Off to the Mission Field

Found here, along with other fascinating facts about Pohnpei SDA School

This morning Sam and I were up and on the road at 5:00, on our way to LAX to see off Briana, Stepdaughter #2 to Pohnpei in the Marshall Islands. She will be teaching second graders at a small Christian school that is out in the middle of what looks like a tropical jungle. Above is an aerial photo of the school grounds and teacher housing. Apparently, this school has a reputation in the region for excellence, which we are very glad about. There are several other Christian schools with whom the students debate and play sports, so they are not as isolated as this picture connotes.
Briana, her sisters, mother and grandmother, looked positively exhausted this morning. They left their home at around 3:30 to be at the airport on time. Briana was excited and even though her mother and sisters tried not to cry, she seemed to be thinking about her destination. She and her college roommate are going to the same school. As we were standing in line at the airport Sam ran into the parents of another student missionary who is going to the island of Palau to teach second grade at a school there. I saw the parents of a young girl from our town who is also going to Pohnpei for a year. All the students are taking off a year from college to serve, and in return are getting some college credit and a life changing experience.
They will first go to Hawaii for four days of orientation and preparatory education with student missionaries from all over North America. From there, they will take a variety of large planes and puddle jumpers to their respective destinations.
We are very excited about Briana's choice to go abroad, and to serve. As she tells it, she heard other student missionaries speak at her college chapel assembly one day, and the tears rolled down her cheeks. She felt compelled to volunteer. So did her roommate. They talked about it at length and then signed up together. I am so glad she is answering the call of God in this way. She has questioned whether or not she wants to study medicine (I think she'll take social work, nursing, or education) and she feels that she needs a clean break from school with some experience to be able to put her future in perspective. This should be a year of great spiritual and emotional growth for her--I hope.
And so as she hugged us all and told us she loved us, I couldn't help but think of the great Christian missionaries of yesteryear: Hudson Taylor, Amy Carmichael, Jim Elliott, William Tyndale, Albert Schweitzer. All headed off into the uncertain horizon of disease, hostilility, misunderstanding, and discouragement. But Christianity took root and became a healing and mobilizing force that could not be quenched even by revolutions, progroms, and dictators. As we speak, Briana is on a five-hour plane trip. Her spiritual fathers and mothers got on ships that took three months to cross stormy, dangerous oceans. She has a year's worth of medicines for every occasion: infections, digestive problems, skin eruptions. Her forefathers had prayer, caution, and common sense.
We worry about tsunamis, earthquakes, and sharks in the reef. And these are the least of what could happen over there. I know that out of real challenges and pain comes spiritual growth. As Dostoyevski wrote, "It is not as a child that I believe and confess Jesus Christ. My hosanna is born of a furnace of doubt." I look back on several excruciating junctures in my life that in retrospect, gave me spiritual discernment, perserverance, and taught me both how to trust, and to step forward on my shaky faith and beliefs. They became mature and strengthened by being challenged. This is what could happen in Pohnpei during the next 10 months.
Into God's hands we place Briana today. We are excited, hopeful, supportive, and in prayer for her. New beginnings can be tremendous opportunities.