As many of you know I have been hoping and praying that God would allow me to return to Pemba, Mozambique. I first visited Iris right before my junior year in high school, since that time God has worked in my life and given me a heart for cross-cultural missions. I have been asking him for four and half years to let me return to Mozambique and go through Iris’ Harvest School, a school that is intended to train up missionaries and send them out to the world. This summer seemed like a good summer to be out of the country, so I applied to the school and I got in and my excitement has just continued to grow!
During my time in Pemba I will attend classes every morning which will focus on walking in obedience to God and to his mission. In the afternoons I will have optional talks from guest speakers and cultural workshops. During my time there I will go on two outreaches. These trips take us out into bush where there is no electricity and no running water. My past outreaches have been times where I have had to rely fully on Christ and not at all on my strength, perseverance, or control. I am expectant about continuing to learn about this. On Fridays the mission students will partner with local Mozambicans or long-term missionaries and spend all day practically serving. Then on Sundays we will have the opportunity to serve with the local Mozambican church.
There are multiple things I am looking forward to. I am excited about being in an environment of students and families that love the Lord and are eager to lay down their lives for him. I am eager to be in a place where I can learn about missions through missionaries, pastors, AND through hands-on serving. I really do believe that God has so much in store for me. I know that I will learn so much through our class time, living in a home with international students, and learning from Mozambicans. My prayer is that this upcoming summer will prepare me more and more for a lifetime of laying down my life for the glory of God and the coming of his kingdom. I am also very expectant about stepping back into relationship with many of the Iris children that I have grown to love over the years.
If you are interested in investing in what God is doing in my life there are multiple ways that you could support me. First, and most importantly, I need prayer. I really need prayer as I prepare to go; that I would be grounded in the love and grace of God and that I would trust him fully. I also would love it if you could pray that I would be able to bring back and be faithful to all that God will entrust to me during my time in Pemba. Another way to invest in what God is doing in my life is through financially supporting me. Over the next two and half months I will need to raise $5,000. This money will cover the school tuition, my living expenses, and my airplane tickets. I know this is a lot of money but I am trusting that if God wants me there it will be provided. Sending money directly to Iris is very complicated. The most convenient way to financially support me is by mailing a check (that made out to Emily Kuhn) to my Covenant College address. I will then use that money to either pay for my plane ticket or my school tuition.
