If I Disappear (A Note for the Rapture)

If some day, I disappear along with thousands or millions of other people around the world, please read this note carefully.  It will explain everything.  I don’t know for sure if this is going to happen in our life time.  There is a chance that it won’t be for hundreds or thousands of years.  However, there is also a good chance that it will be soon.  An awesome website called Rapture Ready inspired me to write this letter almost three years ago, and it has been sitting on my computer unused.  Now that I have a place to share it, I thought I should- in hopes that it will lead many to Christ, both before and after the rapture.  I understand this is one of my longer and more serious posts, but I promise it is so worth it!

If tons and tons of people are gone without any explanation, specifically people who professed faith in Christ, please don’t worry about us.  Regardless of what theories people try to come up with, it wasn’t an alien abduction.  It isn't a secret society in hiding.  It wasn’t a mass suicide, kidnapping, or disease.  It wasn’t a science experiment gone wrong.  What happened is called the rapture.  It’s predicted in the bible.  Jesus promised almost 2,000 years ago this would happen.  For those of us who are gone, it is a very good thing.  We are with God right now.  What happened was God taking all of His children, true born again Christians, to Heaven with Him before things get really bad here on Earth.  If you are reading this right now, please know that God hasn't forgotten about you.  He didn’t abandon you.  He still loves you.  He compelled my heart to write this letter for you because reading it will be the most important thing you have ever done.  He led you to read it because it will change everything for you.  It will give you another chance.  This letter will explain what has happened, what is going to happen over the next few years, and how you can be saved.  It isn’t too late for you!

If you are wondering how I knew this was coming, it’s simple.  I read the bible and trusted that what it said was true.  God promised numerous times throughout the bible this would happen.  Although He didn’t tell us the exact date it was going to take place, He gave us signs to look for.  These signs included certain wars, crimes, and historical events.  These events were predicted in the bible thousands of years ago; and recently, they actually started happening!  Once I realized a lot of bible prophecy was coming true right before our eyes, such as Israel becoming a nation again in the 1960s, I talked about it with some friends and decided I had no choice but to write this letter for anyone who is left.  Only God knew the exact time that this would happen, but we had hints.  Many of us thought that it could be soon. 

You are probably confused and upset.  The world is most likely in complete mayhem right now.  You may feel like God has abandoned you.  You may wonder why you weren’t taken too.  You may be thinking “I led a good life.” or “I am a good person.”  You may be nice to everyone.  You may do a lot to help others.  You may even go to church, believe God exists, and call yourself a Christian.  So why would you have been left behind?  The bible gives a very clear answer to this question.  Let me explain:

No human is perfect.  We all sin and fall short of the glory of God.  In other words, we all do things wrong.  Even if we try to be good people, we still mess up.  You’ve probably never physically murdered someone, and you may do a lot to help others.  That really is great, but you still sin.  The bible gives us a large list of sins- these things include lying, not obeying your parents, using God’s name out of context, and holding grudges against others.  We have all sinned before.  The bible says the wages of sin is death.  In other words, the sin in our world and in our bodies is the reason we're not immortal and can't live here on Earth forever- which was the original intent.  It also says when we die, there are only two other places to go- Heaven and hell.

The bible says God is perfect.  It also says Heaven is a perfect place for perfect beings.  No sin can enter Heaven.  It just can’t.  God is perfect and has to be separated from sin.  That would be bad news for us humans, because all of us have sin in us, so we would all have to be forever separated from God/Heaven.  If our sins are separating us from Heaven, we would have to go to hell forever when our lives on Earth are over to pay the punishment for our sins. 

If this is making you scared or angry, don’t worry.  There’s good news too.  God loved us so much that when we strayed away from Him, He had a plan to bring us back.  He sent His perfect Son, Jesus, from Heaven to Earth to take our sins away.  Jesus took all of our sins upon Himself and was willingly tortured and killed by being nailed to a wooden cross to take the punishment for our sins for us.  He paid the penalty so we wouldn’t have to pay it forever in hell.  Then, on the third day after His death, God raised Him from the dead- defeating sin!  He was the only one who could do this, because He is perfect.  Anyone who receives this gift will become a child of God and have a clean record once and for all.

