Laura Meyers Training Future Tribal Missionaries Canada January 2012 Partnership Development Class
Just finishing up my last couple of appointments here in Canada! Headed home tomorrow after almost a month away. It’s been a great week here meeting one-on-one with students and staff to train them on using the many media tools available for effective communication with partners!
Merry Christmas from My Home to Yours!
It can be such a challenge to figure out how to sum up a year in a single page…I think I’d have to call this a year of adjustments. Not that adjustments are necessarily a bad thing! The past year has been one of some health challenges, some family excitement, and a morphing job description. Overall, I look back over the last year and marvel at the grace of God. Life can be such a challenge, (and it usually is), but my God is a faithful God Who is always there every step of the way. He is a God of hope, and since He is always with me I am never without hope. Through the joys and pains, laughter and tears, I am never hopeless. This Christmas and coming year my prayer for you is that you may experience this God of hope in a fresh, new way. Merry Christmas!
Christmas Newsletter
If you did not receive a paper copy of my Christmas newsletter, or are looking for another, CLICK HERE to open a PDF version of it.
Life Outside the Bubble
We jokingly refer to life here at the school as our bubble…we live, work, and eat at the same place, and sometimes it feels like we live in a bubble. It’s always an exciting thing when we are able to find life outside the bubble!
2011 has brought some exciting developments for my life outside the bubble, especially through my church. Late last year through a series of “God circumstances” I ended up helping write lessons for a curriculum series that was in development at the church. That blossomed into further writing opportunities as well as some chances to do large group speaking. I got the chance in March to be part of a Passover experience speaking team that presented to several hundred women over two days. During the summer and on into the fall I’ve been part of a team writing a small group curriculum called Faith Foundations; our church is using the books for people interested in Christianity or those early in their faith. For the first book in the series one of the chapters I wrote was the one presenting the Gospel. The first weekend in December I got to hear testimony from three people who have accepted Christ as Savior through this series, and I’ve heard of more since. About 50 people took the first section of the series, and they start book two in January. 
I got to write three chapters for book two, including the one on Grace. I spend so much of my ministry life on the discipleship side of the Great Commission that I’ve often struggled with finding my place in the evangelism side. Through this project, I feel like I’m finally finding where the gifts God has given me fit in the big picture of evangelism. I must say, I felt like a proud mamma listening to these new believers give testimony of their faith. I’ve also made some great new friendships through this journey, and it’s been an incredible blessing.
This year my small group girls that I’ve been with for three years are in their finally elementary year. I can’t believe they’re fifth grade already! It’s a bittersweet feeling as I look at how much they’ve grown in their faith these last years. It’s such a privilege to be a part of it. Pray for wisdom as I consider what God would have me to do with this area next year.
Health Corner
After last year’s diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue, this year has been one of figuring out my limits and how to best manage life. I had a bout in late spring with a recurring infection, and ended up fighting a kidney infection all through June. July was busy with the wedding, and then August was straight into school year preparations. September is always insanely busy with the new semester, and by the end of the month I realized how much we needed to make some changes to keep me functioning normally.
I’m continually grateful for the wonderful doctors I have here. I was able to go to the different specialists and explain the problems I was having with the current treatments and they were more than willing to work with me to find a new plan that works. The past couple months have been ones of trial and error as we figure out what gives me the best results with the fewest side effects, but I’m greatly encouraged with where things are now. I’m enjoying energy levels that I haven’t had for the last year, and I’m finally settling into what my limits are and finding ways to work within them.
As always, God has been faithful through it all. I’m so glad He is a God that can handle our ups and downs, that He’s big enough to handle our anger, questions, and fears, ever willing to just hold us until we are spent and ready to let Him work. It’s been amazing to see how God is able to use what I’ve dealt with physically to encourage others who are just starting the process. I know God has a plan even if I never see it, but it’s such a privilege to get a little glimpse into the fact that part of why I go through these things is to be able to more effectively help others.
Joy and Tears, Adjustments and Change
Me (maid of honor), Nathan, LaShani, and best man Asa at the wedding
In case you haven’t heard, a big event in our family was the engagement and subsequent wedding of my brother Nathan to my new sister-in-law LaShani. It’s amazing how something like a wedding can bring intense joy and tears at the same time! I’m so happy for them though. They are now living in an apartment a couple blocks from the school, so I get to see them regularly. LaShani is working on finishing her degree here at New Tribes, and Nathan is working full-time at Cousins’ Subs and also working his way into a youth pastorate at a local church. It’s been such a welcome change to have family around again! It does mean adjustments for all of us though, both for the three of us in Wisconsin and for my parents who now have no kids close by; we all covet your prayers.
