FAQ

When do you leave? My flight takes off May 15^th. I’ll leave from Memphis, go through Atlanta, then NYC and finally off to Ghana!

How long are you staying? When I moved to Memphis, I came committed to a new ministry, but did not know how long I would last in a big city far from home. Twelve years later, my heart is breaking during the process of leaving such a wonderful place. I am going into this ministry with the same mindset. I am excited to join God’s work in Ghana. I will stay there until He leads me elsewhere through circumstances or changed passions.

Will you have electricity and running water?  Praise the Lord - YES!

Who is going with you? … It’s just me and God! I have an incredible support system of friends and ministry partners here in the US. Steve Bullard, Courtney Bullard and Jeff Woodard are working 24/7 to get this project off the ground. Likewise, I am partnering with a church in Ghana that has the same, if not more intense, willingness to work for the Lord with all their heart mind and strength. I am surrounded by wonderful people on both sides of the ocean, I just happen to be the only one crossing it.

 How can I help? Help is needed in any and every way right now. Here are a few examples:

1. Pray - Pray for the girls. Pray for me. Pray for funding. Pray for all the people working together to make this happen, that the Lord will keep us united for His purposes.

2. Share - Share this blog, our facebook page, our website, our campaigns and above all, God's story. Share it with your friends and family. Share it on facebook, your blog, your twitter or a billboard! 

3. Give - 

50 for 50 - An opportunity for youth groups to raise $1000 or more to fund our startup costs. 

House to Home - This campaign just kicked off and there's plenty left on our registry available for purchase. 

Ministry partners - We are always on the lookout for churches and individuals that want to partner with this ministry by lending your passions, finances or presence. 

You can find all kinds of info on our website at www.thepearlhouse.org.

Thanks for the questions and thanks for caring! 

Letting Go

This weekend I had a moving sale. The doors were opened to the city and price tags were put on pretty much everything in the house. This process surfaced a surprising array of emotions - greed, joy, panic, and thankfully freedom. By God's good grace the feeling of freedom won out over the others. I have never been more free to travel. If you subtract the stuff that will be babysat by dear friends and family, my belongings currently fit in one room.

I spent the day releasing things precious to me.  Through this process I realized that my sentimental attachments were mine and mine alone. For instance, as a woman was purchasing a dress, I said "That's from Liberia!" with excitement, to which she replied, "Is it still $1?"  I said good-bye to the red jacket that the buyer clearly did not know how to wear. The Pier One salt and pepper shakers that I waited to find on clearance for months were gone in the blink of an eye. The stories of letting go filled my day, each a bit easier than the previous. 

But Wanda was the story of the day, the story I'll remember forever. 

Twelve years ago a friend of mine died as a result of a skiing accident. This was my first time to experience loss like that and it was a difficult journey for me personally. At the time I was given a stuffed bear praying on his knees and it has always been special to me relative to that loss.  After some debate I decided it was time to let go of the bear, and I put him up for sale this weekend. A lady named Wanda picked him up with some other things from the sale. As she was paying for her purchases she asked about where I was going, and what I was going to be doing. I told her all about the Pearl House. Once I finished, she picked up the bear, gave him back to me and asked me to give him to one of the girls that we will be helping. She then proceeded to get out the rest of her cash ($115) and hand it to me. With a hug and a "God bless you" she walked out of the house. 

Thank you, God, for using that moving sale day to set me free from my stuff and for using Wanda to remind me that I will never out-give you!

Room at the Red Roof Inn

One of the questions I am most often asked is "where will you be staying"?

While visiting Ghana in January we looked at a few different rental properties. It was a unanimous decision to choose this property just up the road (couple hundred yards?) from where the Pearl House will be built. There is a concrete wall surrounding 3 houses that have 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms each. We plan to rent 2 or 3 of the houses, meaning that we have a capacity of 8 girls until our permanent facility is built. Thankfully, we will also have access to running water and electricity.

This is the front of one of the houses. The open area on the right is the living room area. The barred window to the left is the front bedroom and bathroom. Down the hallway is another bathroom, bedroom and kitchen area. Hopefully construction has continued since we left. If so, they should be all finished up by the time I arrive in May.

It is exciting to look at this picture and dream about the healing and restoration God will bring about in the lives of young Ghanaian women in this place. May it be so in Jesus Name!

I Surrender All

I need you.

I surrender.

