I'm in this for the long haul. If you know me, then this probably (hopefully) isn't a surprise to you.

God has called me to a lifetime of overseas work. He's given me many desires and visions for the future. Current circumstances can seem so big sometimes. I've been on the go for 20 months now. If I'm in this for the long haul, then I'll probably have longer terms than this, but there are certain issues (for example, debt) that once they are cleared up, the focus on the field will be much easier and clearer.

God has given me a heart for several things, and a big vision for the future, which I'll reveal at appropriate times. But He's calling me to big things. I've got a heart for many places. My heart is breaking for more and more things. The world is dying. I can't just sit around and watch it fall to pieces.

There are several obstacles in the way, but this doesn't mean I'm done though. Whatever it takes. Whether God is going to miraculously help me through it, or whether I need to put many hours in a "9-5" job for the time being, I'm willing to do whatever it takes.

If you are a brother or sister in Christ, especially someone I have a closer relationship to and will see in person once I'm back in the US, hold me accountable to this.

It's not an easy journey. Seeing these children in the hospital is not easy. Seeing the children who can't go to school because there's no money for food, let alone school fees, is not easy. Seeing the orphans who have families falling apart because of AIDS is not easy. Hearing the stories of girls who are sold into sex trade never to be heard from again is not easy. Seeing people throw their lives away to drugs and alcohol is not easy. Trying to get out of debt is not easy. Coming from a family that does not have the same spiritual beliefs as I do is not easy. Seeing people I love lose their brother/son in a car accident is not easy. Seeing the boy who has a broken leg because his dad kicked him is not easy.

There is nowhere in the Bible that say this life will be easy. But then again, I shouldn't be living for this life either, should I? These situations are miserable, painful, depressing…but I'm living for so much more. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get back out to the international field. At the same time, for however long I'm in the US…weeks, months, or years….these situations are as real there as they are here. I'm a member of a church body where there will be people that need encouragement. I live in a town where people are seeking the truth about something bigger than themselves. I live in a nation and a world where people need God. I pray I never forget, even for a second, that the issue isn't where I'm living and what I'm doing. Whether it's reaching out to people at Kalafong Hospital in South Africa, or working in Minnesota, I will be surrounded by a dying, hurting, misguided world. Will I be living these days for present circumstances, or for something more? Only time will tell, but I hope and pray that my life will clearly show a focus on something greater than myself, greater than my circumstances, and greater than the state of the world I currently see with my own eyes.