Out of my Comfort Zone!

Recently, my siblings and I went camping. Not with tents or sleeping bags; real camping. We had one blanket a piece, a sweatshirt to stay warm, and our duffel bags for pillows. As you can tell from the pictures, I am SO not a camping type of girl! The top picture is of our camp. I will admit, it was a pretty good shelter. The next picture is of me and Jen putting up the bathroom. It turned out really nice. The next picture is of us four kids posing by a log we all helped chop in half. We didn't actually use it for firewood, we just wanted to chop it up to say we did. And, the last picture just proves my point that I am not a camping girl. It was taken at around 5:30AM so give me the benefit of the doubt! (Did I mention I'm not a morning person either?) We all had a good time and the trip made me see that I can survive less than desirable conditions. Not that I like it. PNG will be a much bigger challenge than this trip, so I would like you to be praying that I will be able to get in shape before the trip, and not gripe about the conditions. Thanks!

Changed

I've been thinking about alot of stuff concerning missions lately. I came across a movie from New Tribes Mission called "Changed". It really made me think. It's about a guy who went to NTM's Interface program and was totally changed. He said something that made me think: "It's not about what I want to be, it's about what I'm willing to become". That really struck a cord with me. Anyway... about Interface. It's a 6 week program in the highlands of PNG. It immerses you into tribal missions in the midst of tribes in PNG. In the mornings, classes are done focusing on evangelism and other things. Afternoons are spent in the local village practicing language and other stuff. So, it sounds really cool. I''m praying seriously about going with NTM instead of TETM this next year. It costs about the same.
Prayer Requests:
*Please pray that I will know what to do, in what direction to move, and what steps to take in reaching my goal.

*Please pray that I will keep trusting the Lord with my life. If it starts getting down to crunch time, I so often lose my focus. I don't want that to happen with this trip.

Thanks for praying for me. May the Lord be glorified through my life!

Specific Prayer Requests

Well, I guess it's about time to post a new post. I have really been thinking about my future as a fulltime missionary nurse. The Lord has really been showing me that my heart's desire is to be a foreign missionary.... not necessarily to get a Bachelor's in nursing before I get to the field.
I'm really confused about my future right now. I'm fast approaching graduation from high school and don't really know what I'm gonna do after that. I know what I want to do, I'm just not sure if my plans line up with God's plans for me.*sigh*
The PNG trip is looking more and more real all the time. God keeps providing the funds. It's cool 'cause I haven't asked for a cent ( except to the Lord). Now, I'm asking that whoever reads this prayer for the following things concerning my PNG trip:

*The most pressing thing is that I will remain totally focused on Christ. That if or when things start getting down to crunch time, I will remember all the times God has been so faithful to provide for this trip.


*If another female student doesn't go on this trip, I will not be able to go. I really feel that the Lord has His hands on this trip, so I'm not that worried about this request....yet.

*The funds keep rolling in for this trip. Praise God!!!! (That's not a request but a praise).

A cool quote from Jim Elliot

I came across this quote in my literature book and just had to write it on here. It describes my heart's desire. The quote came Shadow of the Almighty: The Life and Testament of Jim Elliot. Here it is:
"You wonder why people choose fields away from the States when young people at home are drifting because no one wants to take time to listen to their problems. I'll tell you why I left. Because those Stateside young people have every opportunity to study, hear, and understand the Word of God in their own language, and these Indians have no opportunity whatsoever. I have had to make a cross of two logs, and lie down on it, to show the Indians what it means to crucify a man. When there is that much ignorance over here and so much knowedge and opportunity over there, I have no question in my mind why God sent me here. Those whimpering Stateside young people will wake up on the Day of Judgment condemned to worse fates then these demonfearing Indians, because having a Bible, they were bored with it- while these never heard of such a thing as writing."
Wow! What a statement! The man who said this was martyred along with four other men in Ecuador. He sacrificed his life for the sake of the Gospel. I wonder, am I willing to give my "precious" life for Jesus Christ?
I want to go to the unreached peoples of the world. I want to introduce them to my Lord. Romans 15:20-21 describes my desire. It says "And so I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man't foundation, but as it is written: To whom He was not announced they shall see; And those who have not heard shall understand." So many people die every day without ever hearing the saving name of Jesus. In America, we use His name as a cuss word. Sometimes, I feel almost guilty to live in the USA where I have total access to God's Word. Why wasn't I born in the remote jungles of the Congo or on a mountaintop village in Papua New Guinea where there is no knowledge of Jesus? It boggles my mind sometimes. I am so thankful for my salvation. I can hardly wait to look some native in the eye and tell them in their language about my Jesus. What a glorious day that will be!

Well, this is me and my best friend Gretchen. I suppose I should tell a little bit about myself and the main purpose for this blog. When I was little,like 5 or 6, I wanted to be a ballerina. When I found out I would never be able to do that, I turned my career interest towards being a missionary nurse. Ever since then, whenever I'd hear about other countries, my ears always perked up. In October 2002, a missionary family came to my church from Papua New Guinea. They have 4 boys whom I got to know really well. They told me to come to PNG and they would translate for me and we'd have a really good time. I was only 10 at the time so I thought that sounded like alot of fun. About a month after they left, on November 7, I got saved. Since then, I started focusing mainly on getting to PNG. People teased me that it was just for those boys, but it wasn't and God knew that. In 2005, I asked a couple from my church to get in contact with this family about getting me language materials for the trade language in PNG, tok pisin. THey were very happy to send me a little travel dictionary and over the next 2 years sent me a bigger dictionary, a newspaper and pidgin, and various language materials. I also got a Pidgin Bible which is one of the best presents I've ever received up to this point. In 2006, the missionary family came to our house again. God "called" our family to the missionfield. We thought we were going to PNG or Mexico, but God's ways are not are ways:) We started teaching some Mexicans down the road english via the Gospel. So that is our "mission field" for the time being. Anyway, a couple from my church started supporting me a little bit of money each month for what I call a "PNG Fund". I am now up to a little over $3,000 in support. I'm looking to go on a trip to PNG in 2009 with To Every Tribe Ministries. I've been seeking the Lord's will for a long time concerning this trip. If He wills, I will be going. So many people have supported me by giving money and by praying for me. I have such a wonderful church family. Please continue to pray for me. I will try to keep this updated!

Abigail

New Blog

Hey!
My name is Abigail Margaret. I am 16 years old. This blog is dedicated to my steps towards a missions trip to Papua New Guinea in February 2009. The Lord has been so faithful in providing for me in tons of ways. I will try to keep this updated.