Giving My Daily: Missions Season at CRBC
by Makenzie Magnus
Is it cheating to use other articles to write this article? If so, I can’t help it. I loved interviewing these three amazing women in our ministry and mission partnerships to write for the women’s blog! You can find the full posts here where we talk big things and small. Below are a few of the highlights from the interviews.
Morgan (Head of School at St. Paul’s Community School) and I talked about daily practices that she, as an educator, implements with her own kids, her favorite southside restaurant, inline skates and how she connects to God in daily life. Here’s an excerpt:
Makenzie: As we focus our daily lives during our missions season, what is one thing you do daily that helps you stay connected to God and to the mission to which you are called?
Morgan: I think prayer has been so huge--having little ones at home and being so busy, being in the word during this season has just looked different. I usually read shorter passages and meditate on verses. But praying and knowing that I’m not alone, and that God hears my prayers; it’s a constant conversation. It keeps me remembering that all the life and work I do is not meant to be held tightly, but with open hands. I know that St. Paul’s isn’t mine, I know that my boys aren’t mine, but that to live that way can be hard!
“Sarah” recently moved to Southeast Asia as a church planter with her husband of 16 years. She and I talked about cultural transitions, her kids’ favorite food in Southeast Asia, arranged marriages, mental health, and at one point during the zoom call, I got chills. Here’s an excerpt from her testimony.
Sarah: When I went to college, I lived a completely different lifestyle but hid it from so many people—a lot of drinking and drugs...and then the Lord saved me around age 24. A friend invited me on a mission trip to Mexico. I didn’t really know what a mission trip was. I thought it was just for people who were pastors or on the worship team, but I wanted to go to Mexico! It was there that one of the pastors asked me to share my story. I wondered, “What story?” I knew how to hide, but I knew I didn’t want to play with God. I wasn’t going to stand up and pretend I had this amazing relationship with God when I knew I didn’t. I asked my friend to write something for me to read fast and get off the stage, and she did! But it was then that the Holy Spirit just got to me.
Makenzie: Wait...while you were on stage?
Sarah: Yes! I was up there and had all these issues. I was a cutter (a form of self-injury), I never cried and I had been holding in so much. I was about to read the script my friend had written, and that’s when the Holy Spirit opened my eyes. I know this sounds crazy, but I remember...time just froze. God gave me these flashbacks of the life I was living and said, “I care for you, I accept you, you’re mine.” Immediately, it was like all these lies I believed about myself just vanished, and I just started weeping on stage. I started talking about the life I was living and said, “But no more. He’s given me new life.” Ever since then, I’ve really understood God’s love for me. I didn’t know before then. I just really didn’t know.”
Andrea works with her husband, Tyrone, where they serve on the Executive Team of the High School Ministry of CRU (Campus Crusade). She and I talked about what her calling to ministry looked like with her story of infertility, race and ministry. Here’s an excerpt from our interview:
Andrea: One of the things I’ve learned is that even though God gave me a gift of being able to conceive, it didn’t take away my fears or desires for other things. I saw the same thing with Isabelle: we wanted to be parents, I wanted to be a mother, and God gave me this beautiful baby girl through adoption. But the desire to conceive never went away! Even now, I still have “what if” fears. Whenever we have a source of pain, we have a tendency to say, “Whenever I get X, Y or Z, all of this is going to go away, and I’ll be happier.” But the truth is that whatever you’re struggling with is just replaced! There’s a theme here. The Lord wants me to get more of Him, because there’s always something. Knowing how to walk with the Lord and walk with pain is really important.
Makenzie: I loved these interviews and hope they inspire you to give your daily and pray for our partners!
Author Bio:
Makenzie graduated from Wheaton College where she majored in Christian Ministry, Urban Studies and Photography and somehow managed to apply it all to work in the real world! She has a passion for community development after years of working in urban ministry in Chicago, non-profits in Austin and serving on staff at CRBC. She loves being able to equip and serve the church as the Minister of Missions which includes cultivating both local and global partnerships. She is also quite the homebody, an avid Harry Potter fan, loves Oklahoma City and being with her friends, family and adorable weenie dog, May.