Having your sins washed away and paid for once and for all is a free gift.  Just like with any gift, you have to accept it.  If a friend buys you a gift and you turn them away instead of taking it, you don't get the gift.  Jesus’ gift of being saved from sin is the same way, you just have to accept it.  The reason is, love is a choice.  God can't force us to love Him.  It's also a free gift, so you also can’t work for it, deserve it, or earn it.  The bible says doing good deeds, going to church, and reading the bible can’t even save us from sin (though those are all good things).  You just have to accept what Jesus already did for you.  To do that, you just have to believe it and repent.  Repent is a word that literally means “change of mind”.  In other words, confessing that your old ways were wrong and turning your heart and your mind to God and His ways.  Even if you mess up later, all of your sins, even your future sins, are paid for and gone forever.

 Does that clear up why you are still here on Earth?  It is either because:

A) You didn’t believe in the existence of God or weren’t sure about His existence enough to look into it and accept this gift.

B) You believed in God's existence, but thought doing good things or participating in religious events would get you to Heaven.  You didn’t understand that your sin was separating you from God and how to have them erased.  You believed that people could get to Heaven without being saved.

C) You didn’t accept Jesus’ free gift by believing all of this and turning to Him.

Are at least one of those things true about you?  If so, you still had your sinful nature, which prevented you from going to Heaven just yet.  God took everyone He could, because things are about to get pretty bad here on Earth.  It isn’t too late for you though.  You can be saved right now, and then when your life is over, you will go to Heaven too.  Do you want to do this right now?  If you have believed this and repented, you are now God’s child.  You are a Christian (someone who belongs to Christ).  You are free from sin.  You are His forever.  You can ask Him to put His Holy Spirit inside of you to lead you and guide you.  Your spirit has been born again- this time into God's family.

So, you may be wondering where to go from here and what will happen now.

Let’s start with what happens next.  According to the bible, the anti-Christ is going to take over the world; but not in the way that you may think.  He won’t look like a terrifying evil demon.  He'll probably look like any other person.  He will likely be a world leader of some sort and claim to want peace.  He is a liar.  I don’t know what his name will be.  Many people will make speculations saying it is the current US president, rulers in other countries, a leader of a cult or false religion, etc.  I don’t know which of these theories are true or false, but here is how to know who he is: Most Christians believe there will be a peace treaty made with Israel.  The anti-Christ will somehow be involved with this and become the one world leader (leader of all countries).  He will claim to be doing this to bring peace.  Many people will adore him and think he will make things better.  There will also be a one world religion, meaning one religion will be implementing throughout the whole world.  It will be a false religion, not Christianity. 

Now, here is the very important part: DO NOT TAKE HIS MARK!  At some point, it is going to be required that everyone gets a mark or symbol of some kind of their arm, hand, or forehead in order to purchase food and survive.  This may be a micro chip, a tattoo, or something similar.  Just to be safe, whatever mark they try to put on you, DO NOT TAKE IT!  It is the devil’s mark.  Once you take it, you cannot be saved.  Even if they threaten to harm you or arrest you, don't take the mark!  Even if they refuse to let you purchase things you need or get a job, don't take the mark!  No matter what, don’t take it.  Nothing on this Earth is worth it.  There also might be a widespread disease.

Many Christians believe the anti-Christ will try to convince people he is God or the Christ (meaning the One sent by God to save us, which we know is actually Jesus).  He is going to try to prove this, and many people will believe him.  He may even perform miracles and signs by the power of satan to get the world’s attention.  No matter what he does, says, or tries to “prove”, he is a liar.  Don’t believe him.  Jesus is the only true Christ and Savior.

So what should you do until Jesus returns to Earth and takes all of you new Christians back (which most people think will be about 7 years from the time we disappeared; but please don't be discouraged if we're wrong and it's actually longer)?  After you've become a child of God, start by reading the bible and praying daily.  Talk to God just like you would talk to a friend or a (good) parent.  Pray for guidance and wisdom to know what to do.  Pray for strength.  Thank God for saving you and leading you to find this note.  Pray for the people who are not yet saved.  Also, get a hold of a bible quickly.  It’s possible they'll become illegal or stop being sold.  Search churches and houses of those who have disappeared and gone to Heaven.  If you don’t know where to read in the bible, start in the book of John and go from there.  If you look in the front of the bible, it will show you which page each book starts on.

If you can, help others to be saved too.  Tell them what you’ve learned and help them to find bibles.  If you can, even make copies of this letter and share it with them.  I’m not going to lie, things are going to be hard; but you can do it.  God is with you, helping you every step of the way.  He loves you and is on your side.  Don’t be afraid of being killed, because then you will be in Heaven.  Many people in the bible were killed for their faith, so you are not alone.  You may still be left with some questions, but just focus on what you know, pray without ceasing, and read the bible daily.  God will take care of the rest.

