Obedience /// Emma To PNG

PC: Alyssa Jean Studios  <3 

That 16-year-old girl clicks through pages and pages on Google, her heart longing for the African sun, searching for just the right mission—a way to get her hands dirty.

Her mama says again for 6^th time that week, “have you checked with NTM yet? I really think you should.”, but she dismisses the question quickly. She’s already checked, something to do with jungle, and languages, and translation, and unreached people groups.

So she ran, ran back to the safety of perfectly planned trip without a language to learn, a jungle to brave, a Bible to translate, or a people to reach. She simply wants to love on people, love on children, not to brave a world that she’ll never be able to unsee, or look into the eyes of a people that she honestly doesn’t want to reach.

She’ll gladly mix up some cement, scrub some laundry, or carry a load. But late nights and early mornings spent in learning a language, reaching a people, no.

It’s just not for her. Right?

A year later, the girl’s feet still haven’t stepped onto Africa’s dirt, her face has not felt the warmth of its sun, but that’s okay. 

She’s been learning, learning to do the hard and holy mundane in the here, the now. Safety, comfort, self, are not so important anymore. The art of losing oneself to be a servant is breaking down that selfishness, that pride, that she has grasped so tightly in a clenched fist.

She has held onto safety, and comfort, and self. But now she is letting that go.

In the pain and in the struggle, sanctification is happening.

Once again she’s clicking through pages and pages of a Google search. And finally, after still some more hiding, some more clicking on links that look safe, the girl goes to that mission page.

She knows what she has to do, what in obedience, must be done.

Yeah, she is scared silly, and sure, the thought of crossing the ocean to the jungle almost makes her sick, but obedience isn’t always easy. Sometimes it hurts.

A handful of days pass, and soon a $50 check and a stack of papers filled out carefully with numbers, and addresses, and testimonies, is slipped into an envelope and mailed off. And the waiting begins, the prayers rise, and the need to trust becomes clear.

And in the night, the necessity of trusting through obedience is engraved on her tender soul.

A couple weeks pass on the calendar, and one morning before the sun is barely up, the girl reads an email that holds the news--She’ll be needing a passport.

She is headed to the jungle, to the language, to the unreached people calling out for word of a Savior.

Obedience is breaking the walls of comfort down, letting in the light of the faithfulness of the Almighty.

And the girl realizes all at once, that what she had run from for so long, she now desired! With each new step in obedience and trust, a shift had been taking place in her heart. His desires were becoming her desires--Losing self to know a Savior.

And there was joy in doing His will!

There is still a journey ahead, pride to be humbled, clenched fingers to loosen, and a servant’s heart to cultivate, but the girl has stepped out in faith saying, “I will trust. I will go.”

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So there it is, out in the open—some fears, some hopes, some steps towards obedience.  Y’all have seen it.

I am so happy to announce that The Lord has given me an opportunity, this summer during June and July, to go to Papua New Guinea with New Tribes Mission for the Interface Mission program!

Interface is a 6-week college-level program designed to give participants a realistic look at tribal church planting. Through the Interface program I’ll gain experience and exposure to Bible translation, culture and language study, mission methods and communication, and support work—the entire process of making the Gospel available cross-culturally and establishing a functioning church. I will also be able to put my credits gained during classes each day, towards my future studies at New Tribes Bible Institute in 2017.

While in PNG I will be taking missionary training classes each morning, doing missions work alongside full time missionaries, and spending a couple of weeks out in the “bush” with a tribe, where a church has been planted!

Over the past year the Lord has been working in, and convicting my heart about how I must follow Him in obedience and trust Him through that! I’ve run from doing His will in the past, and am finally beginning to learn that it is when, instead of running away, we run to Him and to His will, that we find true joy and peace!

Honestly, the thought of flying halfway around the world to go live in the jungle for six weeks completely freaks me out, but I know that the Lord is with me and will never leave me. And that brings comfort and reassurance.

