Closing the Door

I’ve prayed for awhile now as to how to approach this blog and even though the obvious is staring me in the face, it’s been moving forward that has been the problem as it will close a chapter in our lives for awhile if not permanently.  But there’s no point in putting it off any longer, because once that bridge is built you actually have to walk over it.

It is hard to write this, but as a family we are not able to move to Zambia and serve with Every Orphan’s Hope in the capacity that we had anticipated and prepared for. To those of you who know us intimately, you already know this; but to many of you who have either followed this blog or our family Facebook posts, we’ve been quiet about this for the last 6 months.

During that time, we had hoped that our break was just a temporary one from the pressure of entering the mission field, fundraising and all the preparation that we had done up to that point. But as time past, we saw that as a couple, Peter and I were and are still not theologically prepared for the mission field. This has been a very difficult pill to swallow and there are some very personal reasons as to why, but they are personal. We hope you all can respect that. 

So what does that mean now..

Well, not too much has changed.

Ok, so we sold our house and one of our cars; but we’ve found a wonderful town home to rent and the process of downsizing was so refreshing as we had the ability to refocus our lives from things to relationships with others. Peter bought a used Honda and it has actually worked out better as we are starting to take girls to different activities over the weekends. Selling the house wasn't the end of the world as it would seem after all. Even living in limbo the last year or so has really taught us some lessons that we are thankful for.

Needless to say, all of this has been an adjustment and this is also the reason why it has taken so long to write this last blog. As Mr. Banks sings in Mary Poppins “It’s quite a bitter pill to take”

We are so thankful for the support we have had from our friends and church during this process and although this door is closing; it’s not completely shut.

I have returned to my former position with the ministry as Program Manager for Short-Term Missions and Interns and have started taking on a few extra responsibilities as they fit my strengths. I am returning to my original blog that I began after my first mission trip. It’s a bit light right now, but I fully expect to see it grow as it will various topics that still focus on Zambia and Every Orphan’s Hope! God has blessed me with a heart for this ministry and until He moves me elsewhere this is where I will continue to serve. Feel free to check in from time to time if you’d like http://cherylgreif.blogspot.com.I’m looking forward to reopening that door.

With all this said, the greifsinzambia blog is officially closed for the present. May it be a short closing but if not, still to God be the glory. No one said it would be easy if they made the Lord the master of their steps, but it has had it blessings along the way so I will continue to count them and not look back with any regret.

I know some of you may say I didn’t need to write this, that you needed no explanation. You’re right. I really didn’t write this for you, but for my own closure. 

To God be the glory in everything I do.

Cheryl Greif

Reflecting on 2013

The year of 2013 was a year of momentous decisions for our family.

We began that year with answering God's call to serve orphans and widows as full-time missionaries in Zambia, Africa through an organization called Every Orphan's Hope. This wasn't an out-of-the-blue decision as we had been serving in various facets of this ministry since 2010, but it was a leap of faith to depend on our Lord for every need we would have.

As I look back on this journey that we have begun, there have been some extremely exciting moments. The calling in itself sparked our adventurous spirits and at times, we found ourselves trying to outrun God's timing. But each of those moments, our Lord has either gently (or sometimes with a swift kick in the backside) put us back on His path and not our own.

The biggest lesson of 2013 for our family has been obedience. We have realized that our ways are not God's ways in very real experiences. Some of these have created extremely happy moments in our lives, while other instances have refined us to a point that were difficult to bear. Above all though we have found that God is present through each of these times.

We began our 2013 with a calling to prepare and that's exactly what we've done. Here are the highlights of our 2013:

We started that year with a new chocolate labradoodle puppy, Tobiah, and by the end of that year, we realized that Zambia wasn't the place for him. We found an amazing family who waited on us to make a decision and ultimately, he went to live with them in September 2013. We still have "visitation" times with him!

Preparation was the key to 2013 so that's what we did.

Looking through all those things that you have and no longer use is never fun. We made some decisions as to what would go with us to Zambia and what needed to bless others. We learned in that process that we are blessed well beyond what we deserve, and many of the items we had were never even used, being set aside for a special occasion that hadn't come. Looking at what you need is such a freeing experience. Lightening our load has given us a new perspective of ourselves; this lesson has been irreplaceable.

