Praying in the Waiting Room

Dear Friends,

We are still in the waiting room of God. It is full of hard chairs that are not too comfortable. I consider the chairs questions, wonders and concerns:
Why is it taking so long for our flight to arrive?
Will we ever get to our destination? Lord, how long must we wait?
What am I to learn while I wait?


What am I talking about?
Our return to Niger.

We have been so thankful for those that have continued to support us both in prayer and finances as we are in the waiting room. Even when departure dates get changed, and support drops & it seems so unlikely to happen any time soon. We can hardly blame those that ask: "When are you going"?
"Why not give up?"
" Are you sure this is what you are suppose to do?"
We can't blame them. Serving takes a lot of faith.
We can only answer; "Yes. We are sure we are to go, we are to serve.
But we do not know when we will go."


As we wait, on the money to come in, that allows us to be 100% financially supported, God is giving me a ministry in my class room and at the school.

God has opened a door for prayer.
Several staff get together to pray before school every morning. What an uplifting time this has become. He has given me a position in a classroom that has children and families that need to be loved and prayed for. We have one parent dieing of cancer, another in Afghanistan, a grieving child who lost her mother last year. These are just some of the needs of the children, in just my class. Imagine how many more have needs in the school of 800!
The school is a mission field in itself. I must allow God to use me here.


We wait. We pray. We see God answer.


Two weeks ago we met with a local church that is looking for missionaries to support who are serving in Africa and Asia. It was a miracle meeting that brought this about. God's timing was perfect as I met the mission pastors wife at a women's meeting I attended with my aunt and cousin about a month ago. In a small group I shared our story, she said, "call my husband tomorrow", and a week later we were speaking with the pastor about our work in Niger.

A week after our first meeting, we met and shared with the church's mission committee; we have been added to next years proposed budget. We are now awaiting the budgets approval. Though we are not sure of the amount of financial commitment the church will be able to make, we are excited about partnering with them, as they are a very mission minded church, that sends out short term teams about 10 times a year to various parts of the world. Awesome!

So keep praying for us. As we sit in the waiting room we know God has a plan. And though He has redirected our plan, and we are still waiting on the departure date for Niger. We are confident that He is continuing to do a good work in us, and in time, we will be reunited with friends and ministry in Niger.

I really like this quote that is sitting on a "to be sent" newsletter on my desk; "peace is the ability to wait patiently in spite of panic brought on by uncertainty." Swindoll

Yes, waiting can make you wonder and question yourself. But we are at peace that God is in control and we will continue to pray for this peace, that we will be ready to go when he says -
"Get packing! GO!"

From the waiting room,
Shannon