Dear friends and family,
From finding a place to live to become an intern at Calvary Chapel Saving Grace, the past couple of months have been such a whirlwind. The process of finding a place to stay has been a challenge to trust and have faith. For the past 12 years, I’ve lived in Santa Ana with my parents. Like an eaglet preparing to leave the nest, a young child must find the time to go discover the Lord’s calling in their life, and this was mine.
God’s Calling:
My parents moved an hour away from Saving Grace. Coming back from the School of Missions, I moved in with them and began a job at Starbucks near the church. It was just the beginning of how God started to work out the plan He had in store. The commute was challenging and frustrating initially, as I had to wake up at the crack of dawn to get to work on time. But the Lord is so sovereign. He has shown me grace through the challenge to “come and follow me.” A couple of weeks passed, and the internship was right around the corner. Yet, I still had no place to stay. I was beginning to lose hope that the Lord would provide, and maybe He was asking me to lay down my right of comfort. Then God came through. At the start of the second week of September, Pastor Tim (the Internship Pastor) gave me a call saying there was an affordable place to stay that was five minutes away from the church. I couldn’t believe it! We met up with a very suitable lady who was a God-fearing woman and hospitable. Our meeting went very well. I ended up moving in that Thursday. What a blessing she is. I am now ten minutes away from my work, and five minutes away from the church I intern from. God is such a provider! It reminds me of the verse, Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” What a great way to see God’s provision when we walk with Him.
A continued call:
The Calvary School of Missions was so moving and had lit a fire within my heart, prompting me towards the call of becoming a missionary. But at this moment, I feel ill-equipped to teach the gospel, and that’s exactly what the internship offers to remedy. I’m going through the internship as a student-leader; a student coming first, for I must learn to teach and apply the Bible first in my own life, then lead others in the knowledge. As an intern, we are given many tasks. One of the assignments we are required to perform is to read through a book. The latest book we’ve read was about the life of John Calvin. He talked about learning and applying one’s very own message to their own life before a single word is uttered to the congregation. As I leaped into scholar’s shoes, I learned more of the true weight of being a pioneer pastor in reaching the nations within the 10/40 window. Another part of the internship that has been challenging has been the outreaches and evangelizing. I often wonder to myself, “am I doing it correctly?” But the Lord has been reminding me that we are saved by grace and grace alone. We cannot do anything that will even come close to paying the cost for our sin. Why fear? Praise be to the Lord for bringing others to Him on His timing.
What is next?
What is next for my journey in this incredible calling as a missionary? I have been praying recently for direction in where I should go, and initially, I thought it should be Ukraine. However, as much as I’ve loved Ukraine, I don’t see the need to plant yet another church there. In Ukraine, 71% of the population is Christian, however, in Japan, only about 1.5% is. As it says in Acts, we are to go into the world and make disciples, for this is the great commission. I aim to become a pastor as a missionary and plant a church within Japan. Dear reader, I would love to ask you to pray alongside me as I want to do the will of God more than my own. In 2 Timothy 2:8-9, Paul talks about remembering Christ Jesus being raised from the dead, and this is the gospel we preach as missionaries. He goes on to say for which I (Paul) suffer many tribulations even to the point of chains. But the gospel is not chained. This means the gospel is the truth that will set the oppressed free. As I begin to learn the culture, I ask again for prayer to gain wisdom that will allow me to endure and steward this calling well.
Thank you for all your support and prayers.
Geoff