As the months passed, our preparation led us to another step: the selling of our house. Many have seen this as foolish but for us it was a lightening of our load we never anticipated. Part of the American Dream is to own a home. This is not a bad thing, but for us the home was a huge idol for us. We spent more time upgrading, manicuring and upkeep, which led to less time for relationships and serving. Selling our home of 13 years was an extremely freeing moment. We became completely untethered, able to go wherever God led us. What an awesome moment for both of us to be able to serve at a moments notice. So in September 2013 we became homeless.

Sadly, through all this preparation we did take a misstep and began to plan. We moved into a home with a lovely family, which I think they are still recovering from us. I've learned that our children are being raised as wild animals at times and I may need to actually step up a little on my structure of their behavior. I'm just joking, they are great, but we all act like a bunch of kids sometimes. We had a lot of fun the 3 months we lived with them, but it was during this decision we went ahead of God.

If you hadn't noticed this blog went silent for awhile. It wasn't until now that I was able to sit and write as I look back and see what has been of God and what has been our desires. I finally was able to realize what has happened through this Christmas holiday and this is the analogy I've come up with. I want you to imagine you have been given a present that you completely desire. For us, this present was to serve the Lord full-time in Zambia. We had prayed for God to show us how we fit into this picture and how He would use us. He did just that, but in the showing He never said exactly when; He just said prepare. So now pretend that this present sits on your table day in and day out. You look at it as a reminder of the plans He has for you but just like all of us, after awhile we want to just shake that box a little. For us, in the box is our departure date; I imagine it's the plane tickets, seat assignments and everything.

Well, we started shaking the box a little, then a little more. Everything looked like it was all in place for us to launch. Changes within the ministry showed us, undoubtedly, we were needed. A house in Zambia already furnished opened up for us. Fundraising was going well and so we set a date to depart. Huge mistake. We allowed the needs of the ministry to overshadow God's timing. Filling those needs are not wrong, but putting it before God's direction is not right. All of a sudden, we were leading the path and not letting the Lord lead us, thinking our ways were also God's. Not so.

We did set a date for the week of December 9th and we found God has a sense of humor. We saw that as we drew closer to that date, it was not going to occur. We realized that we went from "Preparation Mode" to "Planning Mode" something we were not asked to do. The week of December 9th we actually did move but not to where we expected. After living with the amazing Bell family, we realized it was time to move into a small apartment to readjust onto the path God sent us on and not our own. So we did move...

I love how God works with us, even when we take a misstep; He guides us back. With a loving hand, He picks us up, wipes our tears away and says let's start again. So 2013 ended with a new command from God, WAIT.

Waiting is hard. I am far from the picture of patience, but sitting still is essential to being led by the Lord. This lesson is also essential in the mission field. Our western tendencies are to act; many of us do that before thinking. As we prepare to live among a different culture, sitting still and watching is going to be an important portion of that ministry. We must learn to do that at home so we can do that in Zambia.

Now as we look toward 2014, God has asked us to continue serving at home with Every Orphan's Hope. I will return to my former position as Program Manager for Missions and will also begin learning the Sponsorship side of the ministry as the Sponsorship Coordinator will be on leave in June/July. Peter will also continue to learn about the aspects of the ministry and will use his talents to participate as needed. Our blogging and newsletter will be reflecting less on our journey for awhile and will focus more on the ministry.

So we have completed our year of preparation and we begin 2014 with waiting. Quite a different journey we are entering upon still encompassing dependence upon our Lord and an air of excitement, as we do not know what we will encounter each day but to do His will.

May we also encourage you to find moments to be still in God and seek His desires for you, too.

Orphan Sunday

Peter and I were privileged to hear Gary Schneider, founder and president of Every Orphan's Hope, speak on Orphan Sunday in 2009. From that moment, our journey with God to serve orphans and widows in Zambia began.

God has been amazing on this journey as we have had many ups and downs but our faith has grown in a way never imagined.

As today is Orphan Sunday 2013, I can't help but be thankful for the calling God has placed upon us. Even in the difficulties, we serve a great God who loved us first and calls us to love others. As we have learned over time, many orphans in the world are viewed as the least of these. I don't know about you, but every time I hug one of my girls, I can't help but also think of a child who doesn't receive that type of love because there isn't anyone there to share it.