I am grateful for this chance to step out in faith and follow the Lord’s leading. I am learning to trust the Lord completely and wholly to guide and provide for this trip.

I’d like to ask you to pray with me concerning the following:

1. Spiritually—That my life will glorify God among a people of another culture, and even through my failings, the Lord will be glorified. I’m asking the Lord to help me grow and mature in Him. Please pray for wisdom and clear discernment for me as I make choices in the days to come while I’m preparing to go and while I’m overseas.

2. Finances—I’m trusting the Lord to provide the $6,000 needed to cover the expenses of my trip. Please pray with me that God will provide those who will partner with me on this.

3. Travel - That I will have a smooth transition from one continent to another, and I will not have any health or jetlag problems, so that I can serve the Lord in PNG to the best of my abilities.

Would you consider committing to partner with me by praying? I am so very thankful for and honestly cherish your prayers! If so, you will have a vastly important part in my trip, expanding the reach of the Gospel.

Thank you so very much! You are each a blessing to me!


xoxoEmma 


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Note: To help financially, you can give online at https://usa.ntm.org/missionaries/emma-schramm or call 866-547-2460. 

You can also donate by check. Please make check payable to New Tribes Mission.

US donations: 

New Tribes Mission 

1000 E 1st St, 

Sanford, FL 32771

Canadian donations: 

New Tribes Mission 

Box 707, Durham, 

ON N0G1R0

Include a note designating the funds to my Mission Trips account #997730. 

Thank you!

Justification /// Live

Here she stood before the judge, awaiting her sentence.

“You have been found guilty and must face death,” declared the judge.

She has no words with which to defend herself, for she knows that she is guilty and most assuredly deserves to die. Her head hangs low, weighted down with a crown made up of sins and iniquities, its weight bearing down upon her. It declares loudly of her guilt.

“Help,” She whispers, wishing that she was strong enough to lift the condemning crown off of her head, away from herself.

The judge stands, removes his robe, and laying it aside, steps down from his judgment seat.

Is he going to kill her now? Right here?

 If she is going to die now, then it is no less than she deserved, for what does she have left that is worth living for? Just to go one carrying this crown that she had formed over the years?  She felt almost crushed by it—helpless.

The judge steps towards her.

She is a child of darkness and corruption. She cannot even look into the eyes of this judge who possessed blameless heart and on whose head was a crown, shining and pure. Yes, it is best if he just ends her bondage of living a life of only pain, sin, and darkness—void of love.

“You may leave now” the judge pronounced softly as he lifted her face up to look into his.

“But you said that I must die, for I am guilty?”

“I did” he says, removing his perfect crown. “But I will take your place.” And he lifts the crown of bondage from the girl's head and places it on his own.

            “You are going to die for me? Why?” She asks as tears stream down her face

            And he places his crown upon her head, trading places. He speaks “Because I love you.”.

            “For your sins, someone must die. And I am willing. I love you. Go and LIVE for I have set you free, my child.”

            He gently pushes her from the room as she stands there stunned.

He had given her his crown. It is so light, so beautiful. He had traded places with her, died for her. He had lifted the load that she hadn’t been able too.

Relieved of the heavy load of her former crown, she stood, her new identity held high. A child of her Savior, she walked out of the big doors and down the front steps, to face the world with new eyes.  Now she could truly LIVE.

Grace for ISIS /// I Loved You At Your Darkest

       

 

      ISIS deserves love just as much as I do, as much as you do. 

      And the truth is, none of us deserve any love. But God still gives it.

      I’m certain that our siblings in Christ, who have been persecuted, tortured, and slaughtered by the people of ISIS would say to us, the people of comfortable Christianity, “Love those who persecute you.” They would tell us not to hold bitterness or hate in our hearts, but to give love and forgiveness.