Love,
Megan

Additional informaiton:

There is speculation that all children will be taken along with us too since they are too young to choose to be saved- so God will automatically save them when the rapture happens.  There is another theory that only the children of Christian parents will be raptured.  I don’t know if either of these theories are true, but if all (or many) young children are gone, consider these as reasons why.

Also, there are few Christians who believe the rapture is only a spiritual rapture, meaning only our souls are taken and our bodies will be left behind.  I don’t think this is what the bible seems to say.  I think our bodies will be taken with us.  However, if thousands or millions of Christians all over the wold suddenly die at the same exact second and I am one of them, consider that this as a reason why.

On an opposite note, if I ever disappear alone or with just a few people, this is not the rapture!  Please look for me and treat it as a crime or accident!  The real rapture will include all true born-again Christians in the world at one time. 

Last, if you are reading this letter in present time before the rapture has happened rather than after, I want to encourage you to get right with God now and not wait!  You don't know how long you have, and this is eternity we are talking about!

My Shining Star

Being a sponsor to 3 little girls who communicate exclusively through letters means I enjoy getting mail just a little too much sometimes.  No, I mean like at around 8 o'clock every night, I start getting excited to wake up and get the mail the next morning.  It's a bit ridiculous really.

One morning last week, I went out to my mailbox to find an envelope from World Vision.  I had a moment of excitement until I realized it was not, in fact, a letter from my sponsored child.  Instead, what I found inside was a birthday card to sign and send back to be delivered to my Sulmi for her upcoming birthday in June.  Attached to the card were also these adorable paper glasses that made everything look like stars when your child puts them on.  The card said, "You are my shining star." 

I was ready to use this to write a post about birthday letter ideas when I realized I had never properly introduced Sulmi to all of you.  I mentioned her in posts about how God led me to sponsor Melania and Aura; but since Sulmi's sponsorship happened first, and before I started this blog, I never actually shared the story of how this all came to be.

One day in 2011, I was at my local Christian book store.  I was 17 years old and a new Christian; and I'd spent so much time at this store that the employees knew me by name.  On this particular day, I was talking with Jim, the very nice man who worked there and always teased me about being at the store almost as much as he was.  At the register paying for my things, Jim showed me their World Vision display and asked if I would like to sponsor a child that day.  I looked at the beautiful baby girl whose packet was on display and my heart sank.  She was precious.  You're probably thinking, "Wow, that's great, but that's the shortest story ever."  Unfortunately, that baby girl was not Sulmi, and I did not sponsor her that day.  I explained to Jim that as much as I would like to sponsor a child, I was still in high school and didn't have a job at the time.  This was the truth.  As I left the store though, my heart turned inside of me.  Looking down at the bag of things I had just bought for myself and my friends, I was convicted.  I may have been a full time student who wasn't consistently working, but God was always providing money for me one way or another- babysitting jobs, birthday gifts, etc.  As I sat at a nice restaurant with my mom for dinner that night, I stared at my steak dinner and thought about all the little things I could be sacrificing to sponsor a child.  I felt sick...not with guilt, but with awareness of the extreme needs of those I had ignored for way too long.  I was an evangelist at heart, but God was convicting me that He also cares about loving His people through providing their physical needs.  Not even being able to finish my meal, I went out to the parking lot and cried. 

I couldn't get back to the store that day to sponsor that baby, and I knew she would likely already have a sponsor by the time I could.  So, I spent the next few months researching different child sponsorship organizations and praying for God to lead me to the right child.  Then, in March of 2012, I attended a Casting Crowns concert with my mom and a few close friends.  At the concert, they had a World Vision presentation.  I was not planning on sponsoring a child that night, because I hadn't decided on an organization and was leaning more towards sponsoring through a smaller program.  Not knowing this, my mom raised her hand during the presentation to choose a child's packet for me- knowing that I had been planning to sponsor and thinking that we could share the child and the sponsorship fees.  At intermission, my mom handed the packet to me and this was the face I saw:

There was no turning back.  She was mine.

God brought Sulmi's packet all the way from the World Vision office near Seattle to a concert in Pittsburgh, put her packet in the hands of the woman coming down our isle at the concert, and had my mom pick up her packet out of all the children in the pile.  He knew what He was doing the whole time.  He had the perfect child in mind for me from the very beginning.  I was able to simply be still and let His will come to pass.  Now that Sulmi is a bit older, I wrote her a letter recently to share this story with her.  In the letter, I shared Jeremiah 29:11...

