That awkward post - fUnDrAiSiNg

Fundraising... it's an awkward thing. It just is. 

Many people stay far from it, but it seems God has called us Morgans to be life-long FUNdraisers! Woopie! With the adoption... we have some experience at it! Fundraising salaries is what I like to call a HEAD-FIRST DIVE OF FAITH! Here we go... S.P.L.A.S.H.

We have discussed this, prayed about it, and gotten advice from others about this whole issue of fundraising.  I've come to some conclusions:

It's Biblical - Paul did it (asking and working), Jesus did it (working and relying on others' gifts), priests did it (relying on others' gifts and God's providence), and the disciples did it (working and relying on others' support)... just to name a few. 

It looks different for everyone - some may just rely on donations from others, some may work/sell things to raise additional funds, some may ask, some may pray, some may call, some may make personal visits, etc. 

It's The Church's job to support missionaries - The global church is responsible for supporting those in the field. Support could = financially, prayerfully, in tangible ways, visiting, sharing their stories, etc. Paul, in his letters, always made sure to thank those churches and individuals that gave and supported and emphasized that doing so was glorifying God and increasing kingdom work. 

It's ministry - If loving others, going to the ends of the earth, and serving are all considered ministry... why isn't fundraising? Because it involves money doesn't mean it's the 'secular' part of ministry.  It should be done with the same passion, motivation, and prayer that other ministry is done. It's all for Jesus in the end, right? 

It's necessary - Just because people are doing God's work full-time doesn't mean they should mope around and complain about not having any money! That's just silly! Missionaries should strive to be fully-funded! If God has given individual's goals to achieve... why wouldn't He help them honor those goals? It doesn't seem right for people who are relying on support in some way not to be fully funded - whether that's because of laziness, lack of faith, or fear. If God has called someone to the mission field... we should call of Him for our raised funds! Funds are necessary for life - for food, housing, transportation, kiddo's needs, etc. 

So... with that said, I want to give you a run down of what's going to be happening WHEN we start with Praying Pelican Missions. FYI - People can begin giving/supporting us now. The money will not be released to us until we start, but we would love to have a base of support for when that happens (AKA... when Eric arrives). Here's the dealio: 

We've truly been blessed to have Praying Pelican give us each a small salary ($12,000/year), with the possibility of earning more based on team recruitment, to help us with daily living expenses while we focus on serving.  Praying Pelican requires us to raise the remainder of our salaries directly through support of family and friends.  Financial support can be given as a one-time gift or as a monthly gift. Nugget of info - signing up for mission trips with us also supports us - win/win right there! Everything that is given in support will go towards our personal living expenses/necessities.  Without such support, we would not be able to go after this awesome task that God has put in our lives.

Jacob and I will do our part too! Jacob plans to do some major carpentry work... kinda like Jesus. He's going to make lots of furniture, pallet art, and maybe a few clocks. I plan to do some interpreting for some college classes... because that's my fav, sell Origami Owl jewelry, and help with the pallet art! Stay tuned for some of our crafts!!! 

How can you get involved? There's 3 ways to support our ministry: 
#1 GO ON an AMAZING mission trip with PPM! Check it out here!! 
#2 Pray!!!!! Please pray! 
#3 Give financially (if you feel led, instructions are below)

ONLINE: 

• 95.5% will be given to us. 4.5% is used to cover credit card fees and processing fees by Praying Pelican Missions.
• Give Here! 

OR 

• Go to http://www.prayingpelicanmissions.org/donate  
• Scroll down until you see "Anna & Jacob Morgan" 
• You can select Donate to do a one-time donation or select the amount you want to subscribe monthly.  You'll be asked to fill in your information once you click on the option you prefer. 

CHECK:

• 95.5% will be given to us. 4.5% is to cover processing fees by Praying Pelican Missions.
• Write check to Praying Pelican Missions (do NOT put our names anywhere on the check.) Include a note with the check stating: "Support for Jacob and Anna Morgan" and your email address to receive a receipt via email or your mailing address to receive a receipt by mail.

Mail to:

Praying Pelican Missions

4899 Miller Trunk Hwy, Suite 216

Duluth, MN 55811

• Once the check is received by Praying Pelican Missions, it will be processed within 7 business days.  A receipt will be sent to you after the check has been processed. 

