My name is Laura and I am a 22 year old coffee addict and recent graduate of James Madison University. I am the daughter of a Southern Baptist pastor, and have grown up believing in God's grace that has saved me from self destruction and hopelessness. As I've grown in my relationship with the Lord, He has taught me about myself and I've developed a love to GO and make disciples. There is no more freeing feeling than knowing that I have been called to serve Him in this way because He quite literally holds the plans to my future and I have no cause to worry!
"He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit." Titus 3:5
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20
While at Passion 2012 in January, the Lord really started stirring in my heart about working with women in urban settings in the future, and I started praying about an opportunity to spend some time on the field before continuing with my education. I applied for several positions for after I graduated through the International Mission Board (IMB)and waited to hear if I was accepted and, if so, where they would be sending me. I love to travel and I love languages, but all of my experience is in Europe and South America - communicating in Italian or Spanish. I really thought that the Lord would send me to one of those two places - I mean, it made the most "sense." After being accepted to the program, I started to get the picture that I was headed to the Middle East or Asia. WHAT. Those places were not even on my radar...and were completely outside of my comfort zone. I continued to go through the process but weeks and months passed without any clear direction. The night before I actually graduated I was overwhelmed by the idea that the next day I would be handed my diploma and officially enter the next stage in my life, and I had absolutely no answers about what was coming next.
"Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” Lamentations 3:22-24
"Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this." Psalm 37:4-5
Scripture ministered to my heart and I finally realized how desperately I was clinging to my need to understand and plan my future. The Lord wanted me to trust Him for my very next breath and be willing to take a step into the unknown in obedience. To be so grateful for redemption that I lived with one purpose - to make my life an offering that was of no value to me, but of utmost value to Him. During this time, God opened up the door for me to go to Thailand through a conversation with a sweet friend, Liz Swauger. Things seemed to be falling through with the IMB, but I still really felt that I should spend a semester on the field before going on to seminary. She and another friend, Claire, were preparing to spend a year in Bangkok serving Jesus through the Baptist Student Center there in the city, teaching English classes.
"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves, do what it says." James 1:22
"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.'" Jeremiah 29:11
I felt prompted to call Liz and tell her what God had been doing in my heart, and just to ask the simple question, "Do you think there is a possibility for me to come to Bangkok?" Her answer was an exclamatory, "YES!" and, through much prayer and seeking counsel, God made it clear that He was sending me to Thailand for a semester. I would be living at the BSC in Bangkok with Liz and Claire, teaching English classes in the evenings, and potentially have the opportunity to work with ministries that reach out to the women who work in Bangkok's vast sex tourism industry - exactly what God placed in my heart back in January.
"Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6
There are so many amazing details that can only be attributed to the Lord's providence and care for the details of our lives, and I am so thoroughly excited to truly be walking into the security of knowing that despite its being on the other side of the world, I am walking right into the center of God's will. I'm so grateful that He loves me and trusts me enough to want to allow me to participate in what He is doing for His glory overseas. I know that I have nothing to offer but the hope that comes from knowing Christ as Savior, and it is this that I desire to share with the Thai people during these next 3 months.
"Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God." Romans 15:15-17
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