Melody's Goodbye Note

I'm taking off for Southeast Asia!

Dear Friends and Readers, 

It is December 15 and it looks like my daily Morning Sonshine posts are about to come to an end, at least for now! Chelsey may continue to post here and there, but since I'm going overseas, I will not have e-mail access as much. So I simply cannot keep the blog going on a daily basis.  I return the end of January, so my hope is that come February I will start posting a "devotional thought" once a week….rather than once a day! ;-) 

I made the challenge to myself at the beginning of the year to post daily, but obviously I've had so much going on that I haven't been able to manage. Praise the Lord for Chelsey! ;-) She's added a different flavor and some great insights. 

Please pray for me while I'm overseas. I've pushed myself over the limit so am currently struggling with a bad head-cold which I'm hoping will not worsen during the next 24 hours of travel. Bangladesh has had some political struggles and uprisings this fall, so it's not as safe to travel here as in times past. But I'm not worried as I know that God is with me and He will take care of me! However, I still appreciate the prayers.

I'm taking 6 suitcases with me (4 pieces more than normal) so praying that I can get them all on the plane without paying an arm and a leg per extra piece. I would appreciate prayers for this as well. I'm taking lots of supplies, Bible and teaching materials, sanctuary model kit, warm clothes for the children, toys for Christmas, special food the kitchen asked for, and much more and have over-expended myself in the process. So if any of you would like to help me cover expenses for this trip, just e-mail and I'll tell you how. Some of you have already given funds toward this trip. Thank you soooo much! 

Some may question why I'm taking so much stuff…the reason is that it's hard to get a lot of this stuff overseas. I asked the founder how much extra luggage she takes when she travels and she said like 15 bags!!! Wow!! So I'm only taking 4 extra bags! But since I'm traveling alone, managing all my luggage could get interesting. So I solicit all the prayers I can get during this journey. 

Once I arrive in Bangladesh, I will be there a day then I travel for 5 days to Nepal to speak to church leaders about the power of United Prayer. I will be doing prayer training there. So pray about this as well! ;-) There's a lot that I need to be thinking and praying about between here and there!

If you wish to reach me personally, you can e-mail me at: revivethemission@gmail.com

I'm expecting great things from God on this trip! It will be an adventure, but I'm praying that God will use my feeble efforts to make an impact for eternity. I'm praying He will do this for all of us actually!

“The Lord is disappointed when His people place a low estimate upon themselves. He desires His chosen heritage to value themselves according to the price He has placed upon them. God wanted them, else He would not have sent His Son on such an expensive errand to redeem them. He has a use for them, and He is well pleased when they make the very highest demands upon Him, that they may glorify His name. They may expect large things if they have faith in His promises.” Desire of Ages, p. 668

Thanks again for the prayers and to those of you who have written and let me know that you are praying. It means a lot. 

I will return end of January 2014. If I'm able to post anything between now and then, I will, otherwise, I will e-mail Chelsey and ask her to post. 

Blessings,
Melody

PS: Attached are pictures of my last trip to Bangladesh. This will be my 4th time to visit this country! It's one of the poorest and most populated countries in the 10/40 window. But even here, Jesus has people shining as lights for Him. I'm privileged to get to spend the next 6 weeks in this part of Asia!