It's already been a year?!

When I moved to Virginia to work as Ron Barnard’s assistant with Chi Alpha and Southern Africa missions, I did not really know what my job would look like and neither did Ron. I was Ron’s first missionary associate, which made our time together a time of trial and error. We have learned so much over the past 10 months both the easy way and the hard way. The move to Virginia was harder than any I had done before. It was hard to be in the states but still be so far from home. It was hard to adjust to a job that wasn’t a routine of nine to five every day. But as always, God was and is with me. As time went on and I settled into life in Virginia, I fell in love with it. I love the weather and the landscape, I love the church I attend, I love my job and the opportunities God gave me to travel to Southern Africa but most of all, I love my friends here.

God has used my time in Virginia to change me and grow me in so many ways. I am experiencing freedom in Christ in a way I never thought possible because God continues to show me who I am in Him and who He created me to be. I have been witness to an example of what it looks like to live out a relationship with Christ in every moment of every day. I have learned more of what it is like to live out the mission of spreading the love of Christ as a lifestyle and not a job. I have experienced what it means to walk in the presence of God and to allow His presence to guide every decision. I never expected my time in Virginia to change me the way it has, which was a gross underestimation of who God is in our lives. God does not desire for us to live mediocre lives and is instead allowing us to live lives of grand adventure.

With that in mind, it is time for me to move from Virginia. I said before that the move to Virginia was harder than any I had done before, but now I believe the move from Virginia is going to be harder than any I have done before. The way I have experienced God here and the friends I have made here have made Virginia home. But I know God’s heart is for His people, including me, and He is faithful to love us and guide us. That is why, although I am sad to leave Virginia, I am excited that God has provided an opportunity for me to move to Baton Rouge and participate in an internship with Healing Place School of Ministry and Children’s Cup.

Healing Place School of Ministry (HPSM) provides accredited Bible classes and an opportunity for hands-on ministry all in one. I will be taking Bible classes at HPSM and doing my hands-on ministry at Children’s Cup. Children’s Cup is a missions organization that has been providing food, education, medical care and love to children thru various Care Points over the last twenty years. Children’s Cup has established these Care Points in three countries in Southern Africa as well as in Vietnam and the Philippines. God has given all of us the desire to share His love with and care for His people around the world. From the time I have spent in Southern Africa, God has developed a spot in my heart that aches for the souls there. I believe God is giving me the opportunity to reach out to those people through Children’s Cup.

I will start the internship with HPSM and Children’s Cup August 16^th and will participate in the full-time course option, which will allow me to graduate in May with an associate’s degree in Biblical studies. These next ten months will be intense, but I know God will provide for my every need. I look forward to sharing with you what God does in my time in Baton Rouge. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at lori.sturdivant@childrenscup.org. If you are interested in receiving my email updates throughout the internship, be sure to email me with your email address and I will add you to my mailing list. If you are interested in partnering with me financially, email me or go to the Children's Cup website (www.childrenscup.org), click on the GIVE NOW tab on the left and choose the giving option that best suits you. Also, for more information on the internship with Healing Place School of Ministry, check out their website at www.healingplacechurch.org/schoolofministry. 

Going back to Africa :)

Happy New Year! Is it too late to say Happy New Year now? It is technically still January.

Either way, it is a new year and it is going to be a busy but FUN one. Why so fun you ask? Well, aside from all the awesome things I get to do state-side, I'm going back to Africa! TWICE! Once in March/April and again in June/July.

We all know Africa (more so the people, not necessarily the continent) holds a special place in my heart. To experience God working in people's lives, including my own, through my time over the ocean has changed me in more ways than I can express. That's why I'm so excited to go back.

Ron, Jacob & I will take the first trip of the year over the ocean starting in the end of March and going through the beginning of April. [Ron is the missionary I am assisting here in Virginia, the pastor of the local church I attend and the pastor who sent me to Zambia in 2009. Jacob is Ron's son and my good friend.] We will travel to a few of the Chi Alpha campuses in South Africa to host RUI conferences for the students. [RUI is an equipping conference where we will share with the students new information and ways to reach their university campuses through prayer, bible studies, relationships, etc.] This is such an important time for the student leaders in Chi Alpha across South Africa. Their school year starts in January so they will still be gaining momentum for reaching their universities. The information we will bring to them will share new ideas and provide an organized structure to walk out the love God has placed in their hearts for their fellow students.

