My Faith Journey to Vanuatu

I want to start by saying to God be all the honor, glory, and praise!  He delivers, He provides, He leads, and I am just thankful that He has chosen to use me and my family, it is a blessing to serve God....

John 15:16
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit-fruit that will last-and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.

It began with an email that left me excited and terrified all at once.  It was the door opening and I knew if I decided to walk through it, it would change everything.  I remember being brought to tears from a true sense of being overwhelmed by the gravity of it all, knowing we would answer the call but also knowing the road ahead was not going to be easy.  As I shared my heart with my mother in law, my daughter made the answer clear.  My precious six year old encouraged me and reminded me that God would give me the words, I just needed to trust Him.  I knew this was the moment that our ministry, and our lives as a family would never be the same.  My family was ready and with them by my side I sent the email back accepting an invitation from Raising Sisters to speak about abortion at the conference in Vanuatu and in my heart saying "yes LORD" to the call as a missionary family for LIFE.

Our family grew more and more excited as we saw this ministry over take any plans we might have had.  When God gives you such a big, bold dream and then opens the doors there is NOTHING like it!  I knew my walk with the LORD had to deepen, and I knew as it deepened He was going to do some "house cleaning" in my heart and in my life.  I felt drawn to God like never before, each day I desired more and more time with Him and each day He revealed more of me that needed to change.  Like an onion He continues to peel back my layers, changing me, refining me.  Praise God He is not done with me yet!  It hurts when you are revealed to yourself in such a raw way, to see yourself through the lens of change, but praise God-it is refreshing to see Him bring about real change in my heart!  The growing pains of change are no less pains, but the embrace of the Savior is all the comfort I needed in the process.  For the first time in my life, I began to see that my past sins, failures, and pains all came together in a beautiful portrait of redemption and healing, my testimony is my greatest gift in serving God!

My family found strength in the firm direction of our calling to the mission field, to serve as LIFE Runners by bringing education and training people to defend LIFE.  By boldly proclaiming the truth about abortion in countries where the truth was desperately needed.  God has called us to speak about abortion where the words are rarely uttered and considered taboo, but the act of abortion is daily committed.  In places where women were being broken, but no one was there to mend the broken pieces.  Not because they didn't want to, but because the truth of this brutality had not yet been brought into light, nor the knowledge of its horror made known.  We will go to the women of the South Pacific and open their eyes and hearts to the true nature of abortion, and we will deliver Gods message of hope, healing, and change.  All of these things are well beyond our abilities to do, but praise God He is ever faithful to provide and He always delivers!  Side by side with our teammates we will proclaim the truth!

As we neared the date to fly to Vanuatu, God began having me flex my Spiritual gifting by having me speak at a SPEF women retreat and give a message at my church home, Living Way Church Nadi.  As I trusted the Lord, He came through and used me to speak to my brothers and sisters in Christ.  Women and men being delivered from bondage and struggle was all the encouragement I needed.  I felt the Holy Spirit so near to me.  He encourages me and my faith continues to grow with every test and trial.  God is ever faithful.

Since we moved to Fiji, God has surrounded us with men and women of faith both far and near.  We serve an awesome God, who not only touches and encourages us Himself, but sends others to faithfully respond to Him to encourage and affirm.  I have been blessed with amazing prayer partners and mentors.  I have a husband who is more than I could have ever hoped for, an incredible man of integrity and faith.  A daughter who is a miracle in every way, with faith and prayers well beyond her age.  A church family and LIFE Runner core team that are ever faithful.  Amazing friends that have never discouraged me, but embrace the dreams and vision God has given my family for this ministry. We are so blessed.

The week finally arrived for Vanuatu and God delivered!  Every fiery dart the enemy shot was obliterated!  The trials came but it seemed to only strengthen my resolve.  I had been called to go and speak and I was not going to back down.  God took care of the details at home with Ryan's schedule and Ella Mae's care.  From the start I had told God if He wanted me to go I needed Him to cover the details of my household while I was away.  As I dropped Ella Mae to school the morning of my flight and went for my run I could not hold back the tears as I saw His promise answered.  God revealed how our family was surrounded by people of faith who had, without thought of their own inconvenience, stepped in to help take care of our daughter.  Those amazing friends who took her or were on standby to take her were a complete answer to prayer!  My precious husband, would be flying long days while filling both of our roles in the house and never once complained but cheered me on and encouraged me forward.  Because of all of this I was able to leave for Vanuatu in peace.

I knew something very powerful and important lay ahead because only hours before my flight my stomach became sick.  The me of only a short time ago would have called it quits right there and would not have gotten on that plane.  The thought of flying to a developing country when I couldn't even be a few minutes away from a toilet was overwhelming but I surrendered it to God.  At the airport Bui gave me a prophet scripture.

Jeremiah 1:17-18
"Get yourself ready!  Stand up and say to them whatever I command you.  Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them.  Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land-against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land.

