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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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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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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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A Missional Lifestyle

When I was young, I wanted to become a missionary and move to China. I learned in church about Christians in China and about their struggle against persecution. As I grew older, I doubled down on the idea that Christians had an obligation to share the gospel message with other nations. I thought it was about bringing the “good news” to people groups who had little exposure to Christianity. I thought missions was primarily taking the gospel from my “Christian nation” to the world and involved on-the-spot evangelism and rapid church movements. 

I was wrong. 

As I have learned from scripture and my personal experience, Missions is about a lot more than handing out bibles, and that Missions is bigger than building projects. I realized that there was a great need for missions and evangelism not just all over the United States, but also in my friend circles and local community. I heard about how the church was growing exponentially in other countries. “The US needs missionaries from China”, I remember thinking during college. I wondered then, why I was convinced that God was calling me to Mexico.  

I became interested in serving with GEM during college. After graduation and some time working full-time, I rediscovered GEM and applied. I loved teaching science, and they were looking for another science teacher. It seemed clear to me that God was leading me to teach science at Manantial. I finally understood why God was leading me to Mexico. I thought God was bringing me to Mexico just to teach in a classroom. 

He wasn’t. 

God was calling me to serve at GEM and to teach at Manantial. But ultimately, God was calling me to learn and use me in ways I never expected. Serving in the classroom is one of the incredible ways that God is using me. But serving here extends beyond the classroom. A missional lifestyle involves living out and reflecting the gospel in all areas of our lives and all over the Earth. Wherever we are and wherever God calls us. God uses us to serve and teaches us a lot along the way. I am learning so many lessons from those who have a different culture and life experience than I do. The kingdom of God is a multinational, multicultural, and incredibly diverse group of people. Only in the Church is a group of people so diverse. There are so many languages worshipping the same name. Christ. Think about that for a second. Diverse perspectives, experiences, cultures, nations, and statuses all united under one name. 

Christ. 

We as teachers and missionaries are the feet of Christ that fill the boots on the ground, but we are not alone in the call to missions. The GEM staff in the US are just as responsible for living out the “Great Commission”. So are those who donate to GEM. So are those who sponsor students. And so are all who belong to the kingdom of God. The testimonies of Christians all over the world demonstrate God’s heart for diversity, community, and unity in Christ. In light of this, we should again consider the words of Christ after he resurrected. Matthew’s gospel account begins with a promise of a ‘God with us’ (Emmanuel). It ends with Christ assuring that he is forever with his disciples as he calls them all to a life of missions. 

“When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. Then Jesus came up and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”

– Tanner Whetzel, GEM Missionary

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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

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Longing For Home

I’ve reached the end of my 1 1/2 year contract and reflecting back, I am left in awe and amazement about all that God has done in my life. This truly has been the most difficult year and a half but the richest in my walk with Jesus. Never have I experienced such depth in relationships quite like the ones here as well as my relationship with the Lord. As hard and painful the journey has been, I wouldn’t have traded it for anything because of how I know and love Jesus in the ways I do now.  I’ll be honest, when I first moved here, I didn’t know how I would make it to June 2020. I was pretty certain I wouldn’t stay longer than that.. I was so bitter and resentful because of shattered expectations, struggling with my mental health, and missing friends and family.

But God…

God began a WORK in my heart. Leading up to summer 2019, I counted down the days and seconds to fly back to the United States, longing for comfort, rest, and a break.  I couldn’t wait.  During that summer, God began to soften my heart for Mexico and my community in Puerto.  He gave me such a deep desire and longing to be back.  He began to grow my heart where I felt this heavy burden for the people here to come to know Jesus.  When my plane flew back into Puerto in August, I was overcome with tremendous peace that could have only come from God.  I knew this wouldn’t be my last year. I began praying in August about what this upcoming summer would look like in preparation for who knows how long God will keep me here in Mexico.

When I first came back to Mexico, I lived with a family for a short time due to having so many struggles my first semester here. It was a sweet and needed season that allowed me to feel safe, secure, and back on my feet again.  God allowed it to where He opened up a tiny little house next to my friends just in the time I needed and was ready to have my own place.  On my first night by myself in my new home, I opened up my book called “Every Moment Holy” and prayed a prayer over this house. That God would dwell within this place. That he would be present at this table and present as I rise and lay down at the beginning and end of each day.  That this home would be a place of shared tears and laughter, a place of meaningful conversations, a place of creating and reflecting, and a place to serve and welcome in others.

Over the past 6 years, I’ve moved around quite a bit. I’ve never actually lived in the same place for more than 9 months at a time. I lived out of suitcases and boxes and storage bins while expecting to pack up and switch dorms or houses shortly after I would begin to feel settled.  Now that I am in this house, I don’t have a time frame for when I need to move on to the next place. I can just “be.” For the first time in 6 years, this is the longest place I’ve lived in and it has been such a gift from the Lord. I’m able to be more intentional and welcoming towards people within this space.  It has served as a “harbor of anchorage and refuge, and a haven from which I journey forth” in order to carry out the Great Commission. And as I continue on, my roots are beginning to grow deeper and deeper within this community that I am growing to love more and more each day.

So leading into what this summer will look like for me. God has made it so clear that I’m not supposed to come back and visit the states until December. It was sad and hard at first to have to cancel plans I was looking forward to and realizing I won’t see my family for a year. But as my roots grow deeper and deeper into this community, there is only so much I can communicate and understand with my limited Spanish.  I am SO excited for what is next. I’m not moving back to the States. God knows that timeline, I don’t. However, over the summer, I am going to be living in a small town 30 minutes outside of Puerto with a sweet Mexican family to study and learn Spanish at a school there. I start school on June 22 and I end on August 7th. After school, I will start preparing for the next school year at Manantial teaching 4th grade again.

God did more than I could ever imagine in my life this year and especially within these past 6 months. I am so excited for what’s ahead. What the enemy intended for evil, God used it for good (Genesis 50:20). No matter how long God may have me planted here, I am praying that “my days lived within these temporary walls would serve to awaken a restless longing for my truer Home in heaven” (Every Moment Holy).

-Shelby Davis, GEM Missionary