Today is the 8th of July. Exactly one month and one week ago, I went to the informational meeting for the Malawi Mission Trip. The irony that this meeting took place on April Fools day was certainly not lost on me...A trip that would take 40 hours to make...to a people who speak a language that I could barely pronounce...with a team of people I really didn't know...and it was going to cost nearly four thousand dollars, which I had only four months to raise (actually nearly eight thousand dollars, because God had called my daughter Lauren to go also!)...can you say "Candid Camera"?

But this wasn't a trick or a joke, this was a calling from God to "GO".  He had been speaking about my "going" for some time...as I look back, it had been exactly one year and one month since God had started saying "Arise" during a bible study with some women from my church on the life of Jonah. Over time this word was replaced with, "Move"...and then most recently, "Go".

When I first heard "GO", of course my inclination was to ask, "Where?". Where was God asking me, rather, telling me, to go? I searched for clues and prayed for answers, all the while God was in the process of revealing His intentions in His time, His way, under His conditions. Isn't that always the way!?!...We run ahead of God, desiring an answer "right this minute", when His answer is on its way, the timing, in no way under our control...

In the bible the word of God "Comes to" the prophets. In Jonah God is even gracious enough to send the same word again when Jonah is finally ready to receive it.

"The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai." - Jonah 1:1

"Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time." - Jonah 3:1

Now if you don't know the story, the first time that God sent His word, which was: "Go to the great city of Nineveh..." Jonah 1:2, Jonah ran away and disobeyed the Lord. The second time God sent His word; "Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim the message I give you" Jonah 3:2, "Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh." Jonah 3:3

God sent the same exact word twice. Jonah heard the word correctly the first time, and ran. The story that takes place between chapters one and three is the story of Jonah's defiance. In a nutshell, God asked Jonah to do something which Jonah did not want to do. Jonah ran away, knowing that he was disobeying God. Jonah eventually chose death (he jumped into a raging sea during a storm) over obedience. But God, being who God is, had other plans...God sent a large fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah sat in the belly of a fish for three days.

During that time, Jonah quickly came around and called out to the Lord. He remembered the Lord and repented for his disobedience. God commanded the fish to vomit him up on dry land (Jonah 2:10). God sent Jonah back to the beginning, and sent the very same word again...only this time Jonah obeyed.

But Jonah still wasn't happy about the work God had given him to do. He didn't want there to be a chance for the Ninevites to respond to God's proclamation and be saved...He felt justified in going with a grudge. God reminded him throughout the mission that it was God who was in charge. By doing God's work with a prejudice, it was Jonah who lost out on the joy of his part in the greatest revival of all time.

"But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord, 'Isn't this what I said  when I was still home? Isn't this what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish? " - Jonah 4:1

Why did Jonah become angry when God spared Nineveh? The Jews did not want to share God's message with Gentile Nations. They had forgotten their original purpose as a Nation - to be a blessing to the rest of the world by sharing God's message with other Nations (Genesis 22:18). Jonah thought that God should not freely give His salvation to a wicked pagan Nation. Yet, this is exactly what God does for all who come to Him today in faith. And after all, this is what God did with Abraham and all of Israel...

God's word came to me piece by piece, over a long period of time. As He revealed His wishes for me, these pieces of the greater puzzle fell effortlessly into their places. During a week long fast, God had shown me scripture after scripture about widows and orphans. I already work in ministry with widows, but have always volunteered with youth and had wondered about the connection and why God had gifted me in these two seemingly different areas. Over time God has showed me that these two were very much the same...marginalized by society...abandoned ones...He wanted them to know that His word says that neither of them are alone; He is the Father to the fatherless, and Husband to the widow.

I eventually learned that the Malawi trip was intended to minister to orphans and widows...(on April Fools day... good one God!) and this was after sharing with my community group a few months before, that God had been fine tuning my life ministry to include both widows and orphans. God had shown me that there are new kinds of widows and orphans in this society. Due to divorce, there are women without husbands (widows) and children with out fathers (orphans). They live with the same issues of abandonment and social outcast. And He showed me also that there are spiritual widows and orphans...women who do not have a husband who is a spiritual leader in the home....children who do not have parents who know the Lord.

God had showed me that I have been both a widow and an orphan under these guidelines...He has gifted me to reach out to these most loved ones in His name.

Most recently, God has brought me to St. Mary's Villa (if you read these posts, I have spoken about them a few times now). This is a placement home for "at risk" youth from Philly. They are placed here in the suburbs...having been taken from everything that they know. The are living without a family as orphans. So, hmmmm, now I am working with booth widows and orphans...God had told me this long ago. The word of the Lord still comes to God's people. We don't have to look around for what God wants us to do. We need instead, to be listening for what God says by spending time with Him in prayer and in His word...and then, when His word does come, we must obey.

The good news is that when we do mess up and run from the task, the book of Jonah shows us that God is merciful and might give us another try. I myself, would prefer getting it right the first time to being vomitted up by a fish (Ewwwww and, um... gross!)

So here I am. In exactly three weeks I go to Malawi. This trip has already changed my life. God has made new connections and started new ministries and I haven't even stepped off of American soil....I cannot even begin to comprehend the totality of what he has for me on this trip. All that I know for certain is that  I have heard from the Lord, and that I am choosing to obey. I know that I have prayed earnestly that God would use me to reach  a multitude for His kingdom...and I know that the Lord answers prayer.

Three weeks and counting...21 days...504 hours...30,240 minutes...1,814,400 seconds (check the math if you want, I did my best for writing this at five in the morning). I am listening Lord...as you send your word to me, I am making the choice to obey, knowing that what you have for me will bring me joy and abundance as I serve you in loving your people until Christ returns.

Thank you for giving me a specific ministry. Thank you for empowering me to do the work. Thank you for being patient with me as I have tried to understand the things that you have spoken to me. Thank you for the privilege of serving you. Thank you that we don't have to go searching for your word, but that the word of the Lord comes to us!