Rachel's Viewfinder
“So where will you be living?”
That’s usually the first question after the initial, “Wow! God is so GOOD” comment on my recent engagement. It always catches me off guard, but I suppose it shouldn’t. I’m getting married, and I’ll be following my husband’s lead. So the assumption seems to be that I’ll be leaving Charlotte, and my work with SIM.
The beautiful reality is that God has called Robo to Charlotte and to work with SIM once his school loans are paid off. The Lord has not only brought someone who suits me as a life companion, but who compliments me as a workmate. Right down to the same ministry with the same organization. Praise the Lord!
Our plan as of right now is:
1). We continue living in Charlotte, NC, or somewhere in the near vicinity.
2). Rachel continues to work with SIM USA in the Media Department as a supported missionary.
3). Robo get’s a job and works to pay off his school loans as quickly as possible.
4). Robo joins SIM USA as a supported missionary and together we continue to serve in the Media Department.
A lot of this is in need of PRAYER! The Lord has blessed us with the option of living in the house I currently live in. My roommates are moving out just before the wedding. While this provides us with a place to live, we’re currently experiencing problems with the house that our landlord has preferred not to fix. One of these is the septic tank. Pray that the Lord would either provide us with a new home, or that our landlord would make the necessary repairs.
Another prayer request is for my continued support. Right now, SIM USA has made me a permanent part of the Home Staff. This means my support requirement is higher (about $2700 a month), but I now have health care and retirement! I also have a higher “salary”. Robo and I plan to live on my “salary”, so we can put the entirety of whatever his paycheck will be towards paying off his school loans.
Which brings up another prayer request! Pray that the Lord would bless Robo with a job in the video production/web industry. Reasons for this include the need for Robo to maintain his production skills in a media environment, as well as earning a paycheck big enough to pay his loans.
For those of you giving financial to my ministry, my support account information will still be the same, save for the fact that I will be Rachel BOGAN. :D *excited*
A friend of mine sent this to me this morning. Obstetric fistulas are the painful and shameful result of bearing children before a young girl matures into adulthood.
Side note: Apparently I had started writing a note that was supposed to become a blog post two months ago, but it never happened. I was going through my collection of note and weeding out the outdated information when I came across this. Thought it would be a good thing to finally post!
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I’m sitting on the sidelines of an interview going on here in the Media Department, listening to a missionary back from Senegal. Like me, this missionary has struggled to raise his full support. For 15 years he has been wrestling with how to fund his ministry. But a couple of days ago, he attended a seminar about support raising and came away with a new perspective. Support raising isn’t about someone giving to a missionary; it’s about giving to the work of the Gospel. It’s about supporting the growth of Jesus’s heavenly Kingdom.
So why am I sharing this?
Because I want to share with you that it’s not about the money. The point is getting the Gospel out and bringing God glory!
It’s not important if people give to me versus the next guy. It’s not about whether my monthly support needs are higher (or lower) than another missionary’s. It’s about Christians using thier resources for heavenly goals. That includes money, but it also includes time, prayer, energy…everything we got to advance the Kingdom!
One of the ways I advance the Kingdom is through using my talents for producing media. The videos I work on each day get people excited and interested in the work of God around the globe. And that mobilizes people for the Kingdom. They get involved! They give! They serve! They pray! All this is important in building Jesus’s Kingdom.
So I just throw out the challenge: in what ways are you advancing the Kingdom? Are involved in giving your resources to the Lord’s work?
Remember, it’s not about the money. It’s about preaching the Good News to every tribe, people, language and nation and seeing the world worship their Savior.
