May 2022

what has been going on?

May has been a huge month!

Over the past month a lot happened and I am beyond thankful for Gods provision. At the start of April I had just started sharing info and asking for people to contribute to helping raise funds for my gap year program, this month God has been answering these prayers in such amazing ways. I have been learning so much.

As many of you know I have been working at Focus on the Family as part of the Welcome Centre Team (for those of you are familiar with ‘Adventures in Odyssey’ I worked in Whit’s End). I have really enjoyed working with a team that loves God and encourages me. God aligned this job opportunity so well and through connection with Diane Ingolia (the coolest boss ever) and her husband Roger I was not only encouraged to serve with joy at work but I also was able to find great community at my Church and was constantly encouraged by them to walk in obedience to the Lord in obvious ways. My co-workers became some of my close friends and I enjoyed laughs, sing-a-longs and prayers with them all. I just finished up my last week working at Whit’s End and although it was a short time I learned so much about patience, learning to serve with humility and the power of a smile. Thanks Focus Team, I will miss you guys.

I finished up working at F.O.T.F because I am spending my summer in Dayton, Ohio with my Grandpa. I am so excited to have some more free time and spend time with friends and family. God has provided the opportunity to take part in a church camp with a friend which is coming up on June 13th and later this month I am heading to Dallas to go to the “Together ‘22” conference with a group of young adults. Please be praying for both these events, that they might both stir a new passion to follow Christ in young peoples hearts and lead them into deeper intimacy with Christ.

I still have some things to get done before the program starts on August 4th, so please keep me in your prayers that I may be productive and efficient. Some of the things I need to do before August are explore insurance policies for the mission field, gather the rest of my gear needed for outdoor excursions and continuing to contact you, my friends and family, so that you can know what I am doing and are able to intercede for me fervently.

I want to update you on my current fundraising status. After only two months of prayer and fundraising, God has so beautifully provided almost all of what I need for the following year. I still need approximately 1-2 thousand to cover travel immunisation, insurance, and gear costs; concerning this I have so much peace that God will provide as I continue to trust in Him.

To those of you who have been praying for me. THANK YOU. Your prayers have been so powerful in helping me live in the fullness of God’s promises and I am so grateful to have prayer warriors like you interceding for me!

To those of you who have generously donated to my program… WOW! Through your kindness I am going to be able to dive deeper into the word and share the life saving gospel internationally. I am so excited to keep you updated and I will forever praise God for you taking action on being the ‘senders’ which allow people like me to ‘go’.

To finish this update, I would like to share with you a small story. From the start of January this year, I heard Isaiah 6:8 at least once a week until I finally applied for the E4 Life Gap Year Program. This verse says, ‘Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I; send me”’. After I had applied I didn’t hear this verse again up until last week. When I heard it God reminded me of why I was fundraising, of why I was spending so much of my time trying to tell people about what I was doing. God reminded me that I wasn’t doing this program to meet new people, travel or even to experience His faithfulness. No. I am doing this program because God loves me and I love Him; I am responding to a call of service. God wants us all to live out this verse. Today I challenge you, is your response to God’s call, “Here I am, send me,” or is it more along the lines of “Here I am but please let me get my life in order, let me deal with this addiction and fix this relationship and then I will try to go”.

Go where you are and share this TRUE LOVE!

I could not feel more joy as I write this letter knowing that the King of heaven and earth loves us enough to have an intimate relationship with us and He wants us to share that… with EVERYONE.

I love and miss you all!

From Luke

“God wen get so plenny love an aloha fo da peopo inside da world, dat he wen send me, his one an ony Boy, so dat everybody dat trus me no get cut off from God, but get da real kine life dat stay to da max foeva.” John 3:16 HPB