Yep, we are a CrAzY tEaM - Praying Pelican Missions!

Don't you LOVE the new look for the blog?!?! Thanks to my bestie Lindsey Jo for redesigning it for us! Yes... I said US! Get excited about some blogs from the ol' hubs!!! He had to have a more masculine, professional blog before he would get on board! :) DONE. 

So... YES... we know we are CRAZY! We believe the purpose and reason for people to be married is they realize that they, TOGETHER, are effective as a TEAM than they are as individuals. We made that commitment almost 4 years ago (holy moly... 4 years already??) a commitment to be a team and work together. And our next adventure is a huge opportunity for us to be a team on the mission field! After reading Scripture, praying LOTS, and just walking with the Lord day by day... we know this is what He has for us.  After Eric arrives (praying/hoping/believing CHRISTMAS!), we will start working full-time with Praying Pelican Missions! 

We are so excited to tell you about and invite you into the next part of our crazy adventure with God. We have learned in the last year, more than ever, about the faithfulness, goodness, and providence of our great God and also the awesome power of prayer. Now that the adoption is coming to completion and our Eric will be home soon, we feel God is leading our family into full-time missions. 

This is the moment I knew we were gonna get married!
Jacob, 10th grade, serving in Mexico.

We have always had a heart for missions. As some of you know, I (Anna) realized that I was going to marry Jacob as a 10th grader on a mission trip in the dumps of Mexico! Crazy,right?! Since then, we have been on several mission trips, including the one to Belize with Praying Pelican Missions (PPM) in 2012 when we actually met our Eric. Over the past year, we have both felt a strong calling to full-time missions - to go and share the Gospel globally while being able to minister to and equip those here to do the same. We believe God is giving us the green light to join in serving with the very organization that led us to Eric, Praying Pelican Missions.

Serving in Costa Rica, March, 2013

So, what does this mean? Well once Eric is here, Jacob and I will be working as Missions Coordinators for PPM. We will mainly be working with and leading teams to Costa Rica (which is super exciting because we had the opportunity to serve there in March). Our overall mission is to aid local pastors in ministering to and loving on their own communities through short-term missions. Ultimately, we are trying to create long-term ministry partnerships between international churches and churches in the U.S. that will give encouragement and growth to both for years to come. We will be working from home, except when we are leading trips in Costa Rica.

Our plan is to work for PPM, make arrangements to home school Eric before putting him into school when we decide he is ready, and make it a family effort to reach the world with the Gospel! 

Although we are extremely sad we will be leaving our church family and community in Troy, we are excited about the opportunity God has placed in front of us to serve the world for His glory. We believe in what Praying Pelican Missions stands for and their aggressive vision in reaching the world with the good news of Jesus, and we want to be a part of it!

If you want to learn more about what we will actually be doing, click HERE.

If you want to see how you can get involved in supporting our crazy, mission family, click HERE.  

If you want to go on a trip with Praying Pelican - as an individual, group, or family - click HERE. 

You can also check out our Prayer Requests (we will be updating those often) and Our Adoption Story at the top by selecting the different Pages. 

A CHACO TAN LINE - what EVERY missionary needs!

My preferred missions attire!

As an up & coming/new Praying Pelican Missions lady, I'm joining in their blog series about missions fashion.  Here's the goal: 
Tips and tricks from Praying Pelican Missions lady missionaries on how to look good, feel good and take the pressure off of packing your suitcase for a new culture, climate and lifestyle. Our heart is to remove the anxiety and focus from timeless questions like: “What do I wear?” and give you a few times that we’ve learned throughout the years.  Ultimately, we pray that these posts would be a resource for you as you prepare for your trip.  We want to provide you with a few tools that can help you remain focused on what God is teaching you and doing around you during your time abroad, instead of the length of your shorts, the style of your still-wet hair or how much makeup is appropriate.  But of course, throughout it all, we must have fun in the process!

Check out the other ladies' blogs:
Christy, Leah, Bethany, Amanda, and Liz! 


Here's thoughts from your very own missions fashionista!!! :) 
On this blog, I'm highlighting the 3 (THREE) critical, must haves on ANY mission trip! Here's a nice little diddy to get us going: 

You can wear them in the water
You can use 'em in the dirt,
You can wear them when you're hiking
even use 'em when you're workin'... but don't get hurt!