We’ve gone through some restructuring of jobs over the past year at the school, and my exact job description has been fluxing with the changes. At present, I’m working a few hours a week as receptionist, and spending the rest of my time serving as Administrative Assistant to the school’s leadership, handling school promotions and media, helping fellow missionaries with support raising / communications / media, and traveling occasionally with our mission’s Development Team to do media and communications training for our missionaries and candidates. Our next trip is coming up soon, headed to Ontario for a week in January . It’s a job description that gives me quite a bit of variety in my life…it’s never dull! I really do enjoy it though, and it’s amazing to see how God is bringing together different skills and experience I have to allow me to minister effectively.
I’m still plugging away at my Master’s degree, and I’m really hoping that in the next year I’ll make some more marked progress on it!
Technology Comes in Waves
I’m happy to tell you that a lot of the media and contact materials for New Tribes have gotten a major face lift over the past few months! We have an all new www.ntbi.org for the Bible Schools, and the new www.ntm.org just rolled out on March 28th. You may have noticed that this also means my ministry blog has a new look…ta dah! I’m so thankful for all the talented folks that are on staff at our NTM USA home office that have made this happen. I’ve had the privilege of being involved in a small part of the process, and am working on an ongoing basis to help keep all the information up-to-date on the school site and Facebook. We also have a host of new designs that have been released for prayer cards, portfolios, email templates, etc. This has kept me pretty busy getting new photos done, writing content, and getting the staff in Waukesha up to speed. Please pray for clarity for me as I communicate all these changes to people and help my fellow missionaries implement them. Change is never easy for anyone, and I’m trying to make the process as painless as possible!
Expanding Ministry Opportunities
This month especially has seen me very busy in both my school ministry and my church ministry. The beginning of March I had the opportunity to attend Awana Summit, the annual national event held in the Chicago area for more than 1,000 high school students to compete in AwanaGames, Bible Quizzing, Volleyball, and Fine Arts. It is a four day event, and two of those days include a college fair. We had a steady stream of students coming by our table the entire time. It was really encouraging to talk to these Bible focused and missions minded students, and I look forward to seeing some of them come through NTBI these next couple of years!
In my Christmas letter, I mentioned that I was doing some writing for our women’s Bible study curriculum at church. That work has continued into the new year, and I must say I was getting pretty weary of staring at my computer screen! I felt rather like an expectant mother as the volume that I had labored so hard to help produce finally went to press! It has been wonderful to get involved in this process, and to see the light bulbs come on even for long-time believers as we examine Scripture in chronological order…really focusing on the story that God orchestrated in His pursuit of relationship of man. I must say, I have never gone at it quite in this way, not ever jumping ahead in the story, but camping on what God is revealing about Himself step by step. There have been some wonderful “ah, ha!” moments for me personally this year, but I will save that for another post! The writing opportunities have also developed into some speaking opportunities as we took the women into a Passover experience. It was an incredible time to examine the beautiful pictures of Christ that God placed in this ceremony that has been observed for thousands of years. Please be in prayer with me as I consider the options for my involvement with women’s ministry at church this next year. I’ve been leading a small group this past year, but God may be directing into more of a large group teaching setting…I just need to be sure I don’t over extend myself!
Family Excitement!
These past couple of months have been SO incredibly busy that I don’t even know where to start! I guess the biggest news is family related…for those of you that haven’t heard, my brother Nathan is getting married! On July 16th he will be marrying LaShani Rios, a wonderful girl he met when he was at school out here at NTBI. They were just friends when they were both here, but last year reconnected via Facebook, Skype, phone calls, and cross-country visits (she is from Washington state and Nathan is in school in Pennsylvania). Oh, the wonders of technology! My parents and I are very excited about it all, and I’m looking forward to having them out here this next year as LaShani finishes classes. Please be in prayer for them as well as the rest of us in the craziness of planning a cross-country wedding and in getting them settled in Wisconsin.
Christmas 2010
If you didn’t receive a paper copy of my annual Christmas letter, a digital copy is available. Click here to view it! If you would like to receive email copies of my updates, please use the form on the right to sign up.