To be called to be the hands and feet of Christ by showing love to the orphans in this world is priceless. To have the opportunity to give love but also receive their love in return, it's inexpressible. I pray each of you can connect with this movement as the number of orphans grows daily.

Today my words are overshadowed by those who can express this love of Jesus better than I, so I am sharing these videos with you.

Enjoy

http://vimeo.com/48047907
http://vimeo.com/72235614

New Creation

It's funny how when one looks back over their lives they can see change within themselves and others. Sometimes this transformation is good, other times not so much.

Over these last few weeks, Peter and I have had many conversations as to who we used to be and how we have been transformed by God. It's not that we were awful; we lived as "good" people and tried to do the best we could. All that trying was for ourselves though, for appearance' sake or to show how we compared to others. Looking at ourselves through God's eyes and seeing the new creation He has made  in us, we are thankful for who He is and how we have developed servant hearts for Him.

When Peter prepared to leave for Zambia two weeks ago, we found ourselves in another one of these conversations. We are embarking upon a new chapter in our lives that has little to do with us and everything to do with showing God the glory. I found myself sharing with Peter my feelings toward him and by the end of the conversation knew I also needed to share it with you.

Peter and I have been together for 20 years and met in college so we've seen many changes in each other's lives. We have had our rocky moments in our marriage and also wonderful ones. We have experienced monetary wealth and the lack of it, death of family members, divorce of friends and loved ones, and those arguments that you would never share with another. Each of these experiences has brought us closer together and created a bond between us that could not be replaced with another. We thought we couldn't get any better than what we had.

We had no idea that when we both accepted to walk together with God as our Lord and to commit our lives to Him that we could actually have a different marriage. We always trusted each other in our marriage and never have given the other a reason not to; but the trust that God created between us is unexplainable. I know that I can trust Peter with anything–and I mean absolutely anything–not because he's my husband or my friend, and not because he did anything to gain that trust, because I'm sure there are times he's disappointed me as I have him. Undoubtedly, we will also disappoint each other in the future, too. But over these last few years, I have seen a man grow to love the Lord more than he loves me and it's that aspect that allows me to completely give myself to him. 

Some of you reading this may have found that last comment quite odd, but knowing he loves God more than me lets me know that Peter will never lead me where God doesn't want me to go. If he is putting God first in his life before my desires, then whatever my course, it will always be with God. It may not always be the path of least resistance but through circumstances, my faith in God and my love for Peter have grown.

When I first met Peter, I just thought he was cute. He made me laugh which is something that is sometimes difficult to do; he still makes me laugh. There are times in our relationship that I have loved him and other times that I thought I might smack him upside the head! (I'm sure he feels the same about me even though he may not say it.) 

Now when I look at him, there is something completely different. I see a man that I respect, a man I trust and one I completely love no matter his faults. Not because he is perfect, far from it. It's because when I see him, he is striving to continually look straight at God. Even when he falls down, he is there with God asking for guidance and forgiveness. That's really all I need.

A few friends have said that they admire our leap of faith; it's not to be admired. If we took our focus off God for even a moment, we would probably fall to pieces. Some think it's nuts that we are doing this  as we have always been planners; sometimes we agree with them that it does appear crazy. 

But when we look to God's word and His promises, it's absolutely logical what we are doing. When we look back on our lives and no longer say, "I achieved this on my own doing" and actually see the places where God has led us on the path that we are now, we can see that we never had a plan but have been working straight toward His. The only difference is now we say, "Yes, Lord. We trust you." 

We pray that each of you will grow in your faith to say, "Yes, Lord. I trust you" in whatever path He is leading you. Whether it is for you to serve a neighbor across the street, serve the homeless or even move overseas to serve orphans and widows or preach the gospel.

Has God transformed your life? Can you look back and see His prints all over your path? 

2 Corinthians 5:17 - "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old is gone, the new is here!"

Special Update

Dear Family, Friends and Followers!!!

We are excited to begin to announce our next phase in this journey our Lord is leading us on. As we have sold our home and placed our items into storage, God has blessed us with a family that has graciously taken us in "indefinitely." We love that they have no limits on their willingness to serve God through providing a home for our family, but ultimately we are being called to serve as full-time missionaries in Zambia.

So our next step is to actually begin the process of moving to Zambia. We have currently put together an anticipated budget, but as you know with all budgets, we really won't know until we arrive.

