Preparing for Washington, D.C.

Prologue:

The following was written before the trip started and may be TMI because it is back story. However, for my own record, I needed to include it.  Be free to skip to the meat of the report.

08.03.2012

Preface:

My wrestle at present is deciding exactly where to begin laying the groundwork for the trip…

Truthfully my journey began when I was born in 1964, the second child out of three.  Yes, I am a middle child.  Growing up in the midst of corn and bean fields in east central Indiana as a white kid impacted me; I still love the smell of corn in the heavy July air, the thrill of high school boys’ basketball games and the Indiana countryside.  Additionally my parents took me to church on Sundays, encouraged me to attend the Wednesday afternoon Children’s Meeting there and later the youth group.  They also bought me my very first Bible, King James Version.

                 

From my earliest memory I loved the Old Testament stories and the stories about Jesus.  I loved Sunday school, Children’s Meeting and Youth Group.  I was blessed with faith that needed no tangible “proof” other than the Bible itself.  Though I could not have articulated it then, I also had the witness in my spirit that it was true.

                

Likewise I was blessed with natural athletic ability.  Playing sports became a vital piece of my life during elementary school, mostly consisting of kickball, dodge ball, tag and/or whatever other games the boys were playing at recess.  I was one of the few girls in our school system to play Little League baseball on a boys’ team.  During most of my middle and high school years I competed in 3 sports per year.  Sixth grade P.E. class introduced me to my first love – volleyball.

                 

Consequently I played volleyball during my school years and was eventually awarded a sports scholarship from Butler University, along with an academic scholarship.  I learned much from those four years as a collegiate athlete, with most of the life-changing character lessons coming at the hands of my coaches and teammates.  College had other effects upon me as well that were at the time negative, but later turned to gold by God; I wandered from my faith for a time, searching to discover if God was real. 

                 

Through a series of wonderful and horrible events, God revealed Himself to me.  One of those double-edged events was securing employment as a summer camp counselor.  The “horrible” part of the job was coming face-to-face with my ugly flaws and immaturities which generally affected others as much or more than they affected me.  The job itself was a dream – they actually paid me to PLAY!  Furthermore I was surrounded by a group of people who genuinely loved God and lived out their beliefs.  Another wonderful part was that I met my future husband there during one summer.

                 

As time and life circumstances marched onward, I became desperate for a closer relationship with God.  I was hungry for and seeking for the “much more” that I somehow knew was available.  Hubby and I moved back to Indiana from Connecticut, settled in a church and were growing and generally content there for approximately 12 years.  Then the hunger surfaced again, and I experienced an awakening unlike anything I knew before.  God was (and still is) at work healing, restoring and transforming me.

                 

During this same time the Children’s Ministry team of which we were a part was undergoing transition, (I once heard Ray Hughes say that transition is like being pulled through a knothole backward).  The core group of our team sought direction from God and from the church leadership for a guiding vision for the Children’s Ministry.  Much mess was created during this time, which God ultimately used in my life personally to bring about more healing, restoration and transformation.

                 

Providentially that mess led me to a divine appointment in which I met a number of people whom I like to refer to as my “tribe”:  Gardners, Austgens, Boyums, Robles, DeBoers, Solomons and many other world-changers who are connected to King’s Kids USA.  It was my privilege to observe a sports camp outreach held in a small community in northern Indiana which these folks were volunteering as staff.  I felt an instant connection to these people and to this style of ministry.

                

 Since that fateful day, my family and I have been blessed to minister alongside these “tribe members” on a variety of adventures, as well as to know them and to love them more each time.  After helping to launch a similar team at the aforementioned church, our family left that church to join the Indiana outreach team I had observed, which eventually became named “1 Voice”. 

              

 Along with sports camps, the 1 Voice team has ministered via free cup stacking booths at local festivals, Halloween & Easter alternative parties, a young woman’s purity event, an AGLOW event, a Seder meal, a Becky Fischer conference and prayer adventures locally.  Our method for deciding where/what in regard to ministry is to pray, listen for God to speak and pray some more.  He generally moves us forward and/or moves things/people into our path.

                

The trip to Washington DC was highlighted to one of our team members (an 11-year-old) during a prayer time in 2011.  We are looking forward to whatever the Lord has in mind for us!  Some of the optional activities we may participate in are service projects at the YWAM site where we are staying, helping with a vacation Bible school, open air worship in strategic locations and prayer adventures around the city.  It will be exciting to see what He leads us to do!

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