Prayer Email #2
Sent from the Missionary Learning Center Before Her Trip

Psalm 139:23-24

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

     Hello from FPO at the MLC for the IMB in RVA. Hahaha, if you are confused, don’t worry, we are sometimes too. We are definitely all about the acronyms here at the Missionary Learning Center! I would like to apologize for not being very faithful in keeping you guys informed of all that has gone on here, and thank you profusely for the prayers that you have lifted up anyway. I actually have just one week left here at Field Personnel Orientation. I put the verses from Psalms at the top of this e-mail because this best describes what God has done in my life in the past five weeks.

     As some of you know, I came to Orientation feeling very anxious about this next step in my life, and having a very difficult time trusting God in where He was leading me. In the first few weeks here, I dealt with a lot of doubts concerning where I was headed and the things I was leaving behind. Praises to God, He is way more faithful than I am. He has used this time to search my heart, and expose areas where I have not trusted Him. He has known my anxious thoughts, and been faithful to comfort me. He is continuously leading me forward into His perfect plan. He has also used this time to dispel any misconceptions I may have had that I am a brave person or that I can do any of this by my own power, and has brought me to a place of total dependence on Him, and I truly believe that this is what He asks of all of us.

     This has also been a wonderful time to learn more about the area I will be serving in, and more about the Xhosa people. One thing that I feel God has continually placed on my heart is the urgency of sharing the gospel with the lost. So many times I think that I get numb to how many people are lost (both here and overseas). A truth God has impressed on me is that each day people die, and without the truth of Salvation in Jesus, they face a Godless eternity. There IS an urgency to telling them about Christ, particularly as I head to a region of the world where AIDS is rapidly sweeping through the population.

     OK, that was a little heavy, but I wanted to share with you what God has been showing me! The best part is that I am confident that He is already at work in the hearts of the Xhosa, and it is His desire that they come to know Him!

     Ok, here are some Prayer Requests:

• Pray that God will prepare the hearts of the Xhosa people for the ministry that I will be joining Him in there. Pray for Megan Waldrep (my partner) who is already working in Grahamstown.
   
• Pray for the last week here at MLC. Pray that I will continue to be open to what God has to teach me, even in this final week. Pray that I will be able to bring closure to my time here and say goodbye to the wonderful people that God has blessed me with during the past five weeks.
   
• Pray for the time I will have at home before leaving for South Africa. Pray that I will have good discernment as I decide what to pack and what to leave behind. Pray that I will be able to use the time wisely, and be able to spend QUALITY time with the people who are so important to me. Pray that our goodbyes will be meaningful and that God will bring us comfort as we deal with the sad parts of leaving. Pray for closure for me as I leave the U.S., so I can look confidently ahead at the path God has set before me.
   
• Finally, pray that I will continue to fall more in love with Jesus and that I will learn more and more to depend solely on Him. Loving and glorifying Him is the purpose of all of this anyway!

In Christ’s abounding love,
Heather