Next Steps : The Practicum & Boutique
When we started this blog, Renee and I decided that “Fearless Pursuit of Destiny” would be like good Japanese food: often raw and transparent, sometimes smelly, but always tasty. Today is no exception.
It’s the last days of my writing school and next week I’ll start the practicum. It’s a three-month period where me and other writers will write under supervision, with regular peer critique groups, prayer, intercession, and worship times together.
I’m doing the practicum because I strongly believe that writing is a ministry and that I have been called to that ministry. You can read more about that in my previous blog posts, Writing Is a Mission Field and Why I Must Write.
Renee will continue her ministry in the Boutique, which practically helps YWAM staff and students by providing clothing, homewares, and personal items for free. Renee actively disciples and encourages work-duty students who have been assigned to the Boutique.
God reminded Renee and me that community is very important to Him. Writers can be a secluded and lonely bunch, but it’s His design to bring them together to strengthen and equip them for what is to come. During the practicum, when I’ll be around other writers, we’ll lift each other to higher places than we could have reached alone.
However, to see all of those things take place, Renee and I will need to see a breakthrough. Let me explain …
Since leaving Australia a year ago, Renee and I have had some income through her nanny work and my research writing in Switzerland, but many of our expenses have been covered through our savings. To meet the writing school costs (including airfare and health insurance), we received a very generous donation from some good friends.
And now, the fees for the three-month practicum—for food, tuition, and housing—come to $5,395 USD, which we do not have. To those of you who have come along on this journey with us, would you consider supporting Renee and me through a financial contribution?
It’s normal for all of us, whenever we’re spending money, to weigh up what we’ll receive in return and whether that represents good value. Is that gourmet burger worth the $15 price tag? How about that $500 car repair?
So what can Renee and I offer you in return for your hard-earned money that will make this worthwhile for you?
Besides our deep gratitude—nothing.
In the calculations of this world, it will be the worst way to invest your money. However, there is another kingdom to consider, where the calculations are different. It’s God’s kingdom, where the Creator of the universe, the owner of cattle on a thousand hills, still chooses to champion community.
It’s by working together for God’s eternal purposes that we all benefit. I might be the one mashing my keyboard to find that combination of letters that will touch the hearts of hurting and lonely middle graders—and Renee might be the one coming alongside the Boutique work crew—but you can be part of the community that made it possible.
You can donate with a credit (or debit) card by clicking the button below. Any amount is appreciated and would be a great encouragement to our work here.
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
2 Corinthians 9:6-8