These words have been the first to go through my head upon waking each morning the past few weeks. Not because I am just that holy, but because I am just that desperate. I am painfully aware that I have no control over anything. If I make a plan, it is guaranteed to change. Most of the familiar will be fading away over the next few weeks – the house I come home to, the “stuff” that makes this house a home, the car I drive, the people I see regularly.

I’m caught somewhere between yesterday and tomorrow with very few certainties. The people in my daily life have a lot of questions. The answer to most of these is “I don’t know.” I find a small bit of sinister joy when others experience frustration over this … welcome to my world.

Today is where God has me, and today is always the best place to be. I am confident that the job ahead is more challenging than I can imagine. I am also confident that through desperate need and through surrender, I will find and experience God in ways I never even imagined before.

And my prayer is that some young teenage girls in Ghana will experience the same.

Life in General

The last few months have been quite the whirlwind. They have been full of holiday celebrations, a survey trip to Ghana, finishing up work at a church I dearly love and making preparations to move to another country!

The quick overview is that my time working at White Station in an official capacity is finished. I will always love this church and hope to continue calling it family for a long time to come.  This last week was full of generous expressions of love and kindness from the oldest to the youngest. At the end of this road I find myself overwhelmed with gratitude – to this church family and to God. What a blessing to share life with these believers here in Memphis.

I plan to spend most of March and April in Memphis or Maryville … with a little bit of Florida thrown in for good measure. My time will be filled with all the necessary preparations, Pearl House work and hopefully some rest. Sometime in mid-May I plan to hop on a plane and make my way to Ghana.Things are moving at a rapid pace with the Pearl House, so I hope to share some of those details as they come along. 

May the One who does immeasurably more than I can imagine be the one to make this dream a reality.

How I Got to This Point

Lord willing, I will be moving to Ghana in the spring of 2013 to start a ministry to teenage girls. Unfortunately this also means that I will be leaving a church family that I dearly cherish. Memphis has been a wonderful home to me and I will always cherish this place. It breaks my heart to leave so many people that I love.

However, God has worked powerfully to lead me this decision. The way was never laid out all at once, but He has faithfully revealed the path turn by turn. He has shown great kindness in making the choice very clear. There has been no throwing out of a fleece required to come to this conclusion. I created this blog for those of you who want to have a better understanding of how I arrived at this decision. The entries prior to this include prayers I have written over the past few years and emails to a few trusted friends asking for prayers and wisdom. This decision was made in community and led by the Spirit in ways clearer than I have ever experienced before.

My purpose is to share with you the process that I went through to land here. Thoughts and ideas change over time in a process, so please give me grace along the way as great ideas and terrible ideas are all shared. 

I hope what you read will 

create an avenue of understanding, 

be a testimony of God's Faithfulness, 

and inspire your belief in the power of prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit.

Confirmation Abounds

An Email Dated August 10, 2012

God continues to do amazing work in this journey! I got to see the Oklahoma group in Winneba while both of our mission teams were in Ghana. It was like a scene from a movie. As the White Station team finished up our work with a soccer tournament in Kweikrom, a truck arrived to pick me up and take me to Winneba where the rest of the Oklahoma team was having Sunday night worship services. I arrived as they were finishing up the closing song and prayer. Everyone filed out of the church and went over to a field ... for the dedication of the land that the Pearl House will be built on!!! I kind of freaked out and got really excited all at the same time. Steve, the youth minister from Oklahoma, was one of the last ones to come out of the building. He gave me a big hug and started filling me in on the plans they are dreaming up. He pointed one direction and I saw a line of palm trees with the ocean just beyond. It is 2 or 3 miles away and there's a great breeze coming off the ocean. I knew we would be close to the ocean, but that is still an exciting fact nonetheless. Next we turned to our right a little bit and he said "and here's a mountain." That is the moment when I knew. I got chills all up and down my arms. You see, while this mountain isn't quite the Smoky mountains, and definitely not the Rockies, it is still a mountain. Mountains remind me of Knoxville where I grew up. When I think of mountains I think of home. I feel a sense of security, familiarity and assurance of God's power. What a gift. ... We were on the property together for less than an hour. There was a prayer of dedication for the land, a groundbreaking ceremony and we had a few discussions here and there about where the house should sit, etc. All of this was super exciting and overwhelming. I was not expecting to step into such a ceremonial event, but it was such a great blessing to be there. 

A view of the coastline from the property where the Pearl House will be built.