We will also visit the Zambia Project on our March/April trip. This will be a time of connecting with Paul and Marinette (the project leaders) and planning for our summer trip. We hope to iron out details on dates, a possible location for a church plant, etc while we are there.

The time I get to spend in Africa is precious to me and the mere fact that God lets me be a part of what He is doing there blows my mind. I am truly blessed and love what God is allowing me to do.

There are a couple of ways you can partner with me to see God equip students in South Africa through this trip! The first way is to be praying. Pray that Ron, Jake and I are able to raise the needed funds for the trip, that our bodies will be healthy and that God will prepare the students in South Africa for what He is going to speak to them. The second way is to support my trip financially. Each trip we take will cost around $2,500. That is a large amount of money to raise in two short periods of time, but we are confident that God wants us to go and that He will provide for us to. If you would like to support my trip financially, there are three options. If you currently support me monthly and would like to donate more for the trip, you may simply add it to your monthly donation. If you are unable to support me monthly or wish to send your donation separately, you may click on the donate button on the right side of my blog. It will allow you to donate directly to my account at Dwelling Place Christian Fellowship (This is the church Ron pastors that I now attend) through the secure PayPal system. If you would prefer to send a check, you may make a check out to Dwelling Place Christian Fellowship.  [For tax purposes, DO NOT PUT MY NAME IN THE MEMO LINE but include a slip of paper specifying it is for me] You can mail the check to:

1860 Radford Rd
Christiansburg, VA 24073

And I will hand deliver the check to the church office.


I look forward to sharing with you the amazing stories of what God does in students' lives this March.

Month #1

Well, August was a month for traveling! From Northern LA to Southern LA to North Carolina and finally a quick stop in Virginia to unpack before heading off to Africa. Overall I logged around 100 hours of travel time, and I must say, its nice to finally be settling in!

August was also a month for new experiences. My recent trip to Africa was a new experience. I was there to make sure Bri made it safely to Mongu and got settled into her new home for the next ten months. My purpose on the trip was simply to be a supportive friend. Another new experience was getting to go white water rafting down the Zambezi River. It is definitely one of the most amazing things I've ever experienced.

August was also a month for new beginnings. I'm beginning a new job as a missionary's assistant out of Virginia. I'm living in a new house, going to a new church and making new friends. I'm also starting a new job at the daycare run out of the new church I am attending. 

Most of all, August was the month for the start of my new adventure. Over the next ten months, I get the opportunity to help several other people start a new adventure. I get to help people plan their trips to Africa and make sure they have all they need to get there. I get to spread the vision for what God is doing in Africa through ordinary people. I also get to encourage college students with stories of how God has and can use their story of redemption to change someone else's life completely. AND I get to love on little children.

Hebrews 10:23

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful." 

Life has been crazy lately. And I don’t just mean my life. Ask anyone around you and I’m sure it wouldn’t take much for them to muster up a story (or two) about how their life is/has been crazy. But in the craziness is opportunity: opportunity for us to love God through obedience, and opportunity for God to show His faithfulness.

After returning from Africa in August, I had no idea what to expect the next year to hold, but I knew God had given me several exciting opportunities. The opportunity to volunteer with Chi Alpha @ LA Tech and witness God change even more lives through the work of His students. The opportunity to nanny three of the most incredible children God has given me the privilege of knowing. And the opportunity to take a serious look at myself and work towards becoming more of who God created me to be. That’s a lot of opportunity for one year.

But the opportunity I’ve seen isn’t just in my own life. Lately, I’ve been most impacted by the opportunity seen in other people’s lives. The opportunity one of the people I admire most has had to live out God’s love through her words of genuine faith and her life of courage as her beautiful little girl has literally had to fight for her life over the last month. The opportunity two of my closest friends have had to welcome a new life into the world, seeking to point that life to the source of meaning and purpose. And the opportunity several important people in my life have to embark on a journey to literally taking the love of God to the ends of the earth…

And through every opportunity we are given to obey God, He is given the opportunity to show Himself faithful. Today, I got the joy of being squeezed by that beautiful little girl, surrounded by her family, in her own home, as tightly as her frail little body would allow because God has been and still is faithfully healing her, even as I type.

So I can honestly say, its good that my life has been “crazy” lately. God has stretched me and changed me in ways I never would have thought possible, and God has proven himself faithful in ways I never would have imagined. God is a God of opportunity. And God is a God of promise. It never looks like we expect it to, but that’s where we gain the opportunity for our faith to grow.