Go Fund Me

I know many people are leery of sending money via paypal to a ministry or even to someone they know. So I have set up a go fund me account. You can donate at: https://www.gofundme.com/raisfaithjourney
As I have said time and time again, I can't go forward without support and I am fully expecting God to give me this money. Be blessed my friends.

Trusting God

Scared...yes, that is exactly what I was tonight as I opened the envelope that had come in the mail. I am moving forward in my call to ministry. I knew, after my dinner with the district superintendent, that this was really real.
However, until I held the envelope from the Office of Ministerial Services (OMS) in my hand, it seemed like a distant dream, a far-fetched goal to be called into ministry by the creator of the universe. However, holding that envelope, seeing my name and address on the envelope and reading the monetary cost that is needed to get me through the candidacy process, I am feeling more and more overwhelmed.
At this point, I am needing little more than $450 and honestly, if you know me, I am like many people getting started in ministry, I am broke. I hate begging for money, so as I stared at the envelope sitting on my lap, I laid it on the coffee table, laid my hands on the papers, and said "God, if this is where you want me and I am doing your will the I need you to provide the means for me to continue from this point on."
And that is what I am doing. I did set up my paypal.me account today and you are certainly allowed to use that if you want to donate to my ministry and help me reach my full potential to the Glory of God. I can tell you that 100% of whatever is donated will be used to get me through the candidacy process and then whatever is left over will be donated to my church and our various charities in the UMC.
www.paypal.me/RachelAnders if you want to donate.

I'll Say Yes!

I have spent lots of time in prayer about this announcement. Mainly because I want everyone who is special to me to know what exactly is going on in my life. I know many people will not accept it; because they either one know me, how I was raised and many will think that this is just a phase. However, I will tell you that I have fought this for over a year now and I am honestly answering the call of God and where He is leading me. I did not wake up at 3am, have a craving for fried chicken and discern that as a calling from the Lord to ministry.

A year ago, I was approached by my minister and asked if I felt the calling of God on my life to do something more than just sit in church on Sundays. We spent a few Sunday school hours speaking about what I felt like God was calling me to do. I explained to him that I did feel the call to minister, but I wasn’t sure what that ministry would look like, and I certainly wasn’t sure if it was to preach. During the time that we were speaking about this, I was really unhappy in the school district and after I got my job at Lowe’s I put ministry on the back burner. I still did things for my church, of course. I even drove the church bus to the Ordination service.

After the ordination service, I again, began feeling a lot of uneasiness about my job at Lowe’s. I was happy, but not content. Immediately I started praying “God, are you calling me again?” “Why can’t I just be happy at Lowe’s?” and answers started coming. “This isn’t where you are supposed to be.” I sat down and read Paul’s words “To live is Christ, to die is gain.” Over and over and over these words would course through my mind. Then one morning I woke up and I said “Okay, God, to live is Christ and to die is gain!” That Sunday, I told my pastor, “We need to talk.”
I met with my minister the following Thursday. I was terrified. I was walking into the parsonage office as an inquiring candidate to become a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There is NOTHING in this world more intimidating as knowing that the creator of this world is calling you to minister HIS gospel.  And while it is intimidating, it’s incredibly humbling that God will use someone so insignificant to tell others about His love.

I walked out of my minister’s office with a copy of the historic questions, a 2012 Book of Discipline and more questions than answers. I came home, sat down and wrote to my district superintendent. I was again terrified. I knew that I was being called, and I knew my next steps would be to meet with the DS and find out if he also felt that I was being called. On Thursday, September 7^th, I met with the DS and I told him verbally my statement of call, the fact that I had been raised in church, professed my faith at 9 years old as a Christian; was picked on in youth group as the weakest link, very nearly gave up on God and my faith. The fact that I always felt like a black sheep because my faith wasn’t in plastic preachers and a fake gospel of prosperity. The fact that I had endured being asked to leave a rather large local congregation after I did everything to keep peace and felt the sting of undeserved church discipline. Instead of judging me, the DS looked at me and said “Rachel, why do you want to be a minister? Why now?” I looked at him and said “Dr. Arrington, I believe that all I have been through is a testament to the work of God and that somewhere in my story, others can pull encouragement for their own journey.” The next question he asked was “How does Methodist theology differ from what you learned as a child or even in the churches that you attended as an adult or even at Liberty University?” I told him, “We as Methodist, actually try to live out our faith daily.”

