This is my story, this is my song

Have you ever heard the hymn, "this is my story, this is my song?"have you ever been singing it and just thought about how this is your story this is your song and made it about yourself carrying out the Gospel to others? When I hear the hymn it's easy for me to think "my story" "my song" hey, so this must be about me. But I forget that 2nd part the part that goes "praising my Savior all the day long."

When we think of ministry we often think of the things that seem worthwhile. We think about how many people we can get to come out to this event or how many kids can we save at this Bible Club. That's not real ministry though. Sometimes ministry can be the things that don't seem worthwhile at first. Sometimes ministry is baby-sitting the pastor's kids so he and his wife can have a night out. It's doing yard work for the youth pastor who has a lot on his plate. It's not about getting teens saved or even getting them to go to church but giving teens a space to ask questions about the God or the Bible.

It's the little things that you feel aren't worthwhile but later on you learn were helpful. It's not about the numbers in a church but a church's willingness to genuinely love their congregation and invest into them and point them to Jesus.

See, "our story" or "our song" needs that second part. As the hymn goes "praising my Savior all the day long" is "our story". That is "our song". Praising our Savior doesn't mean the things that bring us the most glory or make us feel the most useful or comfortable. Praising our Savior means doing whatever is going to bring him the most glory even though it may not feel like it at the moment.

It's been a heck of a summer, and I am processing so much. I've learned to surf, met refugees, consumed more ice cream on a daily basis than any human being should, had great conversations, sang VBS songs over and over again and had late night dance parties complete with facial masks and crisps. There's been a lot of ups and a lot of downs but God has been faithful to our team and has worked in all of us. The American interns fly out this Thursday. Please keep all of them in your prayers. Pray for the bittersweet goodbyes and smooth transitions back home. Pray for our Irish, Northern Irish and American interns and that they would not forget all they have learned this summer and that they would continue to fix their eyes on Jesus.

As always thank you for your prayers and support!

Grace and Peace,
Amy

Hello From Across the Pond

Hey friends!

I am finally in Dublin! Here is a small recap of what the past week has looked like:

 Last Tuesday, Katie, Kristen and I left Philadelphia International Airport with 2 years' worth of stuff in a hiking backpack and one giant suitcase or 2 large suitcases.

   I thought I was a pretty minimal packer until I tried to pack enough to clothes to cover all the seasons. It was quite a struggle but thanks to Mama Bird and her packing skills, I was able to fit what I needed for the Spring/Summer and Fall at least.
  I said an incredibly, difficult temporary goodbye to my family then walked to my gate and sat for about an hour then boarded the plane. After watching Birdman, falling asleep, and watching half of 22 Jump Street to prevent myself from openly sobbing on the plane, we landed in Dublin.

Tom (not pictured), Vicki (far left) and the current Apprentice, Jes(far right) greeted us at the airport.

   After we dropped off our bags to the Lucan Centre where we would be staying Tom and Vicki took us to get our LEAP cards for transportation, Irish SIM cards and shopping for groceries. After running a bunch of errands and going over the schedule for the week, a very jet-lagged and emotionally exhausted Katie, Kristen and Amy collasped into bed around 9 pm with the help of our good friends ZzzQuil and Melatonin.
   The following day, we got to meet with some potential ministry placements and discuss potential housing placements. Please be praying that things will get finalized with our potential ministry placements. After meeting with potential ministry placements, we all met up with Jes and Stephanie, who recently joined Serge's metro team in Dublin for dinner then attended a lecture about the Ethics of Jesus at Trinity College. The next few days were spent getting to know our way around Dublin, getting to know each other better, discussing Encounter and spending time with our other team members, Tom and Vicki Gilliam, and Bruce and Kathy Alwood.
  We are excited to meet the American interns (this week) and Irish interns (next week) and begin Encounter! We would love some prayer as we continue to adjust to life here, deal with homesickness(I think it's hitting all of us what 2 years away from home will be like), and prepare for the interns' arrival. Pray for our interns, both Irish and American and that they would trust God with the summer ahead and that we would be unified as a team.

Thanks for all your prayers and support!

Amy

 

The Hardest Season of Goodbyes

   I’ve said a lot of good byes in my life but nothing has ever hurt so much as this season of goodbyes. I know that I will be home in 2 years and will even get to come home for a little bit my 2^nd year but it all still hurts so much.