“But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you the cheek, offer the other also, and from the one who takes your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. and as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.”                                                                                                                            Luke 6:27-31 

     These brothers and sisters, some of whom could be killed for even mentioning the name of Jesus, know better than anyone else the dangers of following Christ. But they also know the joy. They know the love. 

     These children of God know that nothing, absolutely nothing, is greater than Jesus and His love. They have truly learned that Jesus is all we need, and nothing more. They know grace.

“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.”                                              Romans 12:14

     This persecuted Church knows that love is when you, being brutally murdered, look into the eyes of your murderer, and still say ‘I love you.’ I forgive you.’ 

     Isn’t that what Christ did for us up on that cross, on top of Golgotha, the hill of the skull? 

We beat Him. We broke Him. We spat on Him. We drove the nails into His hands and the thorns into His head. 

     And He still said ‘I love you.’ 

"I loved you at your darkest"                                                                                                    {Romans 5:8} 

     That is GRACE. 

     What ISIS needs is our love and forgiveness. Not our hate. 

     What makes Christians any different from ISIS if we act in hate? Who are we to withhold the grace that Christ gave us, from them?

     We who call ourselves children of God, but are so quick to point fingers and cast judgments. How often do we make statements like ‘Her hem is too short and neckline too low.’ ‘They had a child out of wedlock!’ Or ‘He has a tattoo? A piercing? Really.’? 

    And we put a label on them, making them lower than ourselves. ’'it might not be said out loud, but we think that we are above them, more righteous than they are. We, with our holier-than-thou attitudes and religious bumper stickers forget that we too, are sinners. Just. Like. Everyone. Else. We have no room for grace amidst our pews and church clothes. 

     So when we hear about ISIS and the destruction and pain that they have caused, it gives us the seemingly perfect opportunity to let loose our contempt and judgment upon them. After all, they are persecuting our fellow Christians, so that justifies it, right? 

     What if God had had that attitude toward us? What if He had looked upon our sin, our pitch black hearts, and said ‘I don’t love you. You are not good enough.’? And turned His back on us?

“For by Grace have you been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” 

Ephisians 2:8-9

     No! Instead He looked and saw the darkness, all of it, and still chose to say ‘I still love you.’ He still chose to give us grace. Unmerited favor and love.

     We don’t deserve love, deserve Grace, but God still gives it. 

     It is time that we looked upon the sin in our own hearts and let down the façade of our holiness.

“We love because He first loved us. If anyone says, ‘I love God.’ And hates his brother, he is a liar; for he does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love a God whom he has not seen. And this the commandment we have from Him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.’                                                                                                                                                  1 John 4:19-21

     When a scared, hurting young woman sees two purple lines on a pregnancy test are we going to shame her, so that she feels like the only way out is to have an abortion?  Or instead, are we going to pour out love and grace upon her and say ‘We are here to walk through this with you. We love you.’? 

   

     So, the next time we see a homeless person on the street, are we going to hurry past, avoiding eye contact? Or are we going to go and sit with them, having communion right there, with the least of these? Are we going to show love and grace? 

     Brothers and sisters, when the next article comes out on the media about ISIS’s latest acts of horror and carnage, how will we, the Christians, respond? With hate words and contempt? Or with Grace?

Everyday Faith /// Trust

By: Abigail Rose

     Today, I'm gonna talk about faithfulness! 

     Obviously, as Christian's, our salvation is solely based upon grace, through faith in Christ. Without having faith in Christ, we are simply nothing. But the question I think we need to ask ourselves, is how can we be more faithful? 

     Having faith is not always easy. One of the biggest aspects of faith, is trust. Without trusting in something, how can we have faith in something? 

     For instance, as I type this, I am awaiting to be released from the hospital, due to having an appendectomy.  I had never had surgery before, up until then. But, I knew that if I put my faith and trust in Christ, that nothing would happen unless He wanted it to. God says in His  word that "all things work together for the good to them that love God (...)" 

     God would never do anything that is not for my good, and all I have to do is put my faith and trust that He will keep His promises. 