Currently, we have raised through monthly partners $1,620 which will cover our rent. Although we would like to be fully funded, we also know that this has been a journey of faith and our Lord will provide.

If you find that God has been leading you to become a monthly partner or even make a one-time donation, please click on the DONATE button to contribute toward our daily bread for Every Orphan's Hope.

Blessings,
Peter & Cheryl Greif

This Isn't Easy

It's been awhile since we've last blogged; it's almost impossible to find even a moment to sit down and write. Packing up our home was an adventure in itself. How many times have you pulled out that random item from a drawer and said, "What does that go to?" If you're like me, the immediate answer would be, "I'll figure it out later," and then you throw it back in. Well, later finally came and our choices were to figure it out, give it away or determine if it was useless and throw it away. Sadly, some items didn't make it into storage.

On our last day in the house, Peter had to go fly a trip and I had to do a walk-through with the new owner. Our friend and realtor came to help me and upon realizing I had a few last minute items to get out of the garage and attic, he offered to lend a hand. As I'm up in the attic, I called down, "Hey Derrek! Grab this bumper will you!" Yes, we actually had a Mazda Miata bumper in our attic. I still don't know why, that's only a question Peter can answer. We had a few odd items to say the least.

But our house sold, we moved all the items we were keeping into storage for the shipping container and took just the basics to our new home, the Bell's house. What a blessing they have been! Offering to take us in as we weren't even sure where we were going to go while we tried to wrap up fundraising. Living now in a house of 8 can seem a bit hectic, but their willingness to accept us into their home has made the first of many transitions into the life of missionaries quite easy to tell the truth.

Whoa!!! Isn't the title to this blog "This Isn't Easy"? You are probably thinking that selling your home, moving in with friends and trying to morph into this missionary family is anything but easy. You're right, but you're wrong.

We've actually been finding out that those were the easy parts. It wasn't fun selling our house, but compared to now, that was a cake walk. We have this giant gorilla in the room every time we talk to dearly loved ones in our family. It's becoming difficult. We all know we are on the cusp of departing and the final step is attaining just "enough" funds to have our basic needs met in Zambia.

It's so hard to even begin to express this gorilla that likes to sit at our table. Some of us in the family are able to talk about it better than others, but for the most part it's that unbearable silence where no one knows what to say.

These last few weeks, I have been reminded in either the girl's Bible curriculum or in my own devotionals about Abraham and Moses. I don't know about you, but when I look at our patriarchs, they enter onto a pedestal so high that I forget they were human. Thankfully, the Lord has reminded me over the last few weeks that they are not superhuman after all.

I've found myself wondering what it must have felt like when Abraham was asked to leave his home and extended family and go to a land that he didn't know. How did he say goodbye to his parents or any siblings he had? Did they think he was crazy for following God in such a way that they couldn't comprehend?

Or Moses, he sees the burning bush that doesn't burn and then it talks to him. Once he hears that God is asking him to go back to Egypt, he doesn't jump up and down and say "awesome!" but he argues with God. Now that's me! I'm thankful to know that there are people in the Bible that have to be told multiple times to do something and still they wrestle with the way God wants them to do it. It gives me peace to know that I'm not the only stubborn person in this world.

We saw our oldest daughter, Danielle, this past weekend. When we drove up to Missouri for our visit, there was already a stress in the car. It was not going to be a fun visit; the gorilla was there the whole time. If you have older children that have moved out of the house, you may still have a few of their items in your home. We definitely did and it was time to hand them over. It was fun for her to see many of her old items again and watch her walk out in her monkey slippers; but the reason she had to receive them was not the highlight of our weekend.

Some days we just want to shout, "This wasn't our plans!" Ours were very different and as we are watching tears flow from not only their eyes but our own, all we can say is this isn't easy.... part of you just wants to find a way to make it stop; but then...I am reminded of Moses. (Didn't see that coming, did you?)

My favorite part of the argument as to whether Moses should go to Egypt and confront Pharaoh or not is when he says, "Who am I that I should go?" and God's response is simple, "But I will be with you." That hits me each time I've read it this week. In the moments that my heart has hurt over talking to family and feeling their pain, to hugging my oldest daughter this weekend and not wanting to let go, there has been a peace of the Lord throughout. We have ultimately relied on him to carry us through this. We couldn't have done this any other way.