They look good with that one-piece suit!
They look good with those v-nect tees
They look great with that polka-dot bandana
So take lots of pics PLEASE!

So what am I talking about?
What do I love?
Well... it's a pair of Chacos of course...
They fit ya like a glove!

BOOM!
Seriously, every missionary's outfit is completed with a pair of Chacos! They have tons o' colors and lots of styles!!! They seriously can be worn ANYwhere to do ANYthing!!! they are wonderful! They last forever. BUT... they do tend to stink after a bit! Don't fret though - just stick them in the dish washer (not with the dishes) and put them through a cycle... they'll be good as new! My Chacos have been with me through the Africa sun and dirt, the Costa Rican rain forest, the Belizean turf, and the Mexican terrain!! They work like champs! 

And the BEST thing about Chacos is... THE CHACO TAN LINE!!!!!

ISN'T THAT AWESOME? 

When you've been working all day in Costa Rica, Zimbabwe, Guatemala, or any of the other great countries Praying Pelican Missions serves... you can slip your Chacos off and have that tan line as proof of your hardcore mission work! I'm telling ya - every missionary needs a Chaco tan line! 

The other accessory you CANNOT go on the mission field without is a... drum roll please... BANDANA!!! 

Bandanas can make ANY bad hair... BEAUTIFUL! My goal for any mission trip outfit is to put together as many colors as you can... because it's fun and no one really questions your outfit choices on mission trips! So... be daring! Add a zing, some color, a bit of a pop, or... if you like to match... a matching BANDANA!!! You can wear them in so many ways - with pig tails (my personal fav), as a wrap like a biker, with a pony tail, around your head/forehead to distract people's eyes from the oil that comes without taking showers... and many more! Just throw up (or down) your hair however you want it, and beautify it with a bandana! You can't go wrong! 

Check out more ways to wear them on my friend Christy's Blog! 

In Africa working with my friend Dinah in Kenya... rockin' my leopard bandana! 

Also... bandanas and precious children look GREAT in any pictures! :) 

Finally... something helpful with packing all of your fabulous mission trip outfits are simple ZIPLOCK BAGS!!! If you pack your outfits in the individual bags... it keeps your stuff smelling fresh, you have your outfits ready for each day, and keeps your suitcase organized and neat! 

BUT... WHATEVER you do and WHEREVER you go expect God to do amazing things! He is a God that uses us, despite our outfit choices, hair dos, or make up! 

²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Ephesians 3:20-21 

To our Southside Family

So, it's after the official announcement at big church... we (Jacob & I) are going into full-time missions together... we have accepted full-time positions as Missions Coordinator with Praying Pelican Missions... effective January. My heart feels like it is in one million different places with one million different emotions. I don't know how else to explain this expect by writing a letter to our Southside family.  So... here it goes. (I will explain more about the actual jobs and what that means for us in the next post)

To our Southside Family:

Thank you.

Thank you for loving us so well and allowing us to be part of your family for the 6 years (for Jacob) and 4 years (for me).  Thank you for taking this young married couple into your hearts and allowing us to serve with you. Thank you for loving us... the crazy Morgans... who probably rocked the boat more than a few times with our ideas and ways of doing things. Our prayer is that God was/is/will be glorified through our efforts.

Thank you for letting us, and encouraging us, in loving your children well and teaching them the precious Word of God. Our heart, day in and day out, has been to show each youth the vast and great love of Jesus and the great joy in loving Him back.  Thank you for entrusting your students with us - for every Wednesday night service, for every Monday night Bible study, for every event, for every trip, for every random night they came to our house... THANK YOU. We love each and every student... we really do. They are the reason that we wanted to wake up each day and do life.  They have AMAZED us.
To our youth - we love you. You have our hearts. Thank you for sharing life with us. We pray for you EVERY day. Thank you for the smiles, the laughs, the tears, and everything in between. Thank you for loving us well. Thank you for taking risks with us - from trying out Student Life camp for the first time to taking a mission trip to Belize.  And to my girls - the best nights of my life were with you... hearing your hearts, listening to your dreams, crying with you, laughing with you, and trying to figure out with following Jesus LOOKS LIKE in real life. You are more than precious to me. Youth - YOU WILL NEVER BE REPLACED! We pray, most of all, that you saw Jesus in us and that you know Him more because of our time with you. This youth ministry was never about us - it's just about Jesus. This is our prayer for you:

¹⁴ For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Ephesians 3:14-21

Thank you for being you.

