Obey - Africa!?!?

With deciding on my word for 2014 (obey), I knew one of the first things I needed to do was decide where I was going to go on a mission trip this year. In 2012, I went on my first mission trip to Romania; to say that it had an incredible impact on my life would be a vast understatement. I knew when I returned that a mission trip was going to be a regular occurrence, Lord willing, for the rest of my life. Yet, with my work travel schedule, accumulating vacation time, and doctoral studies work, I also knew that it would most likely be an every other year occurrence for the time being. Well, mt 'even' year is here, and was reminded that, it's not whether or not we're called to go...we're all commanded to go...it's a matter of praying through where and when (and then committing to go). I've been off and on thinking and praying about where to go this year since before our Westside Around the World in October where we share all of the coming year's trips. After going back and forth with a few of the options, I finally rested on the decision that I really knew all along...perhaps just didn't want to obey and take the leap of faith. So...this June I will be traveling to Benin, West Africa!

Why Benin? 

Well, there are a few reasons, and I'm sure additional purposes that are yet to be discovered. First, my first recollection of missions is sitting on my grandma's living room floor while she was visiting with the Hoyt family (John, Glo, & Deb), who served as missionaries in Zimbabwe for many years. Since then, I have always wanted to visit Africa...no better reason than Kingdom work! Next, the missionary connections through Westside have visited a couple of times; their stories always move me and inspire me to go...as well as the stories of others who have gone with Westside teams. Finally, the dates work...the only Westside trip that dates did not conflict with something already on my calendar; this may seem a bit simple, but I prayed as I prepared for the decision that whatever trip I am to go on would fit into my crazy summer work travel schedule. All that I can say at the moment is that this is a leap of faith...for His provision and preparation that I know has already begun.

Want to stay in the loop, or support me? 
There are a couple of ways to do so...
1) Prayer - It's the foundation of every mission trip at Westside. While I will probably make a couple of Africa related posts on here along the way, I will also be sending out specific emails for how folks can be praying for our team as we prepare and go. You can leave a comment below, or send me a message to let me know you'd like to be added to my prayer team.
2) Financial - Every little bit helps! This particular trip is at the top of our mission trip cost spectrum, as we will have a medical focus and take a good bit of medicines with us to hold daily clinics in the villages. If you'd like to support me in this way, you can make a check out to Westside Baptist Church with Trip #8102 in the Memo line. Here's how you address the envelope to make sure it goes toward my trip:
Westside Baptist Church
Missions Department
Natalie Coers #8102
10,000 W. Newberry Road
Gainesville, FL 32606

Thanks for considering supporting me in prayer and/or finances! 

I am so excited to see what God has planned through this journey...perhaps not so excited about the couple of vaccinations I need to get in the coming months. :)

Developing Strengths (in times of 'weakness')

First, a little background: StrengthsFinder 2.0 is an assessment tool I have utilized or participated in for probably 7-8 years. It identifies your top five "signature themes" that, with intentional effort, skill development, and knowledge acquisition, develop into personal areas of strength (the ability to consistently deliver a positive outcome to a context with the applied talent/skills/knowledge). It has been proven to be a reliable and valid instrument of assessment, and millions have taken this assessment from the Gallup organization.

Ok, now that you have the context (in case you were not familiar with this tool), on to my aha moment of the week. I get the opportunity to teach Strengths each Spring with my CALS Leadership Institute students; this semester is no exception. However, this month I also am in the midst of teaching a Strengths & Spiritual Gifts course at Westside (my church). Each time I teach or do an exercise with Strengths, I typically gain a new nugget of insight to one of my own top five signature themes. This particular combination of teaching this time around brought about an aha moment regarding my "Learner" Signature Theme...perhaps you can connect with it also (even if Learner is not in your top five).

The "Learner" Signature Theme manifests itself for me in its emphasis on the process of learning. I won't get in to how my other thematic areas overlap with this theme, but in general a "learner" is indifferent to the content and more interested in the general process of going from ignorance to competence with whatever topic is at hand. It can be a short assignment or a longer, in-depth project; as long as I am allowed the space to learn and process through the information I am a happy camper. Just be careful to specify how much you want to know if you ask about a topic I've been reading up on :). This is one of the reasons I enjoy higher education, and probably why I have always enjoyed school (especially when given the freedom re: learning process).

Yet, despite knowing and understanding this about myself in the context of educational opportunities and information, I never applied this to my own personal development. I often get frustrated with myself because I (unrealistically) would like to do things "once and for all"...completing a task or coming to a realization and ideally never having to re-learn a lessen. I fully understood that I typically have to re-learn content as a refresher for teaching due to the constant flow of new information we have today; but have failed to appreciate that fact in the personal context. How easily we forget the lessens He has taught us over time...

So, as I was thinking through my top five this week, I came to the question of why am I fighting my learner/process-orientation in my personal development? Just like there is only One who is perfect, there is only a sole instance of 'once and for all'...the decision to follow Christ and accept His gift of salvation through His death, burial, and resurrection. Beyond that, He has our backs. Even when we fall back into temptation, He is there waiting for us to call upon His name. Even when we forget the Source of our success, He is waiting for us to return to Him in humble thanksgiving. And, with One perfect Savior and one decision, that means everything else is a process.

So, why fight it?...Embrace it. Every opportunity, every minute of every day, is part of a process of  learning and growing closer to Him. That process may (ok...it will) have high points, slow points, perhaps unexpected turns, etc. But, that's life...a journey, a process, a slow & steady or fast & furious adventure of learning His plan for each of our lives. For me, this means maximizing my "Learner" strength to approach each day with an open mind and heart, anticipating what He wants to teach me and where He wants to guide me. And, applying my 'learner' tendencies to the Word...what better book to dive in to for consistently new insight!?!? Easy? No...but we are not called to a life of luxury. We are called to be ambassadors of Christ!

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

"So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:a The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

So, what are your top five? How are you intentionally applying them to your personal growth? Interested, but not sure where to start? Let me know...and we'll get you going!