Me and My Shadow

Emily came to me last semester and said that she was strongly considering guest house ministry overseas one day.  Would I mind if she shadowed me to get her feet wet here in the States?

I freely admit I would have never thought of it myself, and had no idea how it would work.  Maybe it would be really boring for her.  My day-to-day involvement in guest house ministry is far from glamorous.

However, a couple people encouraged me to take this opportunity.  (It was an answer to my prayers, anyway, since I'd been asking the Lord for more ways to get to know students.)

It's been fun to get to know Emily over the last several months.  Each Thursday after lunch, she comes to the office and we grab a cup of tea before digging in to the afternoon's work.

She's asked lots of questions and willingly rolled up her sleeves for anything hands-on.

We've cleaned, organized our supplies room, swapped mattresses (that was a workout!), run to the store for supplies, changed lock codes, looked at our booking site, talked about philosophies behind décor and other choices, done online shopping, discussed future projects, and more.

Emily has been eager to learn - which is always encouraging to see - and she's been a great practical help.

I asked her if she'd mind sharing a bit about herself and her future plans with you.  Here's what she said:
 
I am the second to youngest of six and love family.  I grew up home-schooled and my siblings were some of my best friends.  I'm from western Massachusetts and lived in the same house all my life before coming to Bible School in the fall of 2016.  I would consider myself an organized homebody who loves to do anything outdoors/active and enjoys meeting with people one on one.  My immediate plans [after graduating in May] are going back home to work and build relationships with those in my area.  I look forward to spending time with my parents and younger brother at home, too.  Then, I would eventually like to do support work through Ethnos360 in Papua New Guinea.  My dream would be to run a guest house for missionaries who visit the base there.  I have absolutely loved working with Rachel and getting hands-on experience here in the States.

How exciting to think about how God will use Emily in the future and to get to do even a small bit of life and ministry together now!

(Thanks, Emily, for your heart to learn and serve and for sharing about yourself on here today.  You encourage me!)