I’m so very grateful for each of you! It has been an amazing school year. God has done so much and I’m grateful each of you have been apart of it. I’m excited for what is ahead this summer and the school year to come.
This month has had so many happy tears. Elizabeth and I have been doing ministry together here in Arkansas since the very beginning. Seven years ago we came to UCA to do the Chi Alpha internship and still going strong. We were both ordained this month. It was so sweet to take this next step in ministry with her. Pictured here are the two ordained ministers who prayed over me at the ordination ceremony.
Our New Mexico Team is so excited! We are taking a team of 15 and will be gone for two weeks. We are working with a new Chi Alpha plant there and helping them get ready to be on campus in August. Please keep our team in your prayers we will be gone from June 5th to June 18th. If you would like to help our team get there financially we still need people to partner with us. We are so close to being fully funded.
The link below is a way you can give to the team. Just add Project New Mexico to the Memo.
https://clearwater-4a9a9.web.app/give/uca
This time of the year is also sad when I have to watch some of my girls I have been walking with for years graduate and “leave home”. I have one graduating this year and I want you to hear her story and heart as she graduates from UCA.
“I was one way and now I am completely different and the thing that happened in between was Him.” - Mary from the Chosen. The Lord did the work; Chi Alpha pointed me to Him. I didn’t come into Chi Alpha as a freshmen but when I did get involved, it wasn’t a moment too late. The lessons I’ve learned during my time stand on three main pillars: Worship, Family, Mission.
WORSHIP. How sweet it is to worship the Creator of all things. Chi Alpha has created a place for people to worship the Lord freely, but how frequently I have been reminded that worship doesn’t end in the sanctuary. Everything we do, in service, out of service, in the mundane, should be an act of worship to the Lord. We are LIVING sacrifices, and we are called to worship Him with our entire being. Worship is so much more than singing a song, or raising my hands in a service. It is complete surrender to the Lord. How sweet it is to know the One who wants all of me.
FAMILY. I come from a broken family in the natural world, so I convinced myself that I was content with being alone if it meant I didn’t have to face the broken. I carried this into my relationship with the Lord. I remember countless nights I spent on my bedroom floor crying out to the Lord, begging Him to want me. I had no idea that I didn’t have to beg Him to want me; I only had to receive that He already did. Alyssa so beautifully, and graciously showed me that family doesn’t have to mean broken. My family started with her, and she cultivated that until it grew into a house full. I realized that if these people wanted and valued me, how much more does the Lord, who created me, want me and value me.
MISSION. This ministry has taught me so much about discipleship, and how much Alyssa has reminded me that I am a disciple. This means I am on mission everywhere I go. Before coming to Chi Alpha this felt like a burden, or an obligation I had to fulfill to hold up my end of the deal, which means I felt ashamed when I failed to hold up my end of the deal. While it is a command to go out and make disciples, (Matthew 28:19, 20) it is also such a sweet gift the Father has given His children. The kingdom of heaven is like this: A Father took His children on a walk through the forest. Along the way they met a young boy who was only skin and bones, begging for food. “What do we do?” The children asked their father. “We will feed him.” He responded as he lead them to grab the food from their bags He prepared the night before. As each of them handed the beggar all they had they couldn’t help but proclaim how their dad had made the most delicious bread the world could ever taste, and He wanted the young boy to have it. After each child had shared, the Father knelt down to the young boy, and said “Come, I have much work to do and I want you to be apart of it.” When the children came across the next person in need the young boy looked at the Father with wondering eyes. The Father smiled and nodded which sent the young boy running to help.
Now I’m preparing to be an elementary teacher come August but I’m not leaving the lessons I’ve learned behind. What Chi Alpha has taught me about I will carry into my classroom. I will not only carry into my classroom but I will carry it into my colleagues classroom, into our staff lounge, into the hallways of the school. I will carry it everywhere with me because that’s who I am: a living sacrifice, a daughter, and a disciple. - Felicia
Thank you for all your love and support!!
Until next month
Alyssa
Comments