When the time came to leave Ghana I was sad once again, but felt a bit more peace that I will be back sometime soon. We got home on a Monday evening and I spent that week starting to process all that happened during my time in Winneba. It was then that I realized the people in Oklahoma are for real about all of this. They are raising money, there's a logo, there's magazine articles, there's pictures on facebook - it is all very concrete for them. Which is super exciting, but also a little weird for me over here by myself. True to form, I am doing a lot of internal processing and am getting to talk about it some trusted friends, but I still felt a little anxious about all of it for a couple of days. Well ... on Friday of that week I got a text from Courtney in Oklahoma that said, "I'm in town! Let's hang out!" We met at Starbucks that night for the very first time. It was super fun and exciting to see that she's a real person and that God is at work in both of our lives! I felt completely at peace after spending an hour or two with Courtney and some of her friends. God is faithfully laying this out for us step by step, no need to start freaking out now! 

Courtney and I meeting for the first time at Starbucks.

About a week and a half after coffee with Courtney I was at camp with our students when God reminded me yet again that He is still in this thing. My precious intern Laura Jean came up to me on Wednesday morning at camp and said "The Lord has given me a vision for you." I said, "Alright, let's hear it." She said "I see a white door with some black stuff on it, it's not demons or evil, it's like a fog. The Lord wants you to know that the fog is lifting and clarity is coming and a big change is coming your way." !!!!!!!!!!!!!! How cool is that!?!? It's funny, I wasn't even surprised when she said that. It just added more peace in my heart and furthered my confidence that the Lord is all over this. 

A tiny tidbit to add to the continued craziness --  Courtney's birthday is August 3rd and mine is August 7th. We were both given almost identical silver necklaces with pearls on them for our birthdays. 

So where do things stand now? Next Thursday, August 16th, I am going to Oklahoma to spend some time planning and praying with Courtney, Steve and others who are involved in the dream of The Pearl House. So far this thing has been happening TO us, which is awesome. We are going to try to get ahead of the game a little bit and make some plans. All the while praying for God to be as in the middle of it all as He has from the beginning. 

Prayer Requests: 

1. For our weekend of planning to go well. For the Lord to lay things out for us. For Him to remind us of what we are forgetting. To give us eyes to see potential difficulties and how we can plan ahead for them. 

2. Pray for me to continue to be in a place where I am seeing and hearing the Lord regularly. He has been so faithful, I want to be the same. 

The Door Swings Wide Open

An Email Dated May 19, 2012

I haven’t had much to share since last August. Through the fall months I pursued several options related to Ghana, but each of them fell through after a little exploration. After a few months of that I decided to just settle into enjoying my current job and let Africa happen when it happens. Then comes March!

I think this story is best told through my prayer journal …

journal entry tuesday, march 13, 2012

“Question of the week: Is wanting to go to Ghana, rather than another African country, selfish? Am I “called” to Africa or to Ghana? Is going to Ghana just what I want to do? And is that bad?

journal entry thursday, march 22, 2012

“As time marches on and summer approaches I so badly want to be intentional in my walk with you and in making an Africa plan. So far my take on it this year has been very peaceful. I enjoy my job, I would like to go to Africa, but I would like it to be of you and not my manipulation.

On Monday night I showed up as usual at REP (tutoring program for African refugees). There was a youth group there hanging out. When I walked up Mr. Jules said, “Hey, this guy goes to Ghana.” So I started talking with Steve Bullard – a youth pastor in Oklahoma. He told me his wife just got home from a survey trip to Ghana. She wants to start an organization that ministers to teenage girls that are on the streets and prostitutes in Accra. They have a 24-year-old girl from their church that wants to go over there for a year. As he talked I kept asking more and more questions, my jaw dropping and heart leaping the whole time. Is this the one? Is this my chance? Oh Father, this sounds so perfect. Ministering to teenage girls in Accra. This whole journey started as a passion for Africa – thoughts were on adoption, nonprofit and on moving there. I finally settled on the idea of moving there. Then it was Liberia or Zambia – but my heart was still not feeling right with it. Ghana, teenagers and females is where my heart has recently come to rest. I still remember the faces of those women at the vocational center we visited years ago in Accra. I’ve been concerned at my heart’s narrowing of purpose, feeling like I was being selfish in telling you what I want to do. But now I wonder if it was your wonderful work of preparation.”

It took me a week to even be able to verbalize this story to anyone other than the Lord. I slowly started to tell a few of you eventually, but it has still taken me some time to get to the point of telling this story. I think it’s because I felt like God and I had an amazing secret and I didn’t want to mess it up by talking about it. I don’t know what is going to happen, but I feel like that conversation was a gift from Him, affirmation that He sees me and He hears me.