To our college students - oh... our hearts ache leaving you. What a blessing life with you has been. We had no clue what God had planned for us when we risked starting a college ministry. We have never experienced "church" like we have on Wednesday nights with you - prayer for each other, caring for each other, honesty in its most raw form, and laughter like I've never known. We could have never imagined the community and love between such different individuals than we've experienced with you. The relationships and the community we have with you will be hard to match. Thank you for loving us. For sharing life with us. For volunteering your time and energy and life to love our church and students with us.  You have taught us more than words can explain. You are absolutely wonderful.

Our prayer for you - that you would live as crazy ambassadors for Jesus:

If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit.¹⁴ Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. ¹⁵ He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.

¹⁶ So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! ¹⁷ This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
¹⁸ And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. ¹⁹ For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. ²⁰ So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” ²¹ For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:13-21

We are beyond thankful for these silly faces: 

To the Connection ministry - My heart was to create unity within our church and within our community. I don't know if that happened completely, but learned so much and experienced so much joy working with the people who invested time in coming and serving the people of Troy. I am grateful for this ministry. Thank you so much to Robin who was my constant companion, friend, and fellow servant leader. I am thankful for you and praying as you continue to lead this charge! Thank you to Mrs. Pam, Mr. Gary, Jaleesa, Andrew, Jacob, Derrick, Samantha, and so many others who believed in the mission of simple meals and relationships.

Each person at Southside is so special to us. Our hearts are heavy as we think about leaving. I hope we can tell each person all that they mean to us. I just have to say a special thanks to the following people...  

To the Knicks... what we have done without you? 

Words cannot express what you mean to us - as our pastor and his family and as our best friends.  Thank you for always being there. Thank you for sharing life with us in Troy - the great, the good, and the ugly! So thankful we could always lean on each other... whatever was going on. So thankful for Sunday lunches together, week night dinners together, and being such a part of Parker's life. Thankful for Jacob and Andrew and the once-in-a-lifetime relationship they shared - hunting, fishing, ministry, and all the other guy stuff. Thank for pedicures, Bible studies, and support that I got to share with Kelli. We love you like family and would never let change hinder our relationship.  We love you so much and would NOT be who we are without you! We love you Knicks! 

To Judy - I would have never guessed the amazing friend/co-worker God would bless me with in you. Grateful to be able to interpret with you week in and week out at church. Thankful that we work together at Troy - I WOULD HAVE DIED WITHOUT YOU!!!  Thankful for the encouragement, laughter, understanding, kind words, passion, and truth you bring to my life. I know God is using and will continue to use you and your beautiful family! We love the Robertsons! 

And the last shout-out for this post is to The Motes! 

We love you Mrs. Wanda and Mr. Terry. We would have been lost without you.  Since DAY ONE you took us in. You let us know you were there and you weren't leaving. You spoke truth to us any time it was needed. You stuck by us no matter what was going on. You stepped in to make sure we were okay when our parents were miles away. You offered your home to us and the youth, you stood up for us in EVERY situation, you loved us extremely well, you prayed for us, encouraged us, came and fixed our AC, came and looked at houses with us, cried with us, laughed with us, went on every youth trip with us... WE WOULD BE LOST WITHOUT YOU!!! We are so thankful for you Motes... I can't even find the words. 

Thank you Southside. We love you and will forever be grateful for you.  

WoRtHy Of ThE gOsPeL...

It has been a super rainy week... super rainy.
But that meant lots of resting, board games, and food! :) 

For the 4th, we heading to Lake Martin with the in-laws for the day. We had lots of fun... good conversation, yummy food, lots of rain, and games in the camper.  Jacob and I rode bikes for a little while - we now understand how we were so fit as kids. Riding bikes is a killer! Thighs were throbbing after scooting around the whole campsite...

Friday we headed down to Fort Walton Beach to hang out with Patrick and Amber. It was super fun and relaxing.  And again... lots of rain. We knew it was going to rain and we probably weren't going to get a tan but we decided that a rainy weekend with a pretty view was better than a rainy weekend cooped up in Troy. 