    Next week is my last week of work and believe it or not I am going to miss the kids I work with. I’m going to miss rejoicing in small victories. I’m going to miss their quirks and sense of humor. I’m going to miss all the ridiculous things they say and do. I’m going to miss learning from them. Each of them have taught me so much and it is because of them that I am a better person. They’ve taught me to be patient and selfless. They've taught me what an alley-oop is, the names of all the Ninja Turtles, why Hulk is the best Superhero and the importance of dancing when it's Friday. They’ve opened my eyes to their world and reminded me time and time again to remember that there are so many lives outside of my own and that the world does not revolve around me. They've made me laugh, cry and scream. They’ve reminded me what I am passionate about and though I am sad to say goodbye to them I am excited to bring what they’ve taught me to Ireland and am excited to hear the stories of the children I will work with over there and learn from them.

      I think that when you are leaving people you care about you feel bad that it hurts so much. You feel like it shouldn’t hurt this much and it should not be this hard if you are truly excited for what lies ahead but some friends reminded me that the fact that it hurts to leave is a good thing because then that means that something worthwhile was built. It’d be easier to peace out of work with a “good riddance” attitude but then if I had that attitude then that would mean that there wasn’t anything worthwhile built. So the fact that it hurts I have learned is a good thing and is okay because it shows me that something meaningful was built.

    I would love some prayer as this week comes up and I say goodbye to my kids, their families, and their teachers. Pray that I would trust God with what will happen to them in the future and who will take over for me. Pray that Katie, Kristen, and I would have peace as we prep for what is ahead next week and check off the endless To-Do list of paperwork and packing. I am also excited to share with you that I now have 98% of my funds! I only need $28.18 on a monthly basis to be fully funded. Please be praying that I can be fully funded by May 30^th

As always thank you for your prayers and support! Let me know if there is anything I can be praying about for you.

Grace and Peace,

Amy Bergvall 

June/July Update

Hey Friends!  
   I hope you all are doing well and are enjoying the summer. It has been a crazy, busy summer for me between vacation, weddings, picking up more hours at work and church softball season but I have enjoyed every minute of it and I can't get enough of these beautiful warm nights we've been having here! I have managed to find some down time here and there though which has been so refreshing, So far things are still moving slowly as far as financial support goes. I am still set to deploy in Spring 2017 though and am continuing to learn to trust God that He will provide the funds I need in His time. He has taught me so much about what it means to have faith. He has shown me how I so easily do not trust Him unless I can see what He is doing. I have no problem trusting Him when He answers my prayers or shows me visibly in small ways through conversations with others that He is with me and working but when my prayers go unanswered or when I don't see Him visibly at work, I struggle to believe He's really there and really working.
  A few Sundays ago, my pastor preached on the story of Abraham and how his faith was tested when God asked him to sacrifice his son Isaac as an offering. So Abraham took his son, loaded his donkey and headed to the mountain God told him to go to. Just as he was about to sacrifice his only son, God called out to him and told him not to lay a head on his son, Isaac.God then provided a ram for Abraham to sacrifice instead of his son. God saw that Abraham feared him and showed he had faith in Him.
  My pastor told us that this story teaches us 3 things. The first is that it reminds us that God is all-knowing and He knows what is going to happen before and after. The second thing he told us is that it reminds us that our ability to trust God will be tested. The last thing was that it provides a clear picture of the Gospel as it shows His providence.
  I have found that as I raise support for Ireland and prepare for Ireland that I do not trust God's providence and control. I worry about funding, my ministry placement and the reality of what living abroad on my own for 2 years will look like. I worry about being far away from family and friends for so long. I worry about what those 2 years will hold. However, I was reminded more recently that God is in control, He knows what's going to happen and He will provide. I don't always know how, but He will.
   He has reminded me that He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Which means that the same God that provided for people like Noah, Abraham, Esther, Joseph, David and Moses is with me too. It can be easy for us to separate ourselves from people in the Bible because some of us may have heard the stories so many times, they begin to sound almost fictional to us and loose their impact but they are more than mere stories for our own personal entertainment, they are examples of God's providence and power. They are reminders that we are not alone in our journeys as we seek God and learn to trust Him with the details of our lives and pursue the things that bring glory to Him.
    I hope you were encouraged in some way today by this update and I look forward to sharing with you the things that God is teaching me as I continue to pursue Ireland. Please continue to pray for those in Ireland who do not know Jesus as their Savior and that they would hunger for Christ.
Have a great weekend!

Grace and Peace,
Amy

Financial Update: