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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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New Opportunities

I have always loved music, children, people, and Jesus most of all. But this past year God has given me the new opportunity to combine all those things and become a missionary for Global Education Ministries (GEM).

Over the summer, I was thinking about my career opportunities as a musician in Canada and praying that God would give me wisdom on how I can best serve Him and use the gifts and talents he has given me. Then I heard about GEM, and started looking into it more, and quickly became confident that this was something that God was calling me to do for His Glory. When I heard from the other missionaries at GEM, all that God had been doing through this ministry, I longed to join them in Mexico and be apart of this mission. I believe that being a missionary for GEM, teaching the gospel through music, is the best way that I can fulfill my purpose and use my gifts for God’s glory. I am so excited for all that God will do in my heart, and through this ministry as I go to Mexico to share the gospel through gospel-saturated education, gospel-centered discipline, gospel-motivated relationships and gospel-life example.

In the months of preparation, God has already been working on my heart to trust Him completely, and remember to live a gospel-motivated life everyday. As I have learned about GEM’s core values and told more people about them, they have served as encouragements to share the gospel in the things I do and say here in Canada, before I go and do it in Mexico. As I have been fundraising, and asking for support from friends and family, God has used this experience to encourage my heart, and to remind me to trust Him fully. I can not do this alone, or by my own strength. It is only by Grace, through faith that I am able to be saved and be a missionary, and also to trust in Jesus as I go. Ephesians 2:8-10 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

I believe that every follower of Christ must continually come back to this core part of the gospel, that we are saved by grace, through faith, and recognize that this is a precious gift from God, and then go share it with others. The great works that God has prepared in advance for us to do, are ultimately to share the gospel. Jesus says to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you,” and that we can have confidence, faith and peace in this command because He says that, “behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

The past few months, I have been learning Spanish by taking Spanish classes at school, learning about how to incorporate the Gospel in every part of my teaching, and how to teach music in the most God-honouring way. I know that the next few years will only be possible if I continue to trust in the Lord as I move away from home, and go into this new environment with His strength and guidance for how to share the gospel and reach these families in the best way that I can. I am excited to move to Mexico for the next 2 years but ultimately this mission is about telling people about Jesus, and building the Kingdom of God so that more people may share in this Living Hope and have salvation by grace, through faith.

I am writing this blog to share the things that God has been teaching me as a reminder for myself, and an encouragement to you! I also hope to share prayer requests from GEM, from myself and to hear from you, wherever you are! The mission of GEM is to build the Kingdom of God by spreading the gospel through education, planting these Gospel-Saturated Schools, equipping local leaders, and building the local church. I pray that this blog and community of believers will encourage us all to live gospel-motivated lives and that we can encourage one another, wherever we are in the world to pursue Christ, share the truth with others, and reflect His character in all we do and say.

– Lorissa Van Gurp, GEM Missionary

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The Better Choice

One of my favorite short stories in the Bible is when Jesus and His disciples are going from town to town and they arrive at the house of Mary and Martha. Martha, in her hospitable way, opens the door to Jesus and invites Him and His friends in. But soon, worries of tidying up for her guests, preparing food, and  other obligations of hosting a crowd get in the way of her actually spending time with Jesus. It’s Mary, her sister, we see that sits at Jesus’s feet listening and soaking up the words of a man she doesn’t realize will one day be her Savior. Only when Martha cries out for Mary to help her, do we get the chance to hear Jesus’ perspective of the situation. “Mary has chosen what is better,” He says.

How easily I can relate to Martha but how earnestly I desire to be Mary. Thanks to Martha’s hospitality, Jesus came into her home. But that was only the beginning of a deep, loving relationship that Jesus desired to have with these women that from birth both bore His image. Mary might have understood it but Martha had it all backwards. Before spending time with Jesus, she wanted to plan, prepare, fix, etc. But in doing so, she was easily worried and upset. Mary chose what was better. Instead of worrying about things that in a few hours would have no eternal significance, Mary went straight to a Man she would later call Lord, and sat at His feet as she listened to His heart. We don’t know if Mary was worried like Martha was when Jesus stepped in the house and began to teach. She was probably tempted to rush around like Martha, but after sitting at His feet and hearing His first few words, it seems like even if Mary had been preoccupied with other things, the words of Jesus drew her in enough to forget them and rest at His feet.

How often do we let the cares of today and tomorrow take away from our time with the Lord today? How often does our time in God’s Word and in prayer – listening to His heart and really getting to know His character – come second to our daily worries and obligations? In the past few years of working in ministry, I have noticed that it can tend to happen even more frequently in this area of work than anywhere else – the constant need to be serving, evangelizing, spending time with people, hosting, teaching, etc. These are all great things, but before I even have a chance to realize it, my time is so focused on doing that I barely have time for what my heart truly needs, to sit at the feet of my Savior and listen to His heart. If I’m going to truly live out the Great Commission, I have to stay plugged into my Source and daily choose what is better.

Like Paul says in Philippians 3:10, I want to know Christ. I want to be in awe of His beauty. I want His Word to penetrate to the depths of my heart. I want to say no to the secondary things and yes to the one and only thing that my heart truly needs. No, it won’t be easy and yes, it requires a daily sacrifice of time. But it stops becoming a sacrifice when we realize that knowing Christ is exactly what we were made for and gives our souls the rest that we can’t find in anything else. So I invite you just as I invite myself, let’s know Jesus. Let’s really seek Him out in His Word and in prayer because our souls will quickly find out that Jesus has been right all along – it will always be the better choice.

-Maggie Addison, GEM Missionary

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A New Way to Look Back

Having the opportunity to serve with GEM has been an amazing experience of faith in my personal walk with God. I saw God moving and acting supernaturally in every area that I needed support before moving. As I started working in the school, His Spirit kept giving the help and encouragement I needed to best serve my students.

But as the weeks passed by, I started to focus more on the to-do’s and eventually I found myself frustrated and tired. I felt this way because I was not meeting my personal expectations as a teacher. When we finished the first quarter, I was tired and disappointed at myself for not achieving the professional goals I set. And disappointment is an exhausting feeling.

One day, the Spirit guided me through the scriptures and spoke to my heart through this piece of Solomon’s prayer once they had finished the Temple:

“Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses. May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us nor forsake us. May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in obedience to him and keep the commands, decrees and laws he gave our ancestors. And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel according to each day’s need” (1 Kings 8:56-59).

We know that the path in the desert to the promised land was filled with challenges, idolatry, murmuring, and even doubting God’s provision. The thing that the Spirit made me realize is that even with all these hard events, Solomon looked at the path of the Israelites in the desert and prayed to God, thanking his faithfulness. Even with all the difficulties and the sinful nature of his people, God kept his promise. He sustained them even in their rebellion. Solomon looked to God and remembered how good He is. I realized that I have an unconscious tendency to look at the challenges, the failures, and the wrongs. The Spirit showed me that I needed to change my perspective from the fallen human and imperfect nature to the unchanging, all-powerful, and faithful God we have. God sustained me even in my failures.

It’s important to look back and see how we can improve and make things better. But the real improvement does not come from our independent desire and effort to fix mistakes. As Christians, the only way to improve ourselves is to walk the path of dependence on the Lord – through prayer, listening to His voice in the scriptures, and taking the leaps of faith that He guides us to. Leaving Brazil to come to Mexico was a huge leap of faith for me, depending completely on His grace and support. Now He’s asking me to trust Him in a way that’s not as visual or tactile as it was in the beginning. He didn’t stop sustaining me when I arrived in Puerto Escondido; He is still interested in sustaining me in all areas of my life. 

My goal for this next semester is to fully understand and practice Paul’s testimony about depending on God: 

But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness”. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me (2 Corinthians 12:9-11).

– Jady Vaneli, GEM Missionary Teacher

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Changes

Challenges change us. This year has displayed that to the world. 2020 has brought great uncertainty and many changes. Every person’s life on earth is vastly different than it was before the global pandemic. 

I remember exactly where I was, about 10 months ago, when I first heard about an epidemic in China over the radio. Driving an ambulance to Virginia Beach, Virginia, I would have never imagined that in a few weeks we would be in quarantine, and in a few months I would be moving to Mexico. 

When I was an undergraduate student, I met a GEM representative in passing through a career fair. I knew I wanted to teach, and I had spent enough time in Mexico to know that this was where God was calling me. 

After I graduated I began working as an EMT, but I knew that God had called me to education. At the right time, God reminded me of GEM and I connected with them over the summer. 

Making the decision to serve with GEM was challenging for me. Just as I was planning to leave, I had concerns about my health, concerns about traveling and living abroad, and was offered a high-paying job. Even the day of my departure, flight trouble delayed me by several more days. Despite these concerns, it was clear to me that God wanted me to serve with GEM. I initially thought that everything telling me not to go could be ‘a sign’. I realized instead as I later reflected, that they were a test. 

As I arrived in Puerto to work with the middle school as a science teacher, I moved into a spare bedroom with a family that is heavily involved with the school. They welcomed me into their house and family. They have been teaching me about life in Mexico, teaching me Spanish, and have also been discipling me. 

In meeting all of the teachers and school staff, I was quickly included in the community of this impactful school. We began the school year combatting typical issues with online education, but despite these challenges we have been able to continue flourishing as a school. 

In the science classes I am privileged with teaching, we have been learning about the awe-inspiring creation and how it functions. We have studied the beautiful design of biology and the incomprehensible complexity of our planet. Outside of school, I have become involved with a local church and have been spending a lot of time at beaches.

In only three months, the relationships I have made have changed my life forever. God has been teaching me, inspiring me, and reminding me of his unchanging goodness and faithfulness. Even when the world is shaken, our lives are changed, and our faith is challenged, we can rest in knowing that our God is always good and our God is faithful. Living a life inspired by this reminder serves as a witness to the world around us. 

The inclusion and incredible hospitality I have been shown by everyone at this school, this ministry, and especially with this family have displayed to me the prayer that Christ exhorted in  John 17 over all believers. 

“I am not praying only on their behalf, but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their testimony, that they will all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. I pray that they will be in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me”. John 17: 20-21


– Tanner Whetzel, GEM Volunteer

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The Sufficiency of Christ in the Middle of a Global Pandemic

Since the middle of March, we have been doing online schooling with the goal of still providing quality, Gospel-saturated education in the middle of COVID-19.  If you are reading this, you probably know much about our school and the purpose of it. For the past four years, my wife and I have been serving at the Manantial School in different capacities and have seen the incredible impact that the school ministry has had on this community. God has been at work and is still working in our community and the communities of the other schools around the world (3 in Mexico and 1 in Uganda).

When COVID-19 hit in March, we went online. We thought that we would only be doing this for a couple of months. Seven months later and here we are. I have had many feelings of inadequacy and thinking that I am wasting my time posting assignments online. I have had thoughts wondering how God can work with our students without us actually being around them. And then I remembered John 6:63 which says, “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.”  For a while, I had forgotten that the work and impact of this ministry was God’s work.  This scripture has reminded me that my flesh does not count for anything at all. There is nothing that I can do that gives life, but the Spirit alone that gives life. In all of my inadequacies, His grace is sufficient to work in and through me.

Even though I know this truth in my head, it is difficult to believe it constantly. I still try to work my way of seeing lives changed. I still try to make my online classes more effective and think that if I don’t do it well enough, my students won’t be impacted. However, over the past month, I have seen the sufficiency of Christ become a reality in one of my students. In the middle of my feeling of inadequacy, one of my students talked to me and shared how God has been giving him a desire for His word. He told me that he has been waking up early every morning to read the scriptures and spend time writing down what God has been teaching him. He also told me that he has been sharing what God has been teaching him to others and encouraging others with the Gospel. What an incredible reminder that God is in control. He is still working and is sufficient to do all things regardless of my involvement.  The student’s desire for God and His word had nothing to do with me, but had everything to do with the work of the Spirit in his life. In the middle of our inadequacy, God is sufficient to continue His work in and around us.

-Daniel McDonald, GEM Missionary

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A Faithful God

In the midst of quarantine and a Global Pandemic, I feel like I’ve been in a season of apathy, and slothfulness. Life seemed to hit pause, and I felt like my hunger for God was put on pause too. It was so easy to give into laziness with the hours of free time I have. However that all came to an abrupt stop once it came time to teach again. I felt like I was thrown into the chaos of busyness once again.

The season of busyness brought with it so many challenges; online teaching, getting adjusted back to life in Mexico after a long absence, and even having all of my teaching supplies fly off my moto and get stuck under a car and dragged across the highway (Who does that even happen to?) Despite the craziness, God has remained faithful and has reminded me of his glory and his power over our circumstances day in and day out.

This year more than ever I think that God has proved himself to be a provider for me; filling in my needs as they come, and quite unexpectedly I might add. I can’t help but be reminded of God providing for the 5,000, with just five loaves of bread and two fish. Even when it seems like there was no other way, Jesus still provided, and abundantly so. 

Recently in one of our staff devotions, a teacher shared a song called “Promises” by The Mavericks. The line that really got my attention was this:

“You’re the God of covenant and of faithful promises Time and time again You have proven You’ll do just what You said though the storms may come and the winds may blow I’ll remain steadfast.”

Although my trials may seem trivial, and nothing compared to the stories depicted throughout the Bible, one thing remains true- God is faithful. The Lord was faithful to provide for the 5,000, He was faithful to provide Abraham with a son, and He was faithful to provide the world with a Son who took the wrath we deserved for our sin. And how sweet it is to be reminded that even when I have seasons of slothfulness, seasons of doubt, or seasons of apathy, God remains faithful. No matter what state the world is in, God is sovereign. He always provides a way. There is nothing that surprises Him or makes Him stop to rethink his steps.  

So be encouraged by this- God is faithful. May we pray to see God’s faithfulness, but may we also ask for things like we know we serve a faithful God who always keeps His promises. My pastor back home always encourages our church to pray more, and he asks us “If our prayers were answered this week, who would come to know the Lord and what countries would be impacted by our requests?” This question always convicts me. Even though in my head I know God is faithful and powerful, my prayers don’t always reflect that. So let us be encouraged to seek more of the Lord and ask more of Him according to His will. He is faithful, He is good, He is a provider, and we have so much hope in these truths. 

​John 6: 35-40

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

– Kayla Sumile, GEM Missionary

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A New Chapter

2020 will be a memorable year for the Herring family.  Of course we’ve had the pandemic and closing of on campus schooling and everything else that has come with this Covid 19 pandemic year.  But 2020 is also the year that God has moved our family out of Mexico and back to Wilmington, NC. 

When we first moved to Puerto Escondido in 2013 to run GEM and start the Manantial School we knew our commitment was a lot like a blank check to God.  We didn’t know how long we were going to be living in Mexico…or what would really happen with the mission we were founding. We just went with a clear calling and no plans or timetable for returning.  7 years later God made it clear it was our time to return to the US and serve with GEM from Wilmington.

We have been back in Wilmington for 3 weeks.  Our resettling has been easy and filled with blessing after blessing, largely because of our family and church.  We moved into the same house we left behind in 2013 and have restarted our lives here.  As Meg and I have been reflecting, we’ve notices that so much has changed…but many things are also the same. We have the same neighbors, same house, and of course our family and church are the same.  Meg and I have joked several times as we sit at our kitchen table (same table as before the move) how it feels like we’ve just picked up the life we left behind in 2013.  

But there are some significant and obvious changes too. Our family has grown from 2 children to 5, Manantial has grown from 0 students to over 220. And 1 school has grown into 4. There has also been change in our hearts.  God has taught us and shown us so much during our time in Mexico.  There’s too much to share in this blog post, but I can summarize it this way. God has repeatedly proven Himself faithful and convinced us, even in our moments of weak faith, that we can truly trust Him and praise Him no matter what is happening around us.  We believed this before we left for Mexico…it’s the reason we obeyed and started GEM. But we know this truth at a deeper level now.  

So many times between 2011 (when GEM was officially founded) and 2020 it looked like GEM was in serious trouble. We’ve faced financial shortfalls, recruiting/staffing shortfalls, immigration issues, local church challenges, governmental pressure, threats from other schools in Mexico, and on and on.  On top of that, I have struggled through the normal challenges of learning how to start and run a gospel saturated school in another country.  Countless times over the last 9 years I wanted to “throw in the towel” because of my professional shortcomings and failures.  

But I am convinced God has allowed these struggles to be a part of my journey for my good. I have been forced, through the constant challenges, to pray more and call out to Him as my only hope. This is right where He’s always wanted me, and I love Him more because I can see how He truly never left me.  

With all that said…don’t assume I have it all together! I certainly don’t! I have not arrived at some super spiritual place and all is right in life. I’m in process and all that God has done in my heart is going to be used to give me just enough courage to press on and continue to overcome in this next chapter of life and ministry.  

