Dear Friends and Family,                                                                                                       4/5/08 

How does one start a letter like this?  I have been so blessed.  I have already received way beyond my expectations.  God has shown me abundant life in Him, and he has given me a vivid picture of how when the body works as it was made to, every part benefits – even the minutest part.  For those of you may not have heard, in the past two years God has miraculously made a way for both my medical expenses and college loans to be paid off – a feat that I never could have accomplished in that amount of time with my teacher’s aide income.  Those are the tangible miracles, there have been others in the relational realm which are harder to describe.  I can hardly imagine the rest of my life going on with these shocking demonstrations of God’s provision in all aspects of life.  And yet I am reminded by C.S. Lewis that reality always is shocking – what truly is, is never what could have been guessed; that the earth would turn out to be round, that God, who is so completely other, would bind himself to humanity by coming to earth as a man, and die the death of a thief.  The big things usually don’t happen the way we expect.  I am not the rich, independent, adventuress I thought I would grow up to be when I was 10 (though maybe I am in a different way than I expected).  The promise that life’s opportunities are endless once you graduate from college does not look quite the same to me now as when I was 16.  However, what I have discovered is not that it was all a lie – for example, it is not a lie that if you “delight yourself in the Lord he will give you the desires of you heart.”  Rather, as I learn to delight in the Lord, I am discovering that the desires of my heart are not what I thought they were.  I can no longer assume that the rest of my life will turn out as I always expected; none of us should.  Everyday with Jesus is an adventure.  Praise be to Him whose ways are not our ways! 

That said some things will be predictable, like the fact that I will be continually dependant on God for his provision, both spiritually and physically.  And like the fact that He will supply me with these things through you, my fellow members of His body.  So I ask you to continue this journey with me, as channels of wisdom and encouragement, knowledge and support, and much needed friendship, though I do not deserve it.

I do not know why God has chosen me, but He is sending me to Hooper Bay with a full heart.  While there I will be living with Grant and Lenna Funk until a new apartment is finished; when it is finished I will live there with another youth worker from Hooper Bay (Lola – pray for her).  We will have an open-door policy for any girls needing a safe place to hang out or stay for the night.  I will also be working with the youth group kids in the new teen center built by Samaritan’s Purse last summer.  So far the youth group has been staffing the restaurant aspect of this ministry on a volunteer basis, and it has led to much growth among the teens in the village.  We know how wonderful it is to see our high school students serving in our church and community, letting Christ shine through their actions; it is awesome to see the same thing happening in Hooper Bay.  Being part of this ministry will provide many opportunities for discipleship and that is what really excites me.  Of all the other opportunities that will present themselves I do not know, except that they will present themselves, and I ask you to pray for God’s grace and wisdom to guide me so that I will always do what brings Him glory.

I have committed to serving in Hooper Bay for one full year, and while I am not sure what all my expenses will be I am estimating $1,140 per month.  I am excited to be joining SEND International as a short term missionary for 12 months starting at the beginning of June.  I have felt God drawing me to western Alaska since I first visited to help with Bible camp in 2001, so I am sure that this year will play a big role in my long-term direction.  If you would like to help me financially, either with a monthly amount or a one-time donation, please use the response slip I have enclosed.  I would also like to remind everyone that I still have a blog-site that I will be updating if you want to check in every once in a while, you can find it at: www.xanga.com/meaganpeters.  If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.  Thanks for reading!

 Partners in the Great Work,

Meagan K. Peters
Box 323
Glennallen, AK 99588
meagpete@gmail.com
907-822-5813

 

Please pray for me…

Þ    that God will continue to grow my faith in Him, that I will grow in dependence on Him and be an instrument for His glory

Þ    for spiritual growth in the youth group and church body (if you would like a specific person to pray for, let me know)

Þ    in relationships with the people I will be living with (the Funks and Lola), for harmony and mutual understanding

Þ    for wisdom in mentoring teens, that I will be able to speak the truth in love, and that I will listen well

Þ    for personal discipline, that I will be a living representation of Christ to others

Þ    for physical health (especially stability regarding asthma and allergies)

Þ    that I will learn the Yupik way :)

______________________________________________________________________________________

To make a financial contribution and/or commit to prayer for Meagan Peters, please fill out the following information.

