HELLO FROM MONTANA!

WOW! Thank you to all for your prayers and support in the ministry which God has called me to here at MBI! I know this is exactly where God has called me to be.  It’s been a life transition and hasn’t been easy, but it is incredible to be a part of what God is doing throughout the world. Thank you for being a part of my team and God’s team as we help frontline missionaries and volunteers carry out what God has called them to do around the globe. I want to share with you all about what has been happening here at MBI and how your prayers and support continue to make things happen! Without you, this would not be possible.

What role do I play here at MBI? I am one of MBI’s volunteer development staff. I help recruit volunteers by getting the word out through social media outlets, processing  new applications of interested volunteers, and answering phones and emails to place them around the world in frontline missions locations. I am also the “face” of MBI, being the first person people see when they enter the office.

MBI recruits skilled, willing and able volunteers to help with missions opportunities around the globe. We believe God invites us to participate in his kingdom work. What is in your hand? Where in the world is God calling you? When can you GO?! All you need is the ability to just show up. Everyone has different gifts and can serve in a variety of ways. Ministries around the world who are daily preaching, teaching and running ministries often need help with practical, hands-on services and projects like hospitality, childcare, office work, program development and construction. Volunteers through MBI come alongside to meet the needs of each ministry, giving the full-time missionaries more opportunity to remain fully engaged in their daily roles as leaders, teachers and disciples.

MBI currently places over 600 volunteers a year to serve more than 120 YWAM mission works located around the world – and that’s just a little bit of it! YWAM has over 1200 operating locations in need of hands-on help!

God has been so great already in 2013. January was full of training here at the Mission Builders International office, as we have three new staff including myself. We are all learning and cross training in all different areas, and it’s incredible to see the works God is doing through us. Already this year we have placed over 30 individual volunteers around the globe as well as a few teams.

It’s been fascinating learning about all the different ministries around the world and seeing everything that God is up to! One ministry has really captured my heart! As a hunter, I have dreamed of some type of ministry that would involve hunting. God opened that door here at MBI and showed me a ministry in South Africa called HUNT SA. It’s a ministry focused on getting Christian sportmans from around the globe to be involved in frontline missions in a creative way. You can go safari hunting in South Africa and all the money goes to surrounding villages and the meat provides food for 2500+ orphans daily. Going on a hunt, you also get the opportunity to go work in these villages for a week or more and see what you are helping with. Check it out at www.Huntsa.com.   

Besides God moving overseas, he is also moving abundantly here in the Flathead Valley of Montana. Never a day goes by that I don’t get the chance to impact somebody’s life. I have been intentional about getting out and meeting people outside of YWAM and getting involved in different ways in the community.

To add to all the excitement, my dream of doing School of Biblical Studies (SBS) is also coming true. As Mission Builder staff, we have decided to do a field-based SBS, studying the Bible inductively to learn more so we are able to give more to what God has called us to do here at MBI. So Wednesday afternoons, you can find us in the classroom studying!

In January, I got a roommate, Jasmine who is 27 and who is also new on staff at MBI. She previously was on staff at YWAM Maui for 8 years. It’s been quite an adjustment from warm weather to cold weather!

Also in January, my Great Aunt Carol passed away, so I went to Spokane for the funeral. It was a nice surprise to finally get to meet my little niece, Alice, my cousin Marcy’s baby girl. Pictures on Facebook just weren’t enough!

My dad also came to visit me for a long weekend. I got to show him what YWAM and Mission Builders International is all about, what my role in ministry is, and everything that I am involved in here. It was a blessing having him here and getting to show him what my life is all about.

I also joined the local fire department here and will start FireFighter  1 on March 1! So you can find me at the fire department on Friday nights and all day Saturdays for 8 weeks!  I have been training with them since November! I see this as another way of pursing my dream, but also a ministry in itself. What better way to minister to people, but out on the frontlines of being first responders to house fires, car accidents and whatever the incident might be!

As I look to the future, there is so much God is going to do! I am just so excited to see everything unfold! I am in need of raising more monthly support, as it is costing more to live here than I had expected. Will you be in prayer with me as I pray and look for more partnership in ministry?

I am praying for you all! May God pour out his blessings abundantly on your lives!

Thank you for being a part of my life and partnership in ministry!

Love you All! Please come visit here whenever!! 

<3 Rachel