Since March of 2007, I have served as the assistant to the director of Harvesters International Missions.  During this time, I have seen the Lord reinforce my vision for missions through working with and for the nationals Harvesters represents globally.

 In the fall of 2008 I traveled out of the country for the first time since mid-January of 2007 – this was the longest time I had been in the country for many years. During that home time I had the privilege of writing grant applications and preparing short-term missionaries for the work that the Lord called them to.

 It is wonderful to see how the Lord has added ministry partners over the past four years and to see how the hearts of donors are being touched by the different doors God has opened.  I am looking forward to focusing my energies on the ministries in Asia as the Lord gave me a heart for that part of the world when I served in Cambodia for three years.

Now that I am healed from surgery, I am back into the full swing of things and settling into serving Him from here at home.  Each day is another opportunity to bring glory to Him through writing thank you notes, contacting donors, sending forms to mission team participants or writing grants to assist in funding the work overseas.  It has been wonderful to be growing with the work of Harvesters and to be a part of God’s plan for the ministry.

Testimony

 I was raised an only child in Massachusetts.  As with most only children I was extremely spoiled not only by my parents but also by my grandparents and aunt.  My parents did not attend church – my father was an excommunicated Catholic and my mother is an agnostic, but they did make sure that I attended Sunday School, more for some free time for them than the need for a “Christian” education.  I spent 12 years in a Unitarian Sunday School where the most valuable education I received came from visiting many other churches and studying many other religions.

 The first time I heard the Gospel message was during a visit to a Baptist Church with the Sunday School group.  One of my friends from High School attended that church and when I shared an interest she invited me to a Billy Graham rally that was being held in Boston.  That was in 1964 and it was the first time that I had confronted the hard issues of being a sinner, accepting Christ as  Deity and not a man, admitting that I was helpless in controlling my own life and that I needed a Lord and Savior. 

After going forward to accept Christ in a flood of tears, I felt immediate freedom and a desire to share with others.  Cursing was common in my household and that was completely gone.  My parents, however, did not share my zeal and forbid me to continue my friendship with the girl who had invited me.  They did not want any “Holy Rollers” in their household.

 Although the scriptures had started to have meaning to me, with no discipleship and being stuck in the Unitarian church, my zeal started to dwindle and I was washed in a sea of confusion – I needed proof of who Christ was.  I went off to college and began to party and drink. I suffered from loneliness which led me to an unequally yoked marriage and a dabbling in cults.

I was being tossed in the waves and had no direction.  But the Lord is faithful and He never leaves us nor forsakes us – He let me seek Him even though He was there all the time.

During my senior year of college I had a burden to help poor people and was accepted by the Peace Corp to head up their nutrition program in Monrovia, Liberia, Africa.  Everything was a mess – my tickets were incorrectly routed, by then I was teaching continuing education at the University and had to give my class finals, the tickets were mailed incorrectly – the problems go on and on.  Twenty-five years later I finally made it to Africa – the Lord had obviously intervened previously and knew that humanitarian efforts without a hope in Christ were useless.

My roots in Christ were weak and it wasn’t until the mid 1990’s that I really consider myself to be saved.  Prior to that I was willing to have a Savior, but I never really accepted Christ as Lord of my life and really never accepted His power of forgiveness.  From that point forward things moved rapidly – I took a church missions’ class, volunteered with mission organizations, took a Moody mission’s certification program, pursued mission organizations and finally became a full-time missionary in 2002.

 The two biggest lessons I have to share with others is that the Christian wall is not a destination but an ongoing journey – this is where my life verse comes from: Phil 3:14.

Secondly, it doesn’t matter what your past is like – no one from my High School would ever believe I was a missionary, and probably least of all me, but He can use anyone who makes themselves available.  II Cor. 5:17 –“I am a new creature.”