Saturday, May 17, 2008

From a Sprinkle to a Storm

Read the most recent BMM Advance and you'll see why my brain started storming.

I was trying to "brainstorm" some topics for Jr. Camps that Jim and I will be speaking at this summer. 3 to be exact, which we're really, very, a lot excited about. But there seemed to be more of a light sprinkling of ideas instead of storming. I was becoming a little worried. Our outlines are due to the coordinator of the camp week, like, soon.

I have always known my tendency to need an idea to just come to me, even if it seems to arrive at the last minute causing me to rush around excitedly like a (pardon the overused idiom) chicken with it's head cut off. I have always known that I function a little better and a little more creatively if I procrastinate, waiting for the just right idea to come to mind. Well, it has. I announce my Idea. My storm.

MK's. Missionary Kids. To encourage those MK's on the field by encouraging non MK's to pray for and/or start a relationship with them via email, send them gifs or cards on their birthdays and create lifelong frienships. PenPals. There are numerous benefits to this idea and tons of reasons why I think it rocks. But, I won't bore you with the details.

Here's how it came to me. (Other than by the Holy Spirit, that is.)

Jim and I were in the car, traveling 9 hours to a meeting in Michigan. He brought BMM's most recent issue of the Advance which was geared toward the MK. It was a very candid description of MK life and gave me insight to what our kids may someday experience...not to mention, what we'll go through to some degree as well. We read the story of Mr. Shaw and his experiences as a MK (be careful, it's a tear-jerker) and read testimonies of how God used the MK's situations to make them who they are today. I basically read the whole issue aloud to Jim.

Then, I reclined my seat and readied myself for the nap of my life. Reading in the car used to make me feel like throwing up, now it just makes me REALLY sleepy. During my 2-3 hour nap (Jim's estimate, I don't really remember how long it was), my imagination took flight and I was visualizing all of what we read about in the publication, otherwise known as dreaming. I was deep in sleep and when I woke up, I was thinking about the life of MK's and about what we can do to encourage them. Then, it hit me (and no, I don't think God showed me in a dream, per se).

"Jim!" I sat up straight. "We can tell MK's stories! One per session. You know, instead of a Missionary Story...an experience of an MK, something more relateable for kids. Then we can make it REAL to them and challenge them to pray for and even write to the MK's that they know. Maybe we could supply a list of kids, with parent's permission, of course, who the campers can develop relationships with. And that might even spark an interest in missions for them...more than what we could do...and then...and then..." My idea grew and I realized that the storm had indeed come.

I called my friend Nancy at the mission and we teamed our ideas together and, with her brilliance and my enthusiasm, we agreed that including MK's from local churches that the campers might already know would be even better. I have a lot of research and work and emailing to do. But, now I have a goal, a reason to work, and a direction to go. I love brainstorms!

Do you know an MK? Encourage him/her with letters, care packages, etc. Let the impact start with you and it will spread. That's one of the awesome things about this idea...that we have an audience of hundreds of kids and we get to encourage them to reach out to MK's and it can only grow from there! How OVERLY excited I am! Pray for us, that we would be able to communicate clearly, that we would find the right format to present this message and that God would get all the glory!

Seriously, you should read this issue if you want to catch this wave of excitement. Scroll back to the top of this post and click. Easy as pie. Well, the frozen pie you get from the grocery store that's pre-made. That kind of pie. That kind of easy. Click it. Read it. Be inspired.

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