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Write checks and mail to:

SEND International of Alaska
PO Box 369
Glennallen, AK 99588

It's been so long since I've written anything that gives news about myself.  I feel lame.  But, please believe me when I tell you my mind (as well as my soul) has not been idle.  I have a few witnesses for what I am about to tell you - so know that my story is trustworthy.  It has been a process.  I think everyone knows about my desire to go to western Alaska in the near future, I've gone before and written about it, shared in church, etc.  You also know that I graduated from college a year and a half ago, so of course I am often questioned about where I am headed in life.  I desperately want to have answers to these kind of questions, not only so I don't sound stupid when I fumble over my answer, but for my own peace of mind.  Have I been given these desires for nothing?  When I felt God's pleasure while walking with my Eskimo friends, was it all just a dream?  Am I a lunatic for going on about faith and God's provision and blessing?  At times, in the past few months, I've had visions of my life stretching out before me - wretched, eking out just enough of a living to make each month's payment on my school loans, maybe paying $10 more than the accumulated interest.  But if you'll scroll way down on this page, you'll find that my next words are really an echo of something I have said before.  I think God is catapulting me into a life of faith - I mean faith that just isn't had these days.  Don't take me wrong - I'm not trying to sound superior, I'm just trying to express my inner struggle - what I said about feeling like a crazy when I look at myself through outsider's eyes was no joke.  People just don't put up with this kind of uncertainty in our to-good-to-be-true, money-matters world. 

Anyway, to get to the point.  I've been taking the verse "Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart," very literally.  Also, I've not forgotten the examples in Mark that I began to consider more closely last January, not least "Lord, I do believe, help my unbelief!"  A wise man once advised me, "don't settle for anything less than God's best" so I have prayed earnestly for God's best - that I would not give up no matter what odds I have to face (the cynicism of others, loneliness, and laziness have been the worst so far) - I think I can say I have wrestle with God for His blessing, though it feels very bold.  But that is one of the differences between the old and new covenants, in Christ we can approach the Throne boldly.  Hallelujah!  Praise be to God for His indescribable gift!  More specifically, I have been praying that if its is God's desire - that is to say, if it is the desire He has planted in me - that I go to Hooper Bay this summer or fall and stay for 8 months or a year and then who knows what, He will provide the way for me to go debt free.  I have been praying thus for about four months (a little over a month openly), and today I have been told that there is someone in my church body who has given me ten thousand dollars.

I owe $8,300 in school loans, I have a $1,300 medical bill that just popped up from my surgery of '05 - I mean I feel like George Muller!  I'm speechless.

I don't want anyone to take this as me saying, "well, I did such-and-such, and these are my results."  In fact I am incredibly humbled that God would bless me like this - only He and I know how little I deserve it.  All I can say in conclusion is "'tis so sweet to trust in Jesus."  Amen.

I don't want to be like this - I feel like screaming like a screamer: I CAN’T TAKE THIS!

I'm controlling, judgmental, hot tempered. I don't respect or love, I do not trust. I am becoming what I have set out not to be! I want to blame everyone else . . . but I can only blame myself.

My heart cries: Who will rescue me from this body of death?

Then softly and slowly in answer: . . . Come unto Me all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. . .

There was a time I could not accept these words. I could not be loved, I was too wretched. In strange and tangible ways God in His unfailing love gradually showed me that while I was seeing myself correctly, I had too small a view of Him. How deep and dark was my sinful heart, it was true! Yet how much unfathomably more deep His great love! Not only did He save me from the death I earned, He made me His child, took care of everything that created tension and distance between us.  It’s not like He picked me up off the streets and put me in an institution that would feed and cloth me – He became my Father!

This changes every moment of my everyday life! It’s because when I screw up I don’t have to bear the weight of my guilt anymore.  I am still grieved by my sin – it hurts not only me but those I love, and it grieves my Abba; but it no longer controls me because my soul’s peace does not rest in my own ability to live well, my soul rests in Christ. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

 

(See Romans 7:24; Matthew 11:28-30; Psalm 73:26; Romans 7:25)