Planning and Preparation
I am taking advantage of this unexpected season by preparing myself for the mission field. I am continuing to pray the Lord will lead me, in His timing and perfect will, to teach English. I’m really open to wherever He wants to send me. He knows that. So in preparation for my calling:
I finally got my Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) Certification. How cool is that? The 12 verb tenses were a killer. Really. Hey, this isn’t England you know. But it all worked out by God’s grace. My final exam took forever – did a lot of praying!
And then few weeks before Covid-19 caused the lockdown in the states, I started teaching English at Voice of Refugees (VOR) in Anaheim. We conduct several levels of ESL (English as a Second Language) to local refugee families. On June 1, we started online classes. Awesome. VOR has been around for some time and has been doing a fantastic job serving the needs of refugee families with food (around 200 families weekly!), clothing, education and many other “essentials.”Check out Voice of Refugees
Our SGWM internship program resumed after a little break, a la social distancing. We are learning how important it is to seek the Lord diligently and consistently in prayer while reading and studying the Bible. We must be so grounded in prayer, His Word and fellowship. The early church did it and look what the Holy Spirit did for them. It’s all throughout the Acts of the Apostles book, our missionary user manual.We so want to follow the example of the early church.
We are all called to serve the Lord Jesus Christ – like now. Telling others about Jesus and His love and grace wasn’t for just the apostles, prophets, priests and the clergy kind. The Great Commission is for every believer, everywhere, old and young alike.
I want to thank all of you who have been praying for and have partnered financially with me. My calling to teach English remains fervent. I know the Lord is leading me down a path to serve Him to reach those who have not heard of Jesus Christ. I know His purpose for me. His word is jumping out at me like when I was young – like all of you! It’s exciting and fun to go after my purpose, my calling and to prepare for it day by day. I thank the Lord for this season although it has been a sorrowful and sad one in so many ways for so many millions of people. If you feel led to help me financially for my next trip, please click on the Financial Partner button below. All I can say is, once the Lord gives me the green light to go, I’m outta here baby! Thank you very much.
Praise Report
We had our first “open” church service on May 31st. We were so cleeeen and happy to be able to worship, pray and hear the Word of God together. Let me hear an Amen!
That I am realizing more the depth of God’s love and grace for all of us. I need Him more and more (ah, I guess that’s a prayer request – sorry!)
That I am teaching English now and at the same time getting blessed by the students.
That all my family and friends are in good health
Prayer Requests
That I will continue to remain steadfast in my daily prayers and studying the Bible in preparation for serving abroad.
To remain teachable, flexible, open, to all that the Lord has for me. Pray the Lord continues to make me patient.
To daily remember His compassion and mercies are new every morning. Expect surprises, anticipate blessings just because God is good and loves us all so much.
If you’d like updates sent to your email Inbox, click on Jim Needham updates. You can reach me at jneedham@sgwm.com. The Lord bless all of you.
Jim Needham