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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