It was about 12 weeks ago now that I first heard about the opportunity.
I
planned on taking a year off from school about this time last year. And
I knew that while I loved Audiology, I wanted to give myself a break
from school before committing to another 4 years of classes, exams and
assignments. I would have been happy doing just about anything during
that year break; nannying, going on a mission trip, traveling, getting a
job in my field, bumming it in College Park pretending I was still a
student. You know, just about anything.
I had applied
for a few jobs related to Audiology at the beginning of the summer, but
hadn't heard back from any of them. Kelli, my roommate at the time, knew
of a friend who was leaving a position in Lutherville, and told me to
apply. So I did, and I got the interview! I went in on a Tuesday for the
interview and I thought it went great. It was only a part time job but
it paid well and it was in my field! I heard back via email on Thursday
that they were no longer going to fill the open position but just spread
the job out among their current employees. I was pretty disappointed,
but at this point I knew that apparently God had something much bigger
and better in store for me. I just had to wait.
Not
even 24 hours later I received a call from Gayla Parker, whom I had
worked Girls Camp under for 6 years. She told me that her best friend
had just finished having lunch with Gary Witherall. He mentioned that
he was looking for a nanny for his 4 children in Germany for the next
year and she wanted to know if she knew of anyone that would be
interested in the position. So she called Gayla and Gayla called me to
see if I was interested. I told her I was and that I would like to know
more information. I found out later that day that they were a missionary
family and that my work over there would involve some ministry as well.
(Perfect!) Gayla sent the Witheralls my information and I was hoping I
would hear from them soon. I spent most of the night praying that God
would open doors that needed to be opened and that he would close them
if this isn't what he wanted me to do. I was really excited I didn't
know much about the opportunity but it seemed absolutely perfect for me.
Helena Witherall (future nanny mom) called me the
next day (during Kelly's Graduation party) and I learned that they were
Missionaries serving through Operation Mobilization in Germany. Gary is
in charge of planning and publicizing an annual conference called
Transform that aims to mobilize Christians around Europe and the
Mediterranean to go on short term mission trips. His job required him to
travel frequently and by having a young lady like myself on the field
with them, it would make his job a lot easier knowing that his wife
wasn't home alone with 4 kids for 12 days out of each month. I also
learned a lot about their history and how Transform came to be. At this
point I was getting so excited for the opportunity. I couldn't wait to
apply! I was told that in order to have a visa for my time there I would
need to take 16 hours of German classes during the week. Helena talked
about how the international students in my German classes would be
like my personal ministry while I am there. Their current nanny.
Katrina, has befriended a few peers in her class and meets up with them
regularly to disciple them. Katrina also traveled with them to
Austria in the fall and went with them to Rome in July. So wait I get
to travel too?! :) During this conversation I also learned that I would
have to raise my own support in order to serve with this family for the
year (at this point I was thinking that I would be there by September 1)
and that I would have to raise somewhere between 25 and 30k dollars in
order to cover all of my expenses over there. That was a shocker, and
slightly intimidating. But I didn't see this as a door closed, just a
new experience and an opportunity to grow in my trust in God to provide
for all of my needs.
That Sunday I went back to
College Park to go to Maranatha, the church I have been attending since
September. I told (my now housemate) Noel that I was going to go up
for Prayer for this opportunity during the service, and she said she
would go with me. We went up together and I was just crying
hysterically (if you know me, you know I don't cry very often so I was
like what the heck is going on) I couldn't say anything. It was
ridiculous. So she explained my situation and as they were praying for
me I realized that the song that was playing was Amazing love. This is
the song that was playing when I made the decision to be saved when I
was 9 years old back at Lake Shore Baptist Church. It was then that I
knew that I was going to Germany. And to further confirm the call, the
sermon that day was on trusting God, and at the end Pastor Ben said
something along the lines of "So are you going to make the jump and
trust that he will catch you or stay here?" And I felt that he was
clearly talking right to me. I guess I'm going to Germany for real.
After
church I called Helena and told her that I was feeling called out to
Germany to be their Nanny. It was then, 12 weeks ago that I started
this process. We soon learned that OM was in transition and that they
would not be accepting any applications until August 1st. So I basically
had a month to wait until I could do anything. And by wait I mean
working 40+ hours a week nannying for the Small family and coaching at
the gym. I was in constant contact with Helena during this time and we
were just waiting for August 1st. The people at OM who would be
processing my application knew that it was kind of a rush and that we
were hoping that I would be on the field by mid-September early October.
I
applied on August 1st (while I was in Myrtle Beach on vacation) and
very long story short, I learned the next day that I needed to apply as a
long-term missionary instead of a short-term one, and the whole process
involving seven two-page essays, many more questions, 4 references, a
background check, a physical, and lots of emails. On top of that my
contact was traveling in Holland for work and so I was not officially
accepted as a missionary through OM until almost three weeks ago (8/22).
Finally! Hooray! My goal now is to leave for Germany on or around
October 7th. Assuming I can raise all of my support by then!
As
of right now I am living with the Veihmeyer family in College Park,
helping with the kiddies, working on support letters, applying to Grad
School and subbing at the Gym occasionally. Kelly just moved into UMD,
so I am sure there will be many lunch dates of me bumming Testudo
waffles and buffalo chicken wraps off of her meal plan, which I know she
is super excited for.
Thanks for reading guys.
If
you want to support me on my trip next year, you could start by
praying. I have a lot of money to raise in not so much time so it is a
little overwhelming. I am currently in the process of sending out
support letters. If you would like to receive one and I haven't asked
you yet, send me your email and I'll send one over to you! I am hoping
to raise monthly support starting in September so if you would Pray and
consider giving up two, or three Starbucks' a month to support my
ministry in Germany I would love you forever.
Helena and Gary have agreed to send a copy of Gary's book "Total
Abandon" to the first 20 people that join my support team!
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Helena and Gary Witherall and their 4 kids, (left to right) Juliette (3), Elsie (1), Carmen (7), Jonas (5)
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