"For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD...."

God knew His plans for Sulmi and I.  He perfectly ordained them from the start.  More than that, He always has a plan in any and every situation.  We can rest in that.

For the record, I did not end up sharing Sulmi with my mom.  The second I laid eyes on her, I knew I was going to keep her all to myself. :) 





Big News!

I am posting today to officially share the news that I will soon be traveling Honduras in June to visit my soon-to-be-14-year-old sponsor child, Melania!

I will be leaving for this week-long journey on June 6 with a team of about 15 other sponsors.  On this trip, we will be visiting several child sponsorship centers run by local churches, spending an entire day ministering to our own sponsored children and their families and taking them out for a fun day at a beach, and sharing the gospel with everyone we meet.  I am beyond excited to see what God does in this next chapter of the amazing story He is writing.  I know He has big things in store.

From Here

I have this picture of Lily- an 11 year old girl who is the daughter of a family friend.  In the picture, Lily is standing at the finish line of a relay race; her arms raised in victory.  There are others in the distance.  Just by looking at this picture, there is something you would probably never know.  In this picture, little Lily was fighting cancer.  She passed away just months after it was taken.

I have kept this picture because it brings me peace.  It gives me perspective.  It reminds me of a song I hear often.  The song is called From Here by Big Daddy Weave.  The song is written from the perspective of somebody who has passed away and gone to Heaven.  The line that sticks out to me, and that I always think of when I see this picture of Lily, is this:

“From here, the race has been won

  Love’s already won

  I see clearly, the end and the start”

From the viewpoint of Heaven, the race has been won.  The struggle has ended.  God’s love and mercy have brought you to the finish line and given you victory over your sin and the pain that you once faced on Earth.  Another line of the song was written as though talking to someone who is still on Earth.  Although I don’t think, nor does the bible say, that people can talk to us or see us from Heaven, I do believe that if they could, they would say something very similar to this:

 “I know that your heart would know peace, if you could just see where I am.”

So often when I struggle with things of this world, I tend to think, “If I could just see a glimpse of Heaven, none of this would matter.  I would remember how temporary all of this struggle is and would be reminded of what really matters.”  When I hear this song and think about being in Heaven, I am reminded of the peace and stability that we have in Christ. 

Recently, God spoke something so beautiful to my heart.  As I was thinking of the picture of Lily at the finish line and wishing that I could have that glimpse of Heaven to put things into perspective, God said, “A glimpse of Heaven?  My little lamb, I have given you much more than a glimpse.  Not only did I send My Son down to Earth to show you much more than a glimpse of who I am, and then die to take the punishment for your sins to save you from hell and allow you to be re-born into My family if you so choose…but then, I put My own Spirit inside of you, to continue to teach you about Heaven and speak to you about Me.  I did this to help you to understand My Word when you read and hear it.  I have given you much more than a mere glimpse of Heaven, My child.  It’s not a glimpse that you see with your eyes, but rather, one that you see through the eyes of faith.  Faith is the assurance of things hoped for.  It is the conviction of things not seen.  Hold on to faith with Me as your strength.  Hold on to the various glimpses of Heaven that My Word brings to you, and know peace, My love.”

So now, as I look at Lily standing at that finish line, I will remember to run this race with the finish line in mind- eternity in Heaven.  When I face trials, I will remember, as God has shown me several times lately, to run the race with Heaven as my viewpoint- and let God lead my paths to the Earthly things that He needs of me.  I will also take time aside each day to gain Heavenly perspective in His Word.

 “Let us lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” –Hebrews 12:1

The Loaves and The Fish

Our God is so full of unexpected plans and blessings! 

I recently shared the story of God leading me to sponsor a sweet girl in Honduras named Melania.  I tried to resist and convince God that sponsoring the one child I already had was plenty.  I told Him I wasn’t equipped to do more.  I shared with you how He made room in my heart and got me used to the idea of sponsoring both of those beautiful girls.  Like God has been telling me over and over again and even confirming through others: when you show that you are faithful in the little things, He will assign more to you.  Whether that be blessings, ministry, or anything else…be faithful with the little that you have been given, and it will show that you can be trusted with more.  Not always in your way or your timing, but your dedication will not be ignored.

