Posts Tagged ‘Missionairies’

This Relationship is Too Much Work

Posted: May 28, 2020 by Patrice Miles in C.A.R.E. Africa, Miles In Missions, Missionaries, Patrice Miles, Prayer
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Screen Shot 2020-05-28 at 10.06.07 AMLately, my relationship with the Lord has been a lot of work. Coming back to the United States and leading C.A.R.E. Africa from afar has not been as easy as I thought.

Lack of purpose – not being able to be hands on with the ministry in Nigeria.
Lack of identity – “Missionary” is a weird word to use when you don’t live in a far-off country.
Lack of joy -God made me an extrovert and now I work alone from home every day.

Since being stateside, I have continually asked God what His purpose was in bringing me back to the United States. What am I supposed to be doing? What is this new chapter in my life? I feel sick, heartbroken and I want to be healed but all I hear is silence.

76710897_10157714046358808_16463361264844800_nThis last year, I have spent time rekindling my relationships with friends and family. We get together for a meal, coffee or a walk in the park. The more time we spend together the more the relationship grows. If I have a problem I can call or text and talk it out with them. It feels easy and there is definitely not any silence.

I feel like my relationship with the Lord should be easier than my relationship with humans, after all, He is God. I meet with Him every day to study His word and ask Him for guidance and wisdom. I invest daily in this relationship and lately I have not felt a return on this investment.

Is God’s investment in my life His son’s death and I am now indebted to Him forever?

girlYes, eternal life is worth it! I don’t deserve to ask for anything more as He has given me everything needed. But sometimes it feels like obedience is all there is in this relationship. Be patient on His timing, love that person, sell everything we own, forgive that family member, move to Nigeria, give that money away, tithe, live humbly, move back from Nigeria, give grace to that one, lead like Jesus, don’t judge, just wait, treat your body like it is a temple, rest, don’t do that, do that. 

It’s just that I would do anything for my friends and family. I would not be silent. If you ask Cason or Jolie what their mom would do if anyone did something to hurt them- they would tell you – “She would take no prisoners..!” If they had a problem I would drop everything and be there to help. If they needed to be healed and I could heal them, I would.

I feel like with God I always need to be on my knees or be at His feet, always praying (oftentimes pleading) to Him in the hope He will speak clearly to me. Why can’t God heal me like the cripple at the pool in John 5:1-9. The cripple didn’t even initiate the conversation. Jesus did. The cripple just answered His question and was immediately healed.

Really? Why do I feel like I have to do something or give up something for God to do something for me?

I feel suffocated, required, demanded, controlled, enslaved and indebted. 

God’s love, as clearly described in the Bible, is unconditional. This just makes the silence  harder to understand. The Bible says in Matthew 11:30 that His yoke is easy but I am not feeling the easy right now.

As a mom, I don’t want my children to feel suffocated, required, demanded, controlled, enslaved or indebted. Yes, I carried them for 9 months, they ruined my body and continue to drain my bank account, but I don’t want a relationship built on obligation. I don’t currently hang out with the Lord out of obligation but I’m feeling like it is heading that direction if this silence continues.

Have you experienced silence from God before?
Has there been a time you questioned if He really cared?
What got you through this?
What helped you maintain your faith, hope and joy amongst the silence?

Here We Are, Send Us Back!

Posted: October 15, 2015 by Patrice Miles in C.A.R.E. Africa, Egbe, Egbe Hosptial, Egbe Nigeria, Fundraising, Lenny Miles, Miles In Missions, Missionaries, Nigeria, Orphans, Patrice Miles, People of Egbe, Prayer, SIM
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IgoSAIAH 6:8 THEN I HEARD A VOICE OF THE LORD SAYING, “WHOM SHALL I SEND? AND WHO WILL GO FOR US?” AND I SAID, “HERE AM I SEND ME!”

HERE WE ARE! SEND US BACK! It has been over two years since we said “Yes” to God and sold everything we owned and moved to Egbe, Nigeria. Many of you have journeyed with us in prayer and or financial support over the past two years and we cannot thank you enough. We are excited to be on home assignment for the next 3 months. During this time we will be traveling the U.S. to share our story, do debriefings with our agency, work at the Global Missions Health Conference and so much more.

Lenny is in phase two of revitalizing the hospital. Construction work has slowed and he is now working towards discipleship of the construction staff in both construction and spiritual growth. The hospital administration is also in phase two as most of the buildings are built and equipment is in place. We now need short term and long-term medical missionaries to say “YES” DSC_9862and join us in Egbe.     

C.A.R.E. Africa has grown and we now care for 25 orphans. We still have many applicants that want to join our program but we are waiting on God to show us next steps in this ministry. C.A.R.E. Africa is also exploring synergies with Spring of Life, which is an HIV clinic that evangelizes to the community through HIV testing and counseling. God continues to use us in Egbe as the needs are big.

Screen Shot 2015-08-21 at 4.45.51 PMPlease come out to our open house in Louisville, KY @ Southeast Christian Church on Thursday Nov 5th from 6pm-7pm so we can share the past two years with you through videos and stories of our time in Egbe. There will be catered food, African handmade products, unbelievable videos and pictures even from Cason and Jolie. Our time is short in Louisville and this may be the only way for us to see several of you.

We are excited about continuing with SIM as long-term missionaries in 2016. We were blessed with many financial supporters over the past two years but due to other obligations several have been unable to continue to journey with us financially. We will need to raise an additional $2,500 a month in monthly supporters to make up for the ones that are unable to continue with us. We also have a goal to raise $20,000 for ministry projects, as well as one time fees needed for things like airfare back to the field. We know God will provide and have already booked our tickets back to Egbe for Jan 3rd, 2016. Will you come and journey with us?

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Miles Family Pic

   

Fundraising Has Started and the Date is Set For August

Posted: February 28, 2013 by Patrice Miles in Fundraising
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Appeal Letter Mailed

Appeal Letter Mailed

We are so excited to have started the process of fundraising. Over 500 letters went out over the past 30 days and we have already seen God bless our ministry through this. We received our budget from Egbe and we were a little shocked at the amount. We will need $6,500 a month in support for the next two years. In addition we will need $25,000 in one time set up costs. We were amazed to find out the Egbe team has committed $1,000 a month to our budget. In addition we have filed our application with Southeast Christian Church. They will give up to $2,000 a month towards our budget once approved. We won’t know until May if we are their 62nd approved missionary. This process has been very humbling and we are excited to open peoples eyes to the blessing they can experience by supporting this ministry. Our family will be heading to SIM for two weeks starting March 8th. We will be attending training all day on fundraising, culture, budgets and more. There is a teacher on site that will keep the kids up to date on their school work and will also be educating them on Nigeria. Once we return Patrice will complete her transition out of her Realtor role. April will be our first month with very little income and possibly packing and moving to our parent’s house. The date is set for August and starting in April we will be focused on fundraising and preparing for our journey. Please prayerfully consider supporting us by clicking on the donate button above.