Tuesday, January 10, 2017

1st God Story of 2017

Happy 2017!

I am going to continue with 'God Stories' this year.  

God has called me to participate with HIM in His mission in this world through the unique way He has created me - and I believe that is helping individuals realise their full potential in Christ.

At this time it is through Transformational leadership - guiding leaders in an ongoing process of transformation that produces character; the will and the wisdom, passion and perseverance - mediating His presence to a hurting and broken world.  This kind of leader is able to do the right thing at the right time in the right way because they are increasingly attended to the Spirit of Jesus within.  (taken from reading Ruth Haley Barton - one of my favourite authors).

One of the ways I am doing this is being very vulnerable and writing these 'God stories' - my own God stories.  Later I hope to share many different stories from people all over the world.  But the purpose is to encourage and inspire you to be everything He created you to be - to realise your full potential - because the world needs you. 


     I was sitting in a green, red and orange room.  It was so different than anything I was use to.  I was scared.  I didn’t recognize anything.  It was all so foreign to me.  I couldn’t call anyone; I didn’t know anyone.  I couldn’t go anywhere; I didn’t have a car and if I took the bus what would I say…..I couldn’t communicate with the driver.  Why was I here, had God played a trick on me?

     I was in Budapest, Hungary; that is Eastern Europe.  I had not known that a couple of years ago.  I had no idea where Hungary was.  I just thought hungry meant one thing; you wanted to eat.  Seriously, my geography was bad.
 
     I had been in this country for about 2 weeks.  I had never felt so alone.  But some way, somehow I knew God was with me.  I certainly didn’t understand, but I had come a long way with God…..I trusted in Him in the midst of the feelings.  Maybe He had played a trick on me?  Did that line up with His character?  I was still learning.  I didn’t know.
 
     The team of people I had come with was on the other side of the city.  I didn’t know what to do.  I sat there with tears running down my face for a while.  I am really not sure why, but I started to sing; praises to God, any song I could remember about God and how great He was.  I heard a ringing sound.  Was that the phone?  I had been told that my phone was out of order and would be for a while.  I stood up and looked for the phone.  I had not really been interested in where it was because I couldn’t speak to anyone anyway.  I found it, picked it up and carefully said hello.  There was much static, but after a few moments I heard a friend from home.  She yelled into the phone, it was hard to hear, but she said, “Teresa, I was thinking about you.  I am praying for you.  I miss you.  How are you?  I tried and tried to get through, couldn’t, but finally I did.  I love you Teresa.”  I sat there crying so hard, I couldn’t see.  It was wonderful hearing her voice.  The connection did not last long, but oh what a gift.  I hung up the phone and continued to sing and praise God.  I believed with all my heart He had just said to me that He loved me and He was with me.

     The whole idea of missions was so interesting, but so scary for me.  When I first sensed God may be calling me to go to another country I said, “No way!”  But I had learned so much about God and I was trusting Him.  I finally said to Him “If you want me to go into some kind of missions, to leave my home and family, you will have to make it so clear to me.  You will have to give me the desire to do this and it be greater than my desire to be here, my job (I was still a flight attendant and I loved it!), my home and my family.”  Also I liked my salary.  I could do what I wanted to do, when I wanted to do it and I didn’t have to worry about money.  I wasn’t rich, but I had more money than I ever had before.

     That had been 5 years before this time of sitting in the orange, green and red apartment.  I become involved in a counseling ministry from my church.  I wanted to know and understand more and more about my identity in Christ; about how I had been meeting my own needs in life in my own way.  I wanted to let go of these things and grab hold of what God had for me.  This took time, prayer, revelation and patience; but over time the desire to go out in the world and tell people about all I had learned was stronger and stronger.
 
     I remember the first time I heard the word Hungary and it didn’t mean I wanted something to eat.  A friend of mine told me she was going on the ‘mission field’ to a place called Hungary.  I said, “What?  Where is this…India?  You can’t go there.  How will you do that?”  She did though and because I could fly free with the Airline, I decided I would go see her.  I had started flying international, so it was not a foreign experience for me, but going to Eastern Europe was!  I took her all the things I thought she would be missing.  I couldn’t wait to see her.