There was no question we were headed into battle!  It was by His grace alone I made it through the flight and to my hotel.  Fortunately we arrived on Wednesday and I didn't have to speak until Friday because by Thursday my condition worsened and by midday I was so weak from dehydration that I knew I needed help.  I prayed and my sisters prayed with me and then I called Ryan.  We decided it was time to find a doctor so Bui, who is a ray of sunshine, and I headed to the medical clinic.  I was so exhausted and dehydrated but Bui has an infectious joy about her and she just lifted my spirits!  Our mini bus driver had actually driven us past our hospital and dropped us a further 1km beyond it!  With laughter in our hearts we navigated nearly all the way back to our hotel on foot until we found the clinic that was so close to our hotel that we should have just walked in the first place!  The doctor was alone in the clinic and told us it was lunch break but he ended up taking me back for the examination and treated me for dehydration and a bacterial infection.  I will tell you the truth, I was already healed before I took the first pill.  God touched my fearful heart with the glorious laughter and kindness of my friend, it made all of the difference.  I rested, prayed and studied the rest of the day, I was ready!

My housemates, two of the other conference speakers and all of the Raising Sisters Committee, were such a blessing to me.  This is only my second conference but the trend remains the same.  The Holy Spirit comes and bonds you together and without even knowing each other or the message the others have prepared it all ties together in a perfectly delivered package!  That is the power of the Holy Spirit!  God delivered!  The first day of conference was a powerhouse of messages that reached to the hearts and needs of the women attending.  I love the way it feels to be empty so that God can flow through you.  The way it feels to speak out of the overflow!  It blessed me to be able to share what God had prepared for the women the first day and I was encouraged as the others speakers messages touched my heart, my needs, and brought about change in my life!

The people of Vanuatu are incredible, the smiles, the huge open hearts.  Even now as I write I long for their embrace again.  To see them so intimately yearning for what God is bringing to the table.  To hear and feel their hearts.  To see their needs and to want to carry some of the weight of their burdens.  The thing about abandoning your desires and clinging to Gods purpose for you is that the ones you come to serve end up blessing you!  God continues to break my heart for what breaks His and it is always raw and painful on a level I didn't know existed.  The people of Vanuatu have captivated my heart and I long for the time that I will return to them! The way they blessed me will be something I never forget!

I have to say that every single woman and man who came from Fiji for the Raising Sisters conference were such a blessing as LIFE Runners teammates!  They are All IN and it is because of that powerful teamwork that this was Fiji's first LIFE Runners international mission trip!  My brothers and sisters in Christ in Fiji have a place in my heart that is eternally precious to me.  They may never fully know how deeply they have impacted my family's life!  Together the LIFE Runners in Fiji and in America were lifting powerful prayers for us as I began to share this message of hope!  Being a part of something so powerful as LIFE Runners is life changing.  The precious board members back in America are such a strength to me, and their love, support, vision, and passion have made a global impact in ways that they may not even know!  God is so amazing!

I love the way God takes over.  His plans are above our plans.  He knows the needs of the people because He looks straight at our hearts.  I am learning to let go and simply be used by God and it is POWERFUL!  As I began to speak I was told that I would be having an interpreter because they wanted to be sure none of the message was lost in translation, so everyone could receive.  Mere came and stood beside me, we had never met, and I prayed for God to help us because speaking and waiting on interpretation is a "dance"-one neither of us had ever done before.  The fear that I wouldn't be able to have the message flow lasted for only a moment as I remembered that the Holy Spirit would deliver.  These words I am writing now will not do justice to what happened then and there, but God poured into me His message and He flowed right through Mere to deliver it to the hearts of the women.  For most of them this was the first time they had ever heard someone speak on abortion, the call for a changed heart from within the church, the rise to bringing abortion out of the darkness and into the light, and the deliverance and healing from its bondage.  To say the whole experience was overwhelming does it no justice.  I watched their faces as they received the message.  I could see the deep, hidden pain in so many of their faces and the hopeful expectation in others. What I saw was empowered women ready to take up the call to protect their daughters, sisters, and friends from the evil that is abortion. What I witnessed was a mighty move of God!  At the alter call so many women were set free from their past abortions and placed on the road to healing, as we prayed with them, cried with them, and held them close.  The women of Vanuatu will rise to the call, they will run and not grow weary!  We gained many LIFE Runners that day, but more than that we witness the beginning to healing for the women of a nation!  They are already on fire and are just gathering together and making arrangements so that I can come back and equip them with education and guidance that they would otherwise be unable to access in Vanuatu.  We will return and give them the tools they need to defend LIFE by protecting their women and unborn!

As I reflected on the many testimonies shared with me, I was brought to my knees.  People who had been struggling found strength, those who were seeking purpose were being empowered, the broken hearted were cloaked in healing.  That is what the many speakers of this awesome conference were able to deliver by the Power of the Holy Spirit.  Raising Sisters Conferences are incredible and it is because of their vision that we have been able to take the LIFE Runners vision in the South Pacific to the next level and a whole new platform!  There is no way for me to say thank you enough to the Raising Sisters Committee, but they know my heart! I could write pages on the powerful speakers and how they blessed and changed me with their obedience and powerful Spirit led messages.  I could share story after story of the testimonies that were shared with me, but for now I'll just share three that most encouraged me.

