Finally, the Pure Joy International Staff was able to break bread together in person in an exclusive location of a dear friend. It is the first time our ministry staff has been able to meet since January of this year. Wow! We have met through Zoom meetings, but it is not the same as being with each other and hearing each other’s hearts. Time was spent in prayer for each other and for the future of the ministry. God was so good to guide our hearts into focus and direction for the year ahead. Having said that let me share a couple of things we are looking at going forward.
We hope to be
able to honor our trip scheduled for Portugal last year in the Spring by
projecting a possibility of the Fall of 2021.
Counseling with missionaries overseas and stateside continue via all
means possible. In the meantime, the
staff came up with a few good possibilities to keep ministering to our people
group (missionary women) in some interesting ways. First, however, it will require some leg work
on our end. We have set the end of
January to get that accomplished. So,
please pray that God will make a way for us to get the information we need to
move forward. Also, pray for the staff,
board, and advisors of Pure Joy International and their families.
To those of you
that have asked us recently to investigate more ways to minister to you in the
middle of all this craziness, keep us in your prayers and look forward to
February. If God allows this to come
together it will be awesome!
In the meantime,
be encouraged from these words of Jesus and the following thoughts.
When is the last
time you have been stuck somewhere? For
many of you it was a traffic jam on the way to work today. For others, it could be having to be
quarantined for 5, 10, or 14 days, a job that you cannot afford to leave right
now but there is no room to grow, a line at the grocery store, a delayed
flight, etc. The list of things that
position us to be stuck at times is endless.
But the one word that accompanies being stuck is always the same
“waiting”.
Talk about a word
that stirs up a basket full of emotions.
Whew! Waiting can trigger
excitement, anticipation, frustration, anger, anxiety, fear, hopelessness,
discouragement, etc. The list is so
long.
As believers we
are “waiting” between time (this world) and eternity (timelessness). Scripture tells us we are sojourners here,
aliens, just passing through, this is not our home. I suspect most believers have really have not
thought about that much until this year. But with all the chaos of this world
we may be reminding ourselves of that truth as a reminder during the
“waiting”. Now days being a sojourner
passing through reminds us of His Sovereignty and this is not our home.
Again, take heart
believer in these words from Jesus Himself...
John 14:27 (ESV)
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as
the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let
them be afraid.
And
let us not forget we have a mission while we are sojourning through this
world. Seek first His kingdom and
righteousness, serve others, share the gospel, baptize, and make disciples. So, do not be deceived into living in the
horizontal of this world. Live
vertically and keep walking!
His,
Vickie
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