I walked away from that meeting knowing I was doing exactly what God was calling me to do. The meeting set my mind at ease to be able to say “Yes! I am being called to pastoral ministry!” I am excited, I am scared, but most of all I am humbled to know that I am finally walking according to God’s plan in my life.

The next few months of my life aren’t going to be easy and I get that. I have one weekend retreat, several mandatory meetings with a mentor, a psychological evaluation and a meeting with my church’s Pastor/Parish Relations Committee and a meeting with the Charge Conference; as well as a meeting with the District Committee on Ordained Ministry to become certified as a Candidate.

What I need from my friends and family is prayer and support. I will be updating my blog the1witness.blogspot.com as I journey through this time in my life. You can share the posts if you like; and of course, you can always contact me for information about my journey if you want to know more.

For those that want to support my ministry or help offset some of the cost of my retreats and psychological testing, you can donate by using
Paypal: randers@att.net

Be Careful what you post

Brothers and Sisters, Please watch what you post on Facebook. We are all guilty of posting things that don't bring glory to God. Today as I was looking through different timelines of friends and reading the news, I came across this post.

This post offended me. Not because I am fan of the Obamas, because I am not a fan, rather I was offended because 1) as a Christian I should never want to see anyone die for anything and 2) as a Christian we shouldn't post this stuff that stirs up strife. The other thing that bothered me was the post that was posted just a MINUTE prior to posting this about the Obamas. The first post was: 

Friends, please be aware of what you are posting online; it could be a stumbling block for someone, or it could be the weight that tips a persons decision for Christ or against Christ. 

cards I made Nautical Theme

Do you have a sailor in your family? What about someone that just loves the beach? Set of 6 hand made cards for sale for the low price of $10. 

Broken...yet close...

My beloved SOUTH is enduring loads of pain currently. We have rallies being put on to save our confederate monuments and then we have rallies that say they are to save our monuments and are being used to spread "White Supremacy" propaganda. We also have companies paying actors to go to rallies and incite violence. It's just not a good time in my homeland. However, I can say this with all honesty, those who are willing to sit down and talk and sit and listen to the others can find common ground.

All people in America are tired of being mistreated and misunderstood; we have stopped being a nation that is united to being a nation that is out of control and all about "ME." Our nation is spiritually broken. There was a time when I didn't realize that my heritage was hurtful to others; but heritage is exactly what I have. There was a time when HISTORY was fun to learn and enjoy whether or not I liked what happened. There was a time in our nation, when people of all races could come together and spend time with one another. But I fear my friends that this time has come to an end...an untimely end.

So what is the answer? Jesus is our only answer. You see when we are broken, not just has a nation, but as a person, David reminds us in the Psalm that the Lord is closest to the brokenhearted. It is in our moments of brokenness that we can see God clearer. Yet in our brokenness we also feel farther away from God. In our brokenness we oft times seem to forget to look for God. However, it is in these moments of brokenness that we can see God a bit clearer and the way to him a lot more clearer.

I want to encourage my friends and family as they read this post to draw near to God in these moments. To draw near to God asking that he reveal solutions and not adding to the problem by joining sides. Be the bridge for others to communicate and above all love.

Love Doesn't Always Support

Earlier this week I posted a story about a woman who was trans gendered and had a baby. I noted that no matter what this woman thought of herself, she was still a woman and not a man. Many of my friends got upset and tried to sway my thoughts on the matter. However, instead of swaying me, I stood my ground. Why? Because Proverbs tells us that "Faithful are the wounds of a friend..." So what does that mean? Does it mean that we always sit by and support our friends or does it mean that we stand up and actually say something?

To me, I'd rather wound my friends by telling them the truth. I'd rather them know where I stand, and either respect me for it or not. How can we show someone we love them if we aren't willing to show them the wrong? As Christians we are called to tell our friends and family when they are in sin. We are not to sit idly by and let them continue in sin.

Let me ask you something. What if your loved one died today and you never told them the truth about their sin and where they would end up because of it? What if you got a chance to visit them and you met them in their torment of hell and they said "Why didn't you ever tell me this was where I would end up?" How exactly would you feel?

Personally, I have many friends who are in the LGBTQA community. However, I love them enough to say "Hey, what you are choosing is wrong!" It doesn't mean that I don't love them. It doesn't mean I don't care. On the contrary, it means I love them enough to be hated by them and risk losing their friendship to say these things. And I know that someday when I stand before a Holy God, and He looks at me and says "Did you truly love your friends in the LGBTQA community?" I will be able to say "Yes, Lord, I did." Can you?