     Having faith isn't always easy, and I'm sure we all can attest to a time where we wanted one thing, and God did something else. In those circumstances, it's not easy having faith that God can use something that you're convinced is not the right thing for you, for your good. 

     But, I think that's the beauty of Christ. He is faithful to US. He will always keep His promises, and stay faithful to what He has told us He will do. 

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     Hello everyone! My name is Abigail Rose, and I'm a blogger over at www.Compassionatejoy.blogspot.com! I'm SO excited to be a guest over here on Emma's blog!! Isn't she such a sweetie?!

So, I'll tell you a little bit about myself. :) 

I'm a Pastor's Kid in Seattle, Washington, and I adore coffee, hedgehogs, soccer, and singing/songwriting.  One of my dreams is to go into a foreign country and do missions work, specifically working with kids. 

So, that's it for today! Thank you, Emma, for having me on your blog!! I throughly enjoyed sharing with you guys!! 

Blessings! 

-Abigail Rose  

Mundane Holy /// Africa

                      . 

 

     I realized that if Africa had worked out, this wouldn’t have happened. I would have missed this. I would have missed the picture of mundane holy.

     Yeah, my heart was set on Africa, and still is, but now was not the time. Later. 

     God said “Wait. Be content with my mission for you here.”

     So I waited, confused and upset, wandering. I had to go into that office and force the words out of my mouth. “Not this year. That mission to Africa, apparently it’s not God’s timing for that. I want it to be though.”  

     Why couldn’t I just get on that plane? It was only two weeks anyway, right? Two weeks of going to serve. I wanted to hold children, wash clothes, and minister closer to the equator than I’ve ever been before. What was God trying to teach me by keeping me home?

     I was angry, so I traveled as far away as I could…only a state away. And I served there. 

But then my eyes began to open. Slowly. 

     And I saw life. 

     Before my eyes was the holiness that comes through simply living for Christ in the smallest, seemingly unimportant things. As I carried groceries, changed diapers, washed dishes, and sorted load after load of laundry, I saw the mundane holy. 

     Washing toilets and cooking meals, holy work. Being the listening ears for a sibling who has had their heart broken….holy work. Singing a bedtime hymn to sleepy-eyed little girls…holy work. Coming alongside and saying ‘let me bear some of your pain.’…holy work.

     Doing life for Christ is holy work. 

     Living life in faith, as a servant, is to partake in mundane, everyday holiness. 

     My eyes opened wider and I saw why it wasn’t time for me to work under the Ugandan sun. I needed to see the holiness in life lived as a Child of God. I needed to see that everything done in faith as is holy work.

     Finally, my soul understands, and I can say without any bitterness “Your will, your timing be done, Lord. Africa can wait."

     So I sing a little louder, love a little harder, and set out to wash feet. Living life, each breath drawing in the holy.

Renovation /// Soul Flowers

                        

     My hands are still wet from washing the breakfast dishes as my bare feet cross the gravel drive and follow the meadow lane. We are headed away from the chaos and chores for a moment.

     The brave girl next to me takes a deep breath and honors me by showing me the depths of her soul. The recesses where she keeps her cobwebs and diamonds.

     We walk and walk and then dangle our feet off of the worn wood of the dock. Cold water covers our prettily painted toes.

     And we talk. Deep heart talk.

     I feel the walls around my soul fall I take the heavy padlock off of the stone door. 

     Souls exposed, raw, we take communion of the other’s spirit.  

     Hopes, desires, frustrations, worries, burdens, joys, and emotions are pulled out from the dark of our hearts. They come out into the light, the air. It’s frightening at first, but soon those dusty boxes can’t be pushed out the doors fast enough.

     Deep, cleansing, messy spring cleaning for the soul. 

     It is beautiful -- the vulnerability of agapé  love.

     Rubble of the former walls of my soul is all that is left to stand guard. But then again, I’m not wanting a guard right now. 