Friday night we ate at Floyd's in Fort Walton. It was scrumptious! They had all you can eat shrimp for $14.99! can't beat that! We got to sit, chat, and watch surfers bust = entertainment! 

Patrick's family lives on the bay so the view was spectacular! And... Friday night when we got back, we hung out on the pier and then sat in swing on the porch and listened to live music!! Their house is close enough to a bar that you can hear the live music!! FREE ENTERTAINMENT!! It was great! We did get to kayak in the bay for a little while on Saturday before another monsoon came... I definitely thought I was going to get flooded and sink in the middle of the bay... and then get eaten by a shark. But... we survived. 

Isn't that view great!?!?! How do people just live here??? So great! 

Last night, we had our first July Family night for the church. We ate, played games, and... JACOB WON A PIE EATING CONTEST!!! I'm definitely a proud wife! 

He was miserable after... and all night. BUT... there's no glory without pain! Haha! 

So... this next thing I haven't really told anyone because it's kinda odd to bring up. And... it's just kind of a strange concept for me right now. I don't really know how to talk about it yet because I don't have the answers, but I have to tell it because it's part of HIS story. So... what better way to tell it than on this here blog... 

Last weekend at camp -
The last night of camp wasn't your typically mushy, let's all cry and sing "Kumbaya"... it was a call to ACTION... a call to full-time ministry. Ergun Caner delivered a message on our callings and purpose in life. It was one of those messages for me that made me just squirm in my chair and want to hide in the bathroom the whole time.  It was a call from the mediocre to ministry. A call from settling to soaring. I knew it was for me. At the end of his message, he challenged those who believed they were called to full-time ministry to stand up.  He gave a list of requirements including: if you stand up, you MUST go before your church and do the same the next sunday. if you stand up, you are committing to go anywhere, do anything, at anytime for the spread of the Gospel. if you stand up, you are promising to not listen to idiots who will want to speak logic and opposition to you.  
So... what did God make me do? STAND UP. Ugh... I was terrified. I told Him I just wanted to sit down. This was a youth camp and I didn't need to be standing. I knew that He was going to use me and I was fine with just knowing that, and not making a scene about it.  Nope... He kept me standing. I HATE those awkward moments with God when He forces me to just obey and shut up. I was standing and Jacob was sitting beside me. He just smiled at me. I was thinking, "What in the world does this mean, God? I have no idea what I'm doing standing up? I'M FREAKIN' OUT!"...
Then, Ergun made all of us standing - there was about 15 of us (AMAZING!) - go outside to meet with him. I frantically grabbed Jacob's hand and headed outside. Also heading outside was one of our youth, Caleb, and Barrett from our church. God is crazy and beautiful. 
We met with Ergun and talked with each other. We were all terrified and excited. We were deemed ministers of the Gospel, prayed for, and then celebrated with. Ergun was PUMPED when Jacob told him that me, his wife, just stood up to respond to the call.  Ergun said his wife did the same... and it changed everything! He even texted his wife to tell her! :) God is good at confirming decisions... 

So... what does this mean? 
I HAVE NO CLUE! God knows because He is the one who made me stand up! All I know, like I told Jacob, is that I am tired of living a mediocre life. Some may say I'm not, but I know I am NOT made to sit in an office and just answer emails and interpret at times.  I am not made to settle.  I am made to speak truth to women, to invest, to equip others for mission, and to go on mission myself- local and international.  I feel most alive with I am free to minister and serve... so why not live like that all the time? I believe standing up was about SURRENDER... SURRENDER to the call that God has placed on the Morgans' lives. To SURRENDER to fully supporting my hubby's dreams and his vision for our future... to SURRENDER to WHATEVER God has dreamed for us... to SURRENDER to feeling totally freaked out standing in a room full of youth and adults committing my life to full-time ministry... yea... surrender. 
He'll show us the way... He is faithful. We know that PEACE comes from full obedience. We know that Joy is found in His presence and in His path. We know His path takes PATIENCE and WISDOM and PRAYING and WAITING. So... here we are... two people surrendered the call of full-time ministry... waiting for God to move so we can follow. 

So... because we stood up... we had to go to the front of the church yesterday... like we promised... (Not pictured: Barrett... he had to leave early)

Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ... without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you.

Philippians 1:27-28