"He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much." -Luke 16:10

This morning, I logged on to my World Vision child sponsorship account to find a new little face staring back at me!  I literally jumped back from my computer screen when I saw what I thought must be a mistake- knowing that I had only agreed to sponsoring Sulmi and Melania.  My first reaction was that something was wrong and they had assigned a child to the wrong sponsor’s account.  I was about to pick up the phone and call the organization when I noticed the child’s name- Aura Roseli. 

Aura Roseli isn’t just a beautiful name; it is a name I know well.  It is a name mentioned in all of my Sulmi’s letters.  Aura Roseli is my Sulmi’s sister!  Then it hit me- this was the sister who I sent in an inquiry about sponsoring over six months ago when I first found out she existed and never got a reply!  This was the sister who I had to lay in God’s hands and tell Him to do as He wished when I hadn’t received responses from World Vision about sponsoring her.  This was the child who I have been praying for since last summer and longing to actually see- the child who I'd decided probably already had a sponsor- the child who I had come to the conclusion wouldn’t be mine.  But there she was...

This wasn’t a mistake.  She was really mine.  She had really been assigned to my account without my knowledge.  Two weeks ago, I was the sponsor of just one little girl, like the majority of my friends are.  That alone was great and I was perfectly happy with one.  Now, all of a sudden, God had blessed me with the ministry of sponsoring 3 girls- sponsoring 3 girls on a very unpredictable income, having just turned 19!  If God hadn’t just done that work in my heart with Melania two weeks ago, I’m sure that thought would have caused at least minor panic on my part.  After seeing His provision so clearly with Melania though, and after being assigned this child that I had no control over, I couldn’t possibly doubt that He would take care of this, too.  I calmly opened my bank account and re-budgeted my money.  I was amazed to find that I not only had enough to cover all three sponsorships the whole way through the end of the year without cutting anything out of my budget, but also enough extra to send birthday gifts to all 3 girls!  It’s like the loaves and the fish really. In the bible, when there wasn't enough food to go around, Jesus used the five loaves of bread and two fish He was given to work with, and continued to break and multiply it until it fed over 5,000 people with some food left over. Jesus continues to break us, multiply us, and spread us out to more places and people and ministries than we knew we were capable of. Not only that, but like the story in the bible, there is still some left over!  It’s so beautiful! 

I am so amazed at His work that I can’t even entertain the pathetic thoughts that the enemy has tried to put in my head about it- that the money will run out, that people will think I'm crazy (as if everything Jesus ever did wasn’t crazy to those who didn’t understand), that Sulmi won’t feel as special if I sponsor both her and her sister….  As the enemy continues to throw these thoughts my way, I am reminded of Him who led this all to happen.  I am reminded that He is fully capable.  Not only this, but I am reminded that if He has this part of my life so under control, He is equally capable with the rest of it.  I would be a fool to ever worry again after seeing these plans come to pass.

One of my best friends jokingly said to me today, "You always said you wanted to have like...27,000 kids.  I bet you never expected God to do it like this!"  And you know, that is so true.  I remember just a few months ago, God showed me this verse:

"...I am doing something in your days- you would not believe if you were told." -Habakuk 1:5

And He's right.  I couldn't have planned it better myself. 

Walking on Water

I am so in awe of God lately.

Seriously, He is incredible. I'm just the stubborn person who He finally got to pay attention to what He's saying. As I recently heard a preacher say, "You either change before you have to, or you change because you have to." As a Christian, chances are at some point in your life, God is going to lead you somewhere you wouldn't have chosen to go. Maybe it's somewhere that will mess up your idea of a dream life, somewhere that scares you, or somewhere you simply don't feel equipped to be.  Over the past year, God has broken me down and (lovingly) forced me down a path I had no idea I wanted to go on, after months of resisting His calling.  He showed me how true this saying is- you either change before you have to, when He is gently telling you where to go...or you change because you have to, when He, knowing what is best, takes you there anyway. The process can be painful, but the end result is worth every second.

A few weeks ago, a dear friend introduced me to the book Undaunted by Christine Caine. The book is about following God's calling for your life without letting anything hold you back. Where God guides, He provides.  Like it says in Phillipians 1:6, "He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ."

The author of this book, Christine Caine, works to rescue girls and women who are caught in human sex trafficking.  Sex trafficking is when somebody is forced or threatened into prostitution against their will, or when a child under the age of 18 is lured into prostitution, whether willingly or unwillingly.  In the book, Christine talks about one of her first experiences ministering to a young girl who had been rescued from this life.  When she shared the gospel with the girl and told her about the loving God who came to set her free and give her a second chance, the girl's response was something she could never forget.  In anger, this girl looked at her and shouted the words, "If what you are telling me is true....If what you say about your God is true- then where were you? Where have you been? Why didn't you come sooner?" Christine said that those words, "Why didn't you come sooner?", fuel her every day.  And it got me thinking.  What is my excuse?  I know this is happening to girls around the world and even in my own community (yes!).  Now what was I going to do about it?  It was something God had made me painfully aware of. It was something that I knew I couldn't ignore.

