Testimony Tuesday - Serving in Missions

From Joanne Reddell:

For years I have wanted to go on a mission trip to deliver Christmas gifts to orphans.  God knew that there was a strong desire in my heart for this type of mission.  In Fall 2010, an announcement was made at church about a 3 day mission to Palomas Mexico to deliver Christmas gifts at Casa de Amor Orphanage.

WOW!  I was so excited!  I signed up right away and traveled with a team of 22 people Dec 10-12, 2010.  I didn't know what to expect so I just trusted God as I stepped out of my comfort zone.  The trip was amazing!  I fell in love with the children and workers at the orphanage and the people of the small town of Palomas.  It was such a joy to serve all of them and I was surprised by how blessed I was by the love and gratitude our team was shown by everyone we met and ministered to.

I was so impacted by this short term mission that I have returned to serve in Palomas Mexico 13 times since that first trip in December 2010!  A few months after my first trip, I knew that God wanted me to become even more involved with the Mexico ministry.  I began to help with various administrative aspects of the ministry like organizing the trips and recruiting team members for each mission.  I've even been the team leader for a few of the trips.

Through my serving with this ministry, I have been blessed in so many ways.  I've met new people, both here and in Mexico, and I've made new friends.  I've been able to use my God-given organizational and administrative gifts.  My Spanish skills have improved.  It's been such a blessing to minister to families who have so little.  Suffice it to say, it's been a joy to serve in this ministry!

Testimony Tuesday - Full-time Missionary

Let me start with how I was apparently stubborn about being obedient in this.  I felt it was my turn to share my testimony with you all the last week in May... I ignored God, and never emailed it.  I chose to believe lies, such as, what God has been teaching me isn't significant enough, I am only a 26 year old new mom, and have only been married 6 years, nothing I am learning will benefit women at church, I'm new to this and they probably have it all figure out.  You know what happened?  Jill emailed everyone on Tuesday that week, and no one had submitted a testimony to be share.  I distinctly felt like God said... "that was your spot, you were disobedient".  So I planned on doing it for last week (June 2nd) on the Monday night I realized with traveling and everything I never wrote it, we were watching tv, and I thought I should go do it now, then decided I'd do it later.  I forgot.... So here I am writing it now for next week!  I share this piece to encourage you if you feel compelled don't believe the lie!  SHARE!!! :) 

So my recent story of what God has been teaching me, more like walking me through begins in April.  In April I went to a conference, and had no idea what to expect when I arrived there.  I felt in my spirit that it was going to be a life altering type conference for me and this made me hesitant to want to go.  Let me tell you it was and I am glad I went!  However, it was not life altering in anyway I would normally expect at a conference, it wasn't because of one awesome speaker (though there were many), or an overpowering amazing worship service (worship was good too), it was because I got time for the first time in a long time away from my daily responsibilities to focus on Jesus, my first love.  I got time with him like I grew up loving, just me and Him.  It was also because I got to spend uninterupted time with some amazing women, few that I love and call family/accountability group, few that I know a little less closely, and some I met there at the conference.  Relationships with other women that are lifegiving are a powerful powerful tool in our lives. :) 

All weekend I waited for our final call to sell our house when I get back to Durango and moved across the globe.  I just knew that was what was going to happen and was nervous about how I would convince my husband that this was God's plan for our lives now.  Instead what happened blew my away. :)  He called me to stay.  I cried all weekend as my heart broke, and longed to just go. I sobbed as I felt like I was watching childhood dreams finally drift off into the land of not yet. (maybe all those tears were me mourning what I had set my dream on as a kid)  

Instead, God showed me his plan for me right here... which I have felt fully confident in since we bought our house two years ago.  We are not called at this moment to the unreached people on the other side of the globe right now.  God has called us here right now... here to "Trust in The Lord and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.  Delight yourself (myself) in The Lord; and He will give you (me) the desires of your (my) heart." Psalm 37:3-6  So at the end of the weekend, I decided to go talk to this missionary lady I had wanted to avoid all weekend because it hurt to think of where I could be right now, and how God was denying me my ministry.... I know crazy right? 

I shared my story with her, and we prayed.  She spoke one thing over me that has resonated with me ever since the conference.  That was that I was full time. I have always wanted to be a full time missionary, my heart has been anywhere in the world.  Doing what I am doing right now, being a mom, a fourth grade teacher, a Sunday school teacher, a wife, and opening up my home as a refuge, a safe place for people to be who they are, and rest.  This matters.  I came home with a new purpose and passion to keeping house, to caring for Amirah, to looking for ways to care for others.  This, where I am at, is my ministry.  This is God's plan for me.  This is His best for me right now.  How blessed am I, that His plan for me is serving Him by opening my home to others, serving in my church, teaching fourth grade and taking care of my family! 

Ok lastly, I know that sounded like the end... but I have just a little more to share.  With opening up my home making it a safe place.  I am reading Bread and Wine by Shauna Niequist.  It is great.  God is teaching me more about the importance of opening up my home and inviting people to share meals with my family through this book.  What an exciting season! :)  Yes, I am young, yes, I am a new mom, and yes I haven't been married for even a decade yet, and God is willing to use me!  I am enough for Him, He loves my willing heart, and the most important reminder I have clung to these last few months is that He is good, and He is trustworthy.  Even when I don't feel like He is, even when I don't feel I can trust Him, even when I feel like He has taken dreams I have away from me.  He hasn't his plan is better and He is good, and He is trustworthy.  Hope this is encouraging for you. :) 

Kayle Hardrick