God’s faithfulness continues to be displayed as I have talked with Steve’s wife, named COURTNEY several times. Just so you can see a little piece of her side of the story, she got home from her first trip to Ghana on a Friday in March feeling very overwhelmed. The location she thought would be ideal for this ministry turned out to not feel like the right place. She still wanted to make this dream come true but was struggling with how to make it happen, how to get it going, how were they going to find an American to be on the ground permanently. I met Steve THREE days later on Monday. Did I mention that Courtney is 33,and they have a daughter named Francesca? … I’m 33 and my middle name is Frances. I’m not trying to get all superstitious here, but there’s no denying that the Lord is in the middle of all this.

Courtney and I have continued to talk and plan. The name for this ministry to teenage girls is the Pearl House. There’s a Ghanaian man that Courtney and Steve’s church works with named Bishop Odai. He is a man of God that has been praying for a ministry like this to be started by someone. It turns out that his church ministry happens to have some land in Winneba that He is willing to offer for the Pearl House. Winneba is about 30 to 45 minutes away from the Village of Hope. That’s right, it could very well be that the Pearl House ends up located just down the road from the place I know best in Ghana. The place that people I know visit several times a year. The place that has a great medical clinic. The place where I already have friends, support and wise counsel. …. Oh my, our God is good at what He does!!!!

By God's grace, it turns out that Steve’s mission team will be in Ghana at the same time I am there with our group in June. They will be visiting Winneba one day while we are there, so I am hoping to join their group that afternoon to meet Bishop Odai and some other Oklahomans that are interested in getting this work up and going.

I am very at peace about all of this. I don’t feel the need to try to figure it out. I don’t feel anxious. A tiny part of me is scared because I think this time it might really happen. A larger part of me is really excited because I think this time it might really happen.

Prayer Requests:

*Please pray that it will work out for me to go to Winneba when the Oklahoma team is there.

*Pray that the Lord will continue to give me peace in the process and the faith to go where He leads.

*Pray that the fundraising aspects will come together in a way that’s better than I could ever imagine.

When I look back over the notes I have sent asking for prayer I can see how God is clearly answering prayers. I pray that He is dreaming up good works for each of us to live out each and every day. 

A Chapter Closes

March 31, 2011

I got back from Zambia Tuesday afternoon and am trying to catch up on life, work and everything else. I'm jet-lagged enough that I haven't done any serious "what now" thinking yet. I look forward to telling stories at some point. Until then I'll leave you with the journal entry I wrote on my last flight - from Atlanta to Memphis.

"As reentry rapidly approaches my mind is filled with a variety of thoughts, mostly centered around praise to your glorious Name. It is by your grace that I have made it through every step of this journey. There were 8 flight segments in all - all of which worked out beyond seamlessly. There was always food to eat and water to drink. You provided friends and guides through uncharted territories for me. I witnessed your glory through the mountains of CO, through the canyons and parks out west, through the people of Zambia, through Victoria Falls, and countless sunrises and sunsets. You have been evident and near each and every day. I see your faithfulness O God, I see it.

I do not feel like I have all the answers, maybe not even any answers. But I do feel very reassured of your faithfulness, very grounded in who you are, and am rejoicing in your truth."

May 22, 2011

It's hard to believe I've been home from Zambia for two months. If this decision were the proverbial fence I have been on all sides of it, including crawling in a hole and hiding from it. Some weeks I have felt like I'm moving, no question about it. Other weeks I have wondered why on earth I would consider giving up the comforts and community that I have here in Memphis. Is this a work God is really calling me to?

So of course, I have created logical steps to follow in order to make this decision, in hopes that God will slowly get my heart to a place of accepting whatever the decision ends up being. I've been seeking wisdom from trusted friends as the chance comes along, taking time to reflect/journal/read with this decision in mind once a week, put some hard questions out to the Zambian mission leaders and got no red flags in response, met with other supporters of the work and have started a budget plan.

I had hoped to make a decision before the summer got going. However, I think that's going to be way too stressful. I'm going to give it time and see where God takes my heart. I think the busy nature of the summer may be good for this process in a way.

Whenever you think about it, I'd love for you to pray for these things specifically:

*for me to be fully present in youth ministry this summer

*for God to lead my heart to a peaceful resolution on Zambia over the next few months (ie. a burning passion I can't forget or a giant red flag that says don't go)

August 18, 2011

As I look back at what I wrote at the end of May I can see God's work in answering prayers.