One young woman who came forward for deliverance from her past abortion spoke of how her abortion had given her the sensitivity to be gentle and compassionate with a young relative who ended up becoming pregnant and was rejected by the family.  She knew that she needed to encourage her so that she wasn't pressured to make the same mistake that she had.  At the session she was finally set free of all of her past guilt and shame! Praise God!  I told her that her testimony and her life experience made her the best kind of LIFE Runner because her heart was already sold out for the cause!

A beautiful nurse came to me and told me this was the answer to the dream God gave her and she was ready to lead this LIFE Runners mission in Vanuatu.  We actually had at least four women that felt called to lead, not just join, PRAISE GOD!  She said she had a dream that she was walking in a field and heard a baby crying.  She saw it was an abandoned baby so she picked it up intending to take it to her pastor and would ask to be allowed to raise the baby as her own.  As she began to walk away, she heard another cry and as she turned she saw a field full of babies.  She cried out to God that there were too many and she didn't know what to do.  She told me that this ministry was confirmation that the new medical clinic she and her husband had opened would somehow fill this purpose, praise God.

I later found my interpreter, Mere, as we were getting ready to leave. I just wanted to thank her from the depths of my heart.  I wanted her to know I could not have done it without her and that she had blessed me.  She told me that she had just come back from Australia after a round of chemo for breast cancer.  She had been asking God to use her.  She had never interpreted before, but praise God, she rose to the call.  God used her mightily that day, to deliver His message.  We prayed over her, we laid hands on her and we agree by the shed blood of Jesus for her healing.  God hears us, he is so faithful!  My heart is deeply moved by Mere, who could have been at home resting but instead came out desiring to be used by God.  What a beautiful woman of God, I know He has mighty plans for her.  Please keep her in your prayers!

As I have sat quietly, waiting upon the Lord, I am beginning to understand the vision for LIFE Runners missions that God has put on my heart.  The LIFE Runners ministry is a powerful one but it works differently in developing/3rd world nations.  The t-shirts spark the conversations and raise awareness, but we must also give them the tools to defend LIFE.  It has to be nurtured and cultivated and requires willingness to educate and train up the people so they can serve their communities.  In countries like Fiji and Vanuatu, not everyone has access to the Internet, not everyone has the ability to gain knowledge on such topics as abortion and yet abortions happen at a higher rate in developing nations verses developed nations.  The exact statistic is 37 per 1000 vs 27 per 1000 respectively (Guttmacher Institute).  This was the first Fiji LIFE Runners mission trip but it won't be the last! We saw how desperate they were for the message.  As Christians we are called to go out into the world and speak the good news and we resolve that is exactly what we will continue to do.  My family and I will continue to serve in whatever nation God opens the doors to.  We will take the educational tools we have access to and bring them to countries that are in the dark.  As I looked upon those beautiful faces of the women delivered and empowered God spoke to my heart.  "I pulled you out of the ashes of your life to serve Me in this purpose."

So I say "YES LORD!"  My family is sold out for you and we will deliver the LIFE Runners message where ever you send us.  Planned Parenthood, like a wolf in sheep clothing, is already lying in wait in all of these countries, so we must be there to bring the truth and expose the lies.  We won't back down, we won't give in, we will stand up and defend LIFE with our teammates all around the world, from conception to natural death.  We are All IN Christ for Pro-LIFE!

Life Runners is funded by donations alone, and to keep this powerful ministry reaching far and wide so that all women of the world are protected we need your help!  In America the youth are rising to the call and our school chapters are growing and expanding and with donations we are able to bless them with t-shirts and gear to proclaim the powerful message "REMEMBER the Unborn, Jer 1:5."  More and more people are answering the call and are reaching out to the scared and broken women who need our love and support, and your donations give us the opportunity to bless Pregnancy Resource Centers by supporting 5k charity runs/walks.  Please consider making a donation today to help us get the message of healing and hope further than ever imagined.  The t-shirts are often too expensive for those who join in our developing nations and the donations help us provide them with the shirts that are making a huge impact. We are also able to bring educational tools to them such as fetal models and brochures which are life changing in countries that don't have common access to ultrasound or developmental education.  If you would like to specifically help us in our outreach in the South Pacific and other countries around the world just ear mark your donation "international."  These are just a few ways that your donation to LIFE Runners can make an impact! http://www.liferunners.org/donate/

Thank you for considering partnering with LIFE Runners, with over 4,700 LIFE Runners in 28 countries around the world we are one mission minded team reaching to every corner of the earth, every donation makes a huge difference!

"The fight for life is not the cause of a special few, but the cause of every man, woman and child who cares not only about his or her own family, but the whole family of men." ~Dr. Mildred Jefferson