Onward Mission (Pastor's Monthly Article - September 2017)
With September before us, and at least on certain latitudes of the world, this is the official month of fall. If you’re reading this after September 3, this servant has landed on Swedish soil in a region close to the border of Norway. Few places are as mesmerizing this time of the year. The end of summer presents fewer days of sunshine along with the beginning of the trees’ impressive display of leaves changing its colors.
The times of the seasons, each different from the other, can be an exciting journey. Seeing them come and go in and around the world shows that there is no shortness of God’s beautiful creation! No wonder nature is a blessed theatrical experience, a gift which gives us a sense of awe.
The summer has given me an amazing time to reflect upon all the events leading up to this point. Receiving the invitation to travel across the world; meeting with people from a world much different than ours; learning their path, customs, and traditions; providing pastoral care as needed when and where the opportunity is given; learning new venues of ministry through which vision and mission can be accomplished – this is all a blessing indeed! Truly, I consider this opportunity a gift of the greatest honor, one that I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life. From the Diocese, its Bishop, and Dean of the region I’ll be serving, my heart overflows with exuberant joy!
Having said this; my prayerful hope is to return spiritually recharged, and with gears ready to be focused on what God is going to do next. I will long to share my experiences with you, though with God, everything is possible. Rest assured, God will be there, long before our hopes and dreams take shape. So great is our God, who welcomes us to be part of an everlasting adventure, and life as we’ve ever known it to be will never be the same. One’s perspective will change, simply because one’s circumstance has automatically changed with God’s holy and free Spirit. The Lord our God, offers peace and love in a world stricken by turmoil, with, in, and through Him alone we are safe and driven to promote love. Thus the will of a loving God who will see us through wherever we’ll be.
In closing, what God has in store for me on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean I can only imagine. I do trust it’s going to be an exciting chapter ahead! New venues presented with possibilities for mission to be accomplished, not only in Northern Europe, but also here in the U.S., and in the world at large. After all, when God is in charge – expect results!
Please pray for me, as I keep you close in my prayers,
Pastor Anette