     I stayed there for 3 weeks and at the end of my time, I didn’t want to leave.  I didn’t know why or how, but some way I felt that I would be back there.  I was drawn to the place and the people.  I left very sadly.
 
     I continued to work with the counseling ministry at my church.  One day the president of this ministry started telling me about taking the ministry international.  He had a friend that was in this country with another ministry and he was praying about going there.  I looked at him and said, “You are going to Budapest, Hungary, aren’t you?”  He said, “Yes that is exactly where it is.”  I told him I was going with him.  He just looked at me, in my heart I knew this was God and He had been preparing the way and me.

     Sometime when I think back, maybe the whole flight attendant experience had been about preparation; seeing the world, meeting all kinds of people, exposing me to so many different things and experiences.  That little girl from that small town could not have done this; that little girl that could not write a check, could not put gas in her car or drive across town.  But this woman that had been on a journey with God could and I knew this was His plan.  Now God needed to show the president of this ministry.

     The time drew near that I would need to raise financial support to go over to Hungary.  It was going to be for 1 year, but somehow I knew it would be longer for me; I couldn’t put that in words though.  I did a Bible study about raising money like this.  I had never heard of this before and it felt very strange about asking people for money to help me.  Tom, the president of this ministry told me I needed to tell people what was on my heart, what God was doing and how they could be a part of it with me.  He helped me to write a letter and I was to send it to 300 of my closet friends.  This was a very scary time for me.
 
     I remember telling my family was the scariest thing.  I knew my mom would not understand and she didn’t.  She told me several years later that she didn’t think it would happen; that I would never raise up the money I needed to go.  I was given one amount, it came in; then Tom increased the amount.  He told me later, he too was very concerned about taking a single lady to Eastern Europe.  God had a plan; the money came in over and beyond what I was asked to raise.  Both my mother and Tom could not dispute what God was doing.  Mom gave me her blessing, but I could tell she was so scared.

     As I wrote my support letter, I remember thinking I should send it out to many people that I had been working with at the Airline.  I struggled; most of these people were not Christians.  They would never understand what I was doing.  I was right; most did not.  I had one friend, he was a co-pilot.  He was married and I was friends with both he and his wife.  I sent him a support letter.  I had put it in his mailbox at the airport.  He got it the day he was going on a trip.  He told me later that during the entire 4 day trip, he talked about this letter with the captain that he was flying with.  He told him about this crazy thing his friend was doing and that she was saying she was going to quit flying with the airline and go to this far away place he had never heard of before.
 
     My friend said he had gone on like this for 4 days and as they were heading back home, the captain finally spoke.  He asked if he could contact me.  My friend told him that I was not interested in dating, that I thought I was going to be a missionary.  My friend said the captain smiled and said to him, “I understand that.  You see I too know this God she is serving and I want to help her with what God is doing in her life.”  My friend said he just about fainted, but gave him my phone number. 

     This man called me and we talked.  I never met him personally, but this man sent me 500 dollars and supported me financially for 5 years.  After many years of my friend reading my newsletters and keeping up with my journey in Eastern Europe, he contacted me one day and told me he wanted to know about this Jesus.  He and his wife had just had a child and if there was a way of life he wanted for his child, it was the church.
 
     I remember the day when I went in to tell my supervisor that I was quitting the airline and going on the mission field.  He looked at me like I was crazy.  He said he had never met anyone who would leave their job, their salary, their home, their family and friends and do something like this, but he said he liked me and wished me well.  It was hard to leave the airline; I loved working with them.

     I sold my house, gave everything away, stored some things at my mom’s and left the United States.  It was amazing to think that less than 10 years before I thought life was over and I didn’t want to live.  It was less than 10 years ago when God said, “I will take you on a different path.”  I was so excited flying over the ocean.  I had such a passion for what I was about to do.

     But now I was sitting in this apartment scared to death.  But I just had a phone call from a friend at home when I was told the phone did not work.  I checked the phone again, it had no sound.  God was with me.  I was scared, but I knew He was with me.  God I trust you .......   

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