So what’s ahead? It looks like God desires to use GEM to reach more people and grow in our ability to impact those we serve.  We have 3 schools in Mexico, 1 in Uganda, and another opening in Colombia.  We also have several other potential school projects around the corner. God is growing GEM and its exciting!  Our move back to Wilmington is part of a big transition and step for our ministry. We believe opening an office in Wilmington will allow us to develop better partnerships, recruit and train more missionaries, and better serve all of our schools.  We have repeatedly talked about this being the start of a new chapter for GEM.  

We’re excited and can’t wait to see what God will do. We know it will be challenging and at times really hard, but that’s okay.  God has always done his best work in my heart in those times. 

Please pray for GEM as we start this new chapter. Pray for our leaders as we open our office and work to develop new roles. Pray that our ministry would grow in impact and that those who are served in our schools would truly know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

– Casey Herring, GEM Co-Founder

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Our Journey To GEM

It is crazy to think that in less than 50 days Hannah and I will be sitting in training alongside the other missionaries of GEM! Our journey to Global Education Ministries was one that we never could’ve imagined but one that our Heavenly Father ordained from the very beginning.

Well before we knew one another, our desire for missions was growing and intensifying. For Hannah, it began in high school as she had been given the opportunity to serve on several domestic missions trips and a few international trips as well. She knew that God was growing in her a passion to live radically for Him whatever that might look like. Hannah chose to pursue teaching so she could meet a practical need while also focusing her heart on being in full-time ministry. Little did she know she was taking steps towards GEM.

For myself, it began during the summer after my Freshman year of college. I had the privilege to serve as a camp counselor at a camp in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. It was there that I listened to several missionaries share their experiences and the ways that they saw God move. After that summer I decided to start learning more and begin participating firsthand. During my Sophomore and Junior years, I was able to experience urban church planting in several different cities as well as attend a mission trip to serve the local shoe shiners of Bolivia. Little did I know I was taking steps towards GEM.

When Hannah and I began dating we had conversations about our desire to serve in ministry and more specifically in international missions. As we continued to date and near marriage, the conversations took on a more practical tone and we began to speak with different organizations about serving overseas. We didn’t know where we would go or who we would serve with but we continued to pursue the calling we knew God had placed on our lives. After our wedding in May of 2019, the conversations became more and more serious. Hannah and I decided that we would forgo “making our home” like so many newlyweds do. Instead, we felt that now more than ever the Lord was preparing for us to go and we wanted to be ready. Little did we know we were taking steps towards GEM.

In the Fall of 2019, we applied and interviewed for teaching jobs in South America. We could not be more excited as everything was so promising. To our surprise, the opportunities that we thought were promising ended suddenly and we were left not knowing what to do or where to go. We were heartbroken. We decided that after Hannah finished school we would move closer to family. Little did we know we were taking steps towards GEM.

But God had other plans.

Through a dear friend, we were connected with Global Education Ministries. We didn’t carry any expectations into our first conversation with GEM as we thought that we had already made the decision to move closer to family. We were blown away after hearing more about GEM. It was evident that they loved one another, cared for the people that they were serving, and were propelled to action by the Gospel. There was something so different about GEM and our hearts were drawn because of it. We took a while to pray about serving with GEM as we didn’t want to make a decision on a whim or jump ahead of where God might want us. God gave us great peace as we accepted the missionary positions. In February of 2020, our journey to GEM officially began!

As followers of Jesus, we are not of this world and do not live according to it (Romans 12). We live according to the Kingdom of God and the way of Jesus. We have been radically changed by the free grace that we have been shown, therefore, we cannot live as we once did. We are propelled by the Gospel to live radically for the Kingdom of God and to make the Gospel message known. It was clear from the first conversation that GEM was made up of people choosing to live in that faith. They were saturated in the Gospel both in the ways that they lived and in how they served others.

Over the last several months Hannah and I have continued to take steps towards serving in Puerto Escondido with GEM. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, we were encouraged by another GEM missionary. She shared that despite the unknown that we faced, none of it was a surprise to God. We have continued to learn more about who God is as we have seen him continually provide and encourage us through others and through his word.

Our journey to GEM was one that we never could’ve imagined but one that our Heavenly Father ordained from the very beginning. In the same way that God has done far more abundantly than we could have ever asked or imagined along this journey, we are confident that he will continue to do so as we move to Mexico. See you soon, Puerto!

– James Shank, GEM Missionary