Dear Friends,
My goodness! I must say I have been pleasantly overwhelmed by the amount of love, prayers, support, and kind concern I have received this past month as I tried to reach support raising goals. You might be thinking, "Elya, why is it a surprise that people love you?" Well, sometimes I still struggle in understanding why God asked me to work with Him.
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I bet we all think this at times. I mean, look at this picture. This is Elya deep down: a little kid, a bit scared wanting her mommy to hold her. Still, God looked at my life resume, saw potential, and said, "I've got a job for you and I'm going to give you an experienced partner to work with. Elya, meet the Holy Spirit."
"Hey girl! Don't you worry, I got your back. You ain't even gonna recognize yourself when we get done with His work," the Holy Spirit greeted me, taking my life resume from God.
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Well shoot! It's true, I don't really recognize myself in that I am doing things the Elya pictured would never have been able to do. She's still there; she hasn't been erased because she is me. She has been strengthened in a way only God can do. I think the song Nobody by Casting Crowns kind of sums it up quite nicely.
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Why You ever chose me
Has always been a mystery
All my life, I've been told I belong
At the end of a line
With all the other Not-Quites
With all the Never-Get-It-Rights
But it turns out they are the ones You were looking for
All this time
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'Cause I'm just a nobody trying to tell everybody
All about Somebody who saved my soul
Ever since You rescued me, You gave my heart a song to sing
I'm living for the world to see nobody but Jesus
I'm living for the world to see nobody but Jesus
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I am so very loved by God and he has blessed me every step of the way. You are one of those blessings, thank you.
I know the promises God has given me. I know that going to Japan is one of them. We've been praying for a miracle and according to human logic, it didn't happen. I bet when each of us was praying, we pictured a specific way that the miracle would happen. That by September 30th, we'd reach the goal. Well, miracles rarely happen as we picture them. I think of the story of Lazarus in John 11. Jesus was asked to come to Lazarus, who was very sick, and heal him. You'd think he'd of jumped up and ran there or healed Lazarus from afar. I mean, Lazarus was his friend. But no, he waited around 2 days and didn't leave for Bethany where Lazarus lived until he heard the news that his friend was dead. Seems like too little too late. I mean, Lazarus' sisters, Martha and Mary, even point blank said to Jesus, "“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:21, 34). Lazarus was dead and his body was pretty smelly by that point. The prayer to save Lazarus from death had not been answered...but we all know the story. Jesus brought Lazarus back from the dead; He rescued him from death. The prayer was answered in a way that gave all the glory to God, in a way that the human mind didn't think was possible.
I have not given up hope that our prayers will be answered. For me, your love, kindness and support have been proof to me that God is working and answering this prayer. They have sustained me and given me great hope. Even if I do not make it to the missionary training coming up, it does not mean that God has taken back his promise. We are still going to Japan. Yes, we, because all of you are just as much a part of this as me. God is sending us all, in different ways, but each one of us is equally important. I am going to continue to pray for the chance to go to training and that God will fulfill the promises he's made. I ask that you would do the same. God is not watching everything biting his nails in worry about what is going to happen next. He's working, knowing exactly what he's doing. He's got this!
Blessings,
Elya
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Next Steps
So, the 60% monthly support goal doesn't seem to have been met. What happens now? Well, we continue forward towards the ultimate goal of being 100% funded by February. This isn't a set back; we've always been working towards that 100% goal. There will be another training for me to go to, but the dates have not been finalized yet. So we will pray that God has already planned it to work for His glory and perfect timing. We are going to Japan.
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Prayer Requests
~ Continue to pray that training and support goals will be met
~ Please pray for God to open hearts and pathways in Japan not previously open
~ Please pray for beautiful friendships made through our partnering together
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