As we all have this gorilla in our room right now, we are falling upon our Lord and calling out to him for peace. He is such a gracious God for he has provided that gentle whisper each time: "I am with you." And that will be what continues to bring us through these next few months as it will continue to not be easy.

Danielle (center) with Alyson (left) and Brittan (right)

Mother and Daughter

The Glory to Him

About a week ago, I finished a biography about George Muller, an 1800's missionary who provided for orphans in Bristol, England. I was completely inspired by his faith in the Lord's provision. If you don't know his story, during his adult life he cared for thousands of orphans. To sum up how he did this, one simple word: "Prayer." Quoted in the Liverpool Mercury upon his death: "How was this wonder accomplished? Mr. Muller has told the world that it was the result of 'Prayer.' The rationalism of the day (which is still here today) will sneer at this declaration; but the facts remain."

I won't be a complete spoiler if you want to read his story, but his prayer life inspired me. God's provision was always there for him no matter the circumstance. I'm sure there were times that it wasn't as apparent as others but he showed a steadfast faith that caught my admiration.

My prayers changed as soon as I read his story. Instead of saying, "God, IF you want this please send supporters"; I changed to "God, you have lead us on this path and I trust you completely. We know you will provide. Please grow my faith in your promised provisions. Help me be steadfast just as George Muller."

This has become my constant prayer and it is one that will only show glory and not anything that I did. This is what I long to see. In my rational mind, I don't know how He provides, but I know He does and I know He will.

So fast forward to yesterday. (Does that even make sense?)

God is SO GOOD! That sums it up. He placed someone in my path yesterday that I had never met before and vice versa. We just started talking about our girls in their gymnastics classes. I was content to have that conversation and leave it at that, but God had other plans. It started simple; I shared how He led us to home school the girls. No big deal.

Then, He just laid it on my heart, so simple: "Tell her what I have called your family to do."

My response might surprise you: "REALLY! Can't I just be a 'normal' person for once?" When I say "normal," what I really mean is to be worldly minded and not heavenly minded at that moment. Those of you that know me; well, you know what I did. I started my internal arguing with God. It went something like this:

Can't I just sit here and watch Brittan do her gymnastics?
I mean really, this lady doesn't want to know about this.
To tell the truth, God, I just don't feel like it today. I'm tired of telling the story; I just want to be.

And so on and so forth I go; but I always lose these arguments and all I can say is, "Thank you God for always winning."

So, it starts with the simplest comment of whenever we look back at our lives, we can see God's fingerprints all over it from why He led us down the path of homeschooling the girls. And it begins...

But here is the amazing thing. It's what she told me in the end. This dear woman looked at me and said:

"I have been praying to God to give me an opportunity to be a good steward with my money. I have a generous heart and want to give for His kingdom." She said she was so glad she sat down and started talking to me because God led her to me. As she and I parted ways, she said "I will be giving to your family to help you serve Him in Zambia. I don't know what it will be, but God will let me know just as He has led me here today."

So can I just say WHOA!

When I told Peter about this, he said, "Both of your prayers collided, can you see it?" I didn't see it that way but he was right. Both of us were praying to God to be obedient in some form. In my case to trust in His provision and in hers to find a way to provide.

So often I have sat there and prayed for things but in the end I would say: "Well, I did this; I put together that; I sent out this; I talked to them...." Do you see a pattern? 

I like to sing it in scale: "me, me, me, me, me, me, me." LOOK AT ME!!! 

We forget so often that we have done very little. God gives us each a path and we choose which one we would like. He's on each path, but some lead us along rockier ground than others. But whatever that path is, we will continue "Choosing His Path."

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God." Philippians 4:6 (ESV)

I did originally want to give you all an update to where we are with the house sale and fundraising; but I'm thankful to share God moving.

The quick update is that we are at $790 monthly which is just a bit shy of 10% funded. Our house is under contract and has a closing date of Sept. 19. We will move in with friends as we complete the fundraising process and all that's left is for Peter to give notice to his job. What does that mean? We could be on Zambian ground within 45-60 days.

Is God moving your heart just as He did with the woman that I met this week? We are in need of your partnership and are officially free to leave when we are funded. Were you waiting for precisely this moment before you wanted to give?

Please click on the DONATE button on this blog to give toward our Daily Bread if you would also like to show God's provision to us.