Living in New Haven

So I just moved to New Haven yesterday and there is a lot of work to do. I'm basically living in a "fixer-uper" second-story apartment of a house - having to repaint everything... However I am living with two other great girls and we are all in this together. We live in a low-income area of New Haven - however, close enough to town (and everything else) that I don't feel like I have to travel far to anything (except for the boarding schools which I will start to travel to later in September).

I am psyched to be here. Although it might be hard to sense God's "affirmation" with so much grunt work to get settled, I definitely sensed another "wave" of it today in church. I will mostly likely attend a non-denominational church in town with many other like-minded, missional people (including my roommates). Definitely the kind of community I need. In fact, on my seat at this evening's service was a flyer describing the different homegroups in the community that people can attend. Here is the description of the one I plan to go to:

"The group will be open to anyone, but will be particularly focused on helping people to process issues of life and calling that are related to return from past or preparation for future overseas work and service, particularly in the Muslim world. There will be a strong emphasis on personal sharing and on focused prayer for one another, as well as on worship and on biblically based discussion of practical life issues." (italics-mine).

(it is led by a couple with two young children who live two houses away, who have been missionaries for a time in Turkey)

Needless to say, I feel more confirmed to be in this setting, at this time, than any other season of my life (maybe an exaggeration, but it feels pretty real!).

That said, I also need prayer for perseverance - to get through the long and physically arduous process of settling in, as well as relationally settling into an unknown place. Even more, I pray for time to really pray and dedicate the year ahead to the Lord. I'm not sure exactly what I will face as a "boarding school minister" - but I trust that He has clearly led me to this point. So, while I continue to process South Africa and the West Bank, there is a lot of personal growth ahead, which is another main reason why I took this job, and another area for spiritual diligence.

Thank you for reading, and I look forward to relaying messages here about God at work in community in New Haven, and also among boarding school students in New England.

For those that don't know where New Haven, Connecticut is (or Connecticut, for that matter), here are some helpful maps:)