     I am wanting to renovate – move away the stern, cold rubble far away and plant a meadow of flowers. Flowers of love to cultivate and share with the world.

    Walls only keep out life, keep out love.

    Meadows invite love, light, life in. Open, vulnerable beauty. 

     All too soon there are chores to be done back amidst the hubbub of life. Laundry needs sorted, lunch made, a table set, and closets cleaned. 

     Our path travels back through the grass and over the rocky driveway. Bare feet walking side by side through life.

     This idea of renovation, in my soul, begins to slowly pick up the stones left by the crumbled wall. It draws back and sends the stones flying far away, leaving my soul more and more vulnerable with each throw. 

     Across the house and up the spiral stairwell, I carry a basket filled to the brim with fresh washed laundry.

     Renovation is hefting up a bolder half its size and carrying it away – making room for that meadow.

I’m not sure if I am going to be comfortable with this open, vulnerable soul ready to give away all the love I have. 

     But who said that love is meant to be comfortable?

     Rock by rock, the land is starting to be cleared.

     A counter of dishes needs to be washed, but they can wait. I have some hard questions to ask of that big brother figure, and they cannot wait. 

     For the second time that day my feet tread upon the path that on, just a few hours ago, my soul spilled its inner cobwebs and diamonds. The raw ‘messy beautiful’ of my spirit has watered the purple and gold flowers beneath my feet.

      I don’t start of easy. I fire hard. 

     The boy takes a deep breath, searching for words, then bravely shows me his heart. Raw, authentic, and vulnerable.

     I wasn’t expecting this. 

    Renovation, gaining strength, begins to tear down the parts of the old wall that had been left standing. 

    The earth we walk on now has been watered by three souls.

    I’m a bit taken aback and it’s a good thing that the boy is still talking, because I don’t have the slightest knowledge of what to say.

     I just listen and I begin to see through the eyes of another. 

     He’s stopped talking, so I hit hard again, but this time he is quicker to answer.

     Time after time I throw those hard questions right at him. Each time he catches them – rarely fumbling. With every catch he shows more of his soul.

     I marvel at the bravery of those who allow their souls to be seen.

     I am humbled by the knowledge that I am not the only one who struggle, the only one who fails. 

Renovation has nearly cleared away the entire wall. All that is left is the door, once so heavily padlocked, and the door frame. 

     “RUN!” I hear my soul scream to Renovation “Knock it over!” 

     Running, Renovation hits that door that used to keep the world locked out, and knocks it far away. 

I am free of that wall of captivity.

     The field is cleared – ready for planting. 

     I turn my head so that the boy can’t see the tear slip down my cheek. 

     My walls are gone. Gone. I can have flowers!

    “So, tell me what you think. Your honest opinion.” I hear the boy asking me. 

     I bulk.

     I start running to bring back the stone that once protected me from questions such as this. I want protection! 

     But, Renovation stops me and points to the ground.

     I see a perfect, lovely little flower.

     I had not seen that the moment my soul’s wall fell, flowers had started to sprout. Slowly at first they grew, but with each rock that was carried away, they grew taller and more in number. 

     Gently, methodically, I reach down and pick the flower from the soil of my soul. 

     “My complete honesty?” I ask the boy.

     He nods.

     And I reach out and give that young man a flower from my soul. He doesn’t see it, but I do. 

     An agapé flower.

     I know that at times I may try to build those walls back up, but then, as I carry the rocks back, I will see the meadow of flowers and drop that rock. I will see the authentic life growingup to Heaven, and I will leave that stone death behind.

     We have no more questions left, so we just talk, sharing our cobwebs and diamonds. And flowers, of course!

     Soon we are called to head back. The dishes are waiting impatiently. 

     I hand soul flowers to everyone I meet. 

     The sister who helped me start the renovation, puts the words “Showing Grace.” before our eyes. Along with a soul flower. 

     Soul flowers are growing abundantly. 

xoxo Em