specifically about where the Lord was going to lead me to teach after I graduated college, and in what ways He was going to lead me to share the Gospel in the years to come. I figured my mission field was going to be teaching middle school and serving with youth in a town I was familiar with. Well, that wasn’t exactly what the Lord had in store for me. Throughout high school, I was able to go on many short term mission trips to Nicaragua and the Lord began to give me a heart for sharing the Gospel in places that were out of my comfort zone and normal context. I left from those trips always thinking that short term missions were all that I would ever do and the Lord wasn’t calling me to do that full time. The more I prayed where the Lord wanted me, He began to surround me with people that were very mission minded like my sweet friend Sarah Beth Moore who also works for GEM. I watched her go through the process with GEM when she signed her contract and then she mentioned to me that they were looking for teachers. I was very interested, yet was also believing the lies that I wasn’t cut out to be a missionary. Sarah Beth then mentioned just talking to someone from the ministry before I gave up on the whole thing and so she connected me to someone who helped me realize how at home these people made me feel. After that first conversation I was still very nervous about committing the next two year of my life to living in a foreign country, so I backed away and prayed about decisions involving GEM. I still was worried about whether I was worthy and capable of this kinda thing.

In May of this year, God gave me complete peace and reconnected me with GEM after talking to my parents about it more. He was able to recultivate my heart for missions and gave me a passion for teaching students through the Gospel woven curriculum – which was one of the biggest things that drew me into this ministry as a whole. Once I met some of the other staff, I realized that these were people the Lord was placing in my life to be able to have a support system in Mexico while adjusting to the culture and being away from family and friends.

       The Lord has shown me so much through this process and has taught me to depend more upon Him. He has shown me that He has been leading me to this place and ministry all along and will equip me with His word and grace as I go and be obedient to His calling.  I’ve always heard that you grow when you are outside of your comfort zone and remain complacent in places that you feel comfortable. I strive to stay in a place where the Lord is challenging and growing me for the glory of His kingdom in ways that would never happen if I lived in the bounds of my own comfort.

– Kaitlyn Summitt, 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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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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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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He Dwells With Us

Recently, I have been rereading the book of John. As I study it, I continue being drawn back to John 1. Verse 14 says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth”. This is a well-known verse, but I have found myself here over and over again over the last week or two stuck in this beautiful truth.

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” That is astounding to me. God became flesh in the person of Christ, but He does not stop there. He also dwelt among us. This word “dwelt” is translated from the Greek word skenoo which means to pitch one’s tent or tabernacle. If you look back at the Old Testament, we see the tabernacle where the presence of God used to dwell in the midst of His people. When Jesus came, He dwelt among His people, making God known (John 1:18). But then, after Jesus ascended into heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to dwell within His people. 

“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?…”

1 Corinthians 3:16

At one time, God could only dwell with His people in the tabernacle because of the law. Sin separates us from God, and no one could perfectly fulfill this law. Therefore, God gave His people specific instructions for the tabernacle and the camp so that He could dwell amongst them in His holiness (Exodus 26-29 and Numbers 2:3:39). “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). Jesus came to fulfill the law (Matthew 5:17), and He did so perfectly. In this, God is able to dwell with us through His Spirit, not because of anything we could do on our own, but because of who Jesus is and what Jesus has done. 

“…For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, ‘I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

2 Corinthians 6:16

As I continue to meditate on this, I am amazed at how God has so perfectly woven His good and perfect plan throughout the fabric of time. “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” (Ezekiel 36:26-37). God knew His plan for redemption, and as Jesus came, He made it possible for us to have access to God through Himself. He is not a distant God. He is close to His people. As you go about your day, I hope you remember that even now, in Christ, God dwells with us. 

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…”

-Rachel Hill, GEM’s Director of Mission Advancement