Invitation

Dear Loved Ones,

¨You have already been pruned for greater fruitfulness by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful apart from me.¨ John 15:4

It is with great love and hope that I write to you, my dear friends.

This past summer I have been in Paraguay studying Spanish. While I’ve been here I feel as though God has called me to a unique season of pruning. Not a season of distance and loneliness, but a season rich in movement –an active process of stretching and releasing, growing and fading.

In all of this I believe that God’s voice has distinctively spoken and directed I stay in Paraguay for this coming semester. My confidence in staying comes from repetitive words that the Spirit of God spoke. The story of Jonah –a man who could not escape from the Lord and the Lord’s call –had significant and specific weight in my decision. It is with this news I write to express my hope for a partnership with my family and friends this coming semester. I am writing to invite you along with me on this journey.

I will be spending my remaining four months in Paraguay at a local orphanage. I am not becoming an orphan boy; none of the children there are orphans. I am purposely and seriously calling God to be my Father, my provider. I am also calling out God’s promise that the Kingdom of God is near –it is amongst us.

I look forward to simple meals, hard, daily chores –being physically and mentally drained by the end of the day. I look forward to dusty walks on the trail near the orphanage. I look forward to sharing my life with 200 beautiful children. I look forward to learning Spanish.

It is my prayer that I live this life with a certain urgency. Not an unhealthy, materialistic urgency, but a calm assurance that God is leading. He is speaking. He is present. I will miss you all greatly for the four months I will be gone and I am confident that our reunion will be rich. I anticipate wonderful stories, food, and laughter.

I am going to commit to making weekly updates of my travels –a collection of stories intermixed with thoughts and prayers. It has been quite hard for me to write my experiences down in coherent thoughts and complete sentences the first two months of my travels. I now believe that in some ways I have thought of my experience with selfish motives, but it has become very clear to me that I am going to need you all the next four months. I am excited to travel with you all.

I look forward to hearing your voices soon. May God keep us all safe and in His care until we see each other again.

Your Friend,
JON BIRNEY