Whenever you think about it, I'd love for you to pray for these things specifically:

*for me to be fully present in youth ministry this summer

*for God to lead my heart to a peaceful resolution on Zambia over the next few months (ie. a burning passion I can't forget or a giant red flag that says don't go)

It was a great WSYG summer for me. I feel more connected to a variety of kids than I have in several years. I'm even getting to know the jr high kids better and that's been really fun. So I definitely feel like I was and am fully present in the youth ministry. 

I think I have a peaceful resolution on Zambia. I'm not ready to completely shut the door because it's my only option, but that's the only reason I'm still considering it. I of course loved my time in Ghana this June and realized how much I love that country after being in Zambia. There is just an incredible spirit about the people of Ghana - even the strangers you meet. I feel so much more peaceful when I think about going to Ghana, I think it's because I already know people there and feel like I would at least have a small network of friends. 

The whole financial aspect is becoming a little more real and scary to me in this economy. I know God's economy is bigger than mine, but not many churches are getting new missionaries right now. 

I'm growing weary of hearing myself think and talk about this and am ready to do something. Just don't know what that is.

So in review ... I like my current ministry. I still long for Africa and feel like that is what God has prepared me for. I would like to go to Ghana, but have nowhere to go work. 

I think I would like you to pray specifically that God would prepare a place for me in Ghana. 

November 17th, 2011

As for Africa, I am waiting and watching. I would love to know what’s going to happen but I am at peace with waiting you out. Lay it out before me when it is time.

Email to a few friends dated January 2011

They say life is a journey. That is most assuredly what I feel like I’ve been on for the past few years.  When I started visiting the Village of Hope I remember thinking, “I love this place, but I could never live here.” Over time my love for that place has grown deeper and deeper. But a year and a half ago my love started growing wider as well.

After my trip to Ghana in 2009, I was an emotional wreck. I could not stop thinking about a homeless orphaned baby that I had never even met. My heart was breaking for that child and I was ready to take go back and get him. I even went so far as to email adoption agencies in Ghana to see what the options were. After that situation worked out through many prayers (the grandparents showed up to care for the child) I was left with a lot of emotions to sort out. After 3 or 4 months I finally landed with the following conclusions in conversations with God (from my prayer journal): 1. You want me to be passionately praying for the people of Africa. Period. That’s it. Be a righteous woman fighting on behalf of these children.  2. Maybe you are preparing me to move to Africa in 10 or 20 years.  3. You are preparing my heart for international adoption. 4. Maybe you are preparing me to do some non-profit work raising sponsorships and awareness here in the U.S.

These options were enough to settle my mind in patient prayer. My interactions with friends in Ghana increased a lot over that year as Facebook and phone communications became more readily available. Since that time I think it is fair to say that a day has not passed where I did not think about, pray for or communicate with one of my Ghanaian friends.

Now back to that love that is growing deep and wide … My heart has been expanding to have concern for people all over the continent, not just the ones that I know. It seems like resources, organizations, blogs and books about Africa are finding me regularly. I have spent many hours thinking about effective ministry and missionary theology. What is best for the native people there? What good could I do that a native African could not do? Is it better to adopt or to move there? What about my family and friends here? What can a single female do as a missionary? What church would support me? What if I can’t handle it? Most of those questions remain unanswered. What I do know is that these thoughts and questions are not going to go away. I never imagined myself doing anything other than youth ministry, so I believe it is the heart of God leading me down this path. I remember when I was on the forever-long search for a youth ministry position my peace was in the knowledge that when I delight in God, He will give me passions and a way to use them. It feels like the same thing is happening. I desperately want to find my delight in God and it feels like He is moving my passions to mission work. 

The next step on this journey is just around the corner. I am planning to go to Zambia in March. My purpose is to visit a missionary couple there that is interested in having some additional help. They are currently working with a Bible college and want some help in getting some humanitarian programs off the ground. My passion lies in orphan care of some form. So, my goal is to go there, see the work being done, and find out if there is work for me to do there. I have no idea what will come of it, but feel confident that this is a good next step.

I need your prayers. This is something I desperately want and deeply fear all at the same time. Perhaps this journey will lead me to living in Africa or perhaps it will lead me right back to youth ministry. What I do know is that this journey makes me feel alive in Christ and very dependent on his grace each day. I want to be a part of carrying His Name to the ends of the earth.