Guest post by Briana
A friend of ours who is a missionary in Thailand (check out her blog) jokingly called her support raising efforts the 'Traveling Circus'. We have entered into that realm traveling just about every weekend somewhere new. It is so funny when we are back home on Monday and Elijah is asking me, 'Mommy, where can we go this Friday?'. God definitely gave us two of the best travelling kids, because that's just a glimpse of how awesome He is. He doesn't just prepare us, He has prepared them as well. What a blessing! But, really, it has been an enormous blessing for us to meet our Brother's and Sister's in Christ from all over and watch their passion for college ministry be transformed in their own churches. We can be fooled into thinking that we go and prepare to speak and share our vision for Pennsylvania campus ministry and pray for financial support.... but God is using His message in many ways for HIS Glory! We are thankful to be a part of that. In all honesty, there are times this process seems long and daunting. But when we step back and look at the timeline falling behind us, there has been such spiritual growth in our lives, it is nothing short of God's hand leading and guiding our path and equipping us for what is ahead. A wonderful quote I ran across recently, Jim Elliot said: “Missionaries are very human folks just doing what they’re asked. Simply a bunch of nobodies trying to exalt Somebody.” It is so true. We are not special. We are following God's plan for our lives and we were not fully ready before He called us. He is molding us, He is shaping us, He is preparing us. Please do not be disheartened at the pace of that little ticker on the front page. We are READY to be in Clarion, but it will be so much better when GOD is ready for us. Back in June, I had been praying very specifically for peace over when we would be moving to Clarion. I was asking God to please tell me if we were doing something wrong or if we needed to be more obedient with our time or efforts and just begging Him to teach me whatever it was I was missing.... June 29 during my quiet time, He answered me in a very powerful way with this scripture: "..repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem...But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high." Luke 24:47-49 Now, I know this is actually referring to the First time the Holy Spirit would descend on God's people... but that morning I knew God was answering me. Not with a date, not with a vision of what we needed to DO more of. He just isn't finished yet. He is clothing us for this ministry, He is clothing you for this ministry, He is clothing Clarion for what He will do there on the campus, in the community, and in the lives of individuals. You can rest assured that by the time you see us packing up our moving truck for Clarion, God will have broken us and pieced us back together more times than you can count. He might be holding us here by way of finances, but the work He is doing in the meantime is priceless. Please join us as we continue to pray that God would fulfill our financial needs by the end of October. His word tells us to come to Him and ask boldly. We are praying for miracles. We are praying for God to move in a way that there is no mistake that we did NOTHING, but HE did EVERYTHING to get us there!! But, we are fully aware that HIS time is better than our time. If we do not ask, we will not receive. Only He knows how He will answer.... it is only our job to do the asking. September - October Update: We have been blessed to meet our brother's and sister's at Pleasant Hill Baptist, Bethlehem Baptist, and Thanksgiving Baptist over the past month. We are thankful for those who were willing to share on our behalf and get us to those places. We are mostly grateful to God for decreasing ourselves, increasing Himself and allowing Scott to share the vision the Lord placed on his heart. Also, this month has brought a lot of sickness to our home. I have been sick since the last week of Sept and it has now progressed into Pneumonia. I am able to rest and Scott and the kids are such a wonderful help. Please pray for full recovery as I really want to do more than I am capable of at this time. Pray that distractions away from the Lord's work will be minimal. I am encouraged that usually when BIG things are getting ready to happen, life here in the battlefield seems to go haywire. Please pray this for us as we pray it for each of you! "And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light" Col 1:9-12 Grace & Peace to you all! Briana Underhill
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