About two weeks ago, thanks to a friend and child sponsorship advocate, Kim, I was made aware of a 13 year old girl in Honduras named Melania.  She recently lost her father and is not attending school- taking jewelry making classes at her church instead.  For this reason, she could be at a much higher risk of being lured into "business" schemes that lead to human trafficking, among other dangers.  Upon hearing about Melania, I knew I couldn't ignore her.  My friend was advocating to find someone who would sponsor Melania not only financially, but also through letters of love and encouragement. I began to pray for her and shared her picture on Facebook, hoping to find somebody who would sponsor her.

Every time I stopped to pray for her though, the words "Why didn't you come sooner?" rang in my ears. Every time I thought about her, I had the all too familiar nudge in my soul to do something. At this point, fear began to set in. "God", I reminded Him, "I am already a sponsor, remember? I already have Sulmi (my 4 year old sponsor child in Guatemala).  I want to pour everything I have into Sulmi- my love, my time, the little money You've blessed me with... LORD, I know this sounds ridiculous, but I almost feel like I don't have enough in me to stretch between the both of them.  I like being exclusive to sponsoring Sulmi and loving Guatemala. Isn't that enough?" Yes, I am now aware of how silly that sounds, but it was the honest cry of my heart.  I just honestly doubting I was equipped for this task.

That same day, I came to the part in Undaunted that talked about God calling Moses to speak against the Egyptians, which I had "coincidentally" just read in my bible the night before.  This passage can be found in Exodus 4. Christine talked about how in the story, God called Moses to speak; and Moses kept telling God he wasn't equipped to do so. He told God he didn't speak well enough. As Christine put it, "When Moses finally stopped making excuses and did as God told him to, God paved a way for him: through the middle of the red sea, across the dessert- providing food and water and clothing for forty years- all the way to the entrance of the Promised Land." Where God guides, He provides! The rest of the chapter talked about how most people reading it have been called by God to do something out of their comfort zone. It talked about how people often say "I don't have enough love, enough money, etc." do to what God calls them to do! Sound familiar?

Then I knew. God put Melania on my heart. He had provided everything I needed.  If He was truly leading this, He would fill me with the love and dedication I needed to do it.  There was really no reason for me to say no to this calling. Even after this revelation, it took another day for me to commit. However, on February 13, I couldn't resist the calling any more. With that being said, I would like to introduce you to my sponsor sister, Melania.

My purpose for writing this isn't to show you how great I am.  After all, I basically told the God of the universe that I didn't have enough room in my heart to love an additional person.  Listen, I am writing this to tell you how amazing my God is!  I am writing this to tell you to follow His lead. No matter how painful the road ahead may seem, He is leading you through it in order to bring you to somewhere greater. I am writing this to tell you that where God guides, He most certainly does provide. He calls us to minister to both the spiritual and physical needs of those around us. He doesn't want us to give somebody the chance to ask us, "Why didn't you come sooner?".   This is not a guilt trip and I am most certainly not telling you what to do. Child sponsorship is not for everyone. It may not be for you.  The point is, there is something God is calling you to do that seems too big, too hard, or too painful. There is something on your heart that has been there for way too long. Am I right? There is some sort of need you have been made painfully aware of and cannot ignore any longer.  That is why I am writing this. I want to tell you that on the other side of the fear and pain, there is this amazing place where, like Peter in the bible, you have stepped out of the boat and are walking by faith on the water (Matthew 14). Through this experience, I discovered that when God guides you to that uncomfortable place of walking on the water, His arms will be around you every step of the way- making it not so uncomfortable after all.

And you know what?  God has already multiplied my heart greater than I ever knew possible, and Melania fits just fine.  God had a purpose and a need in mind when He called me to sponsor Melania.  He saw a need in her, maybe even a prayer for help...and when He looked all over the world, He saw me as the one He would use to fill this role; not because of anything I've done on my own, but because of how He's equipped me.  He called me from a whole other country and is using me to fulfill a specific purpose in Melania's life that I may or may not ever know in full.  I can't wait to see what He has in store!