Discernment by Nausea

My mom once said that she generally knew when God was calling her to something when she felt nauseous just thinking about it. It's how she really knew that she was supposed to start a new church. For me, it's how I knew I was supposed to go to Haiti.

Now, don't get me wrong. When I first heard about the possibility of going to Haiti for the summer I was really excited. I had a lot of questions and concerns, but the idea of being abroad and being a healing force for the Haitians was extremely exciting to me.

However, the more I started to seriously think about it, the more nauseous I got and the more times I randomly burst into tears. I was excited, yes, but I was also absolutely terrified. I still am. However, the overly emotional response was a cue. God calls us to the place where our deepest passions meets the world's deepest hunger. It makes absolute sense that for me - that would be Haiti.

I leave for Atlanta to go to training about how to be a global missionary in a week. (I leave on the 23rd of May.) From there, I will go to Haiti on the 28th and be there until July 25th.

It will be a journey. A long one, a hard one, a joyful one, a defining one. I'm not at all ready for it but I don't think anything can quite prepare you for a journey such as the one I am about to embark on. All I can do is trust that God will work with me and through me and that God will grant me little slivers of peace along the way.

Thank you for your prayers, thank you for donations, thank you for your love and support. As of right now, these are specific needs that I hope you can help me with:

1. Prayer! I need all the prayer support I can get. (Amen? Amen!) Here are a few specific things to pray for
a. courage
b. inner strength (so I don't burst into tears at every second of the day... even if I might want to)
c. moments of joy
d. clarity of purpose
e. working through fears - continued aftershocks, being there during hurricane season, enormous spiders, mosquitoes, etc.

2. Financial support - Many of you have already given financially, but I am still $300 away from my goal amount. Please prayerfully consider making a (second) donation. If you and/or your family are willing and able to give (more) to this mission, you can either pass checks along to me this week and I can hand deliver them or you can send them to:

Cayce Stapp
Beyond KC Missions
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood , KS 66224 -3588

Checks should be made out to Church of the Resurrection (or COR) and in the memo please write "Mission Outfitters - Beth Guy."

3. Read this blog while I'm in Haiti! (and comment!) This will help me stay connected to all of you wonderful folks back home. I know it may not seem like much, but I really do enjoy hearing from home as it helps me to feel connected even when I'm abroad.

4. Learn more about COR and what they're doing in Haiti! COR actually has a blog set up for mission teams that go to Haiti and a few folks just got back from Haiti this week so there's already stuff to read. Also, if you continue to read it throughout the summer you never know when I might be mentioned! Haha. Here's the link to that: http://haiti.blogs.cor.org/

Anyway, I will try to update one more time before I head to Atlanta with an explanation of what I'll actually be doing in Haiti and all that jazz for all of you who have not quite heard that explanation yet. Also, I plan to update this as often as possible while I'm in Haiti so check back frequently!

Sending love your way,
Beth