"But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us,
not because of the righteous things we had done,
but because of his mercy.
He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
whom he poured out generously through Jesus Christ our Savior,
so that having been justified by grace,
we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life."
Titus 3:4-7
Amen! I love how Paul is constantly reminding himself and others of the gospel. It's not what I have done, but what Jesus has done. Grace, grace, grace.
My desire is to know Jesus and to make him known. This is my purpose. So many times I try to sustain myself with water from a cistern I dig myself - "a broken cistern that cannot hold water" (Jer. 2:13) rather than by Jesus Christ, the spring of living water. But Jesus promises that "Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." (John 7:38) How desperately I want those streams of living water to flow out of me! To be so filled with Jesus and the life he brings that I overflow sounds almost too good to be true. But isn't grace that way? He saved us because of his mercy and grace, not for anything we have or have not done. Praise the Lord.
I am FULLY funded. I think I actually went a little over budget because some of the estimated costs came down. God is so faithful. He has taught me so much about trusting him completely. And yes, it IS possible to raise over $4000 in 2 months. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the people who financially supported Operation Exodus's mission by helping me be able to get there and do the Lord's work. Thank you for the many prayers and petitions for the mission and for my heart. I could not ever have imagined I would receive so much support emotionally, spiritually, financially and even physically.
I leave for MTW's Pre-Field Training at Ridge Haven in North Carolina in one week! I can hardly believe the time has come. I've been bombarded with information and details and all of it is increasing my excitement. I know where I will be living in June, an apartment we are subletting for the month, on Riverside Drive near 180th street, and in July, the apartments where the short-term missionaries stay for a week at a time.
We are still working on solidifying our individual roles as interns, but it is also very flexible. It is such a wonderful opportunity to make use of the intern's specific gifts and talents. Operation Exodus no longer seems like a distant concept or idea, but a reality. Which it will be in a little over a week!
Grace be with you all.
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