Update: This time, the destination is in the journey.

Dearest Friends and Family,

I need to update you on the change in travel plans that the Lord has delivered in the last few days.

I've withdrawn from pursuing a STINT in Sweden this year.

My heart is just as broken today as it was two weeks ago for that country and those students, but the finances just have not come through and the deadlines have passed. Perhaps the Lord will provide the means later, and perhaps he will provide a different way to go there altogether. Thank you for praying for wisdom, guidance, and encouragement--and thank you for being a bearer of each of those to me as we undertook this step of faith together. If you've already sent a check to headquarters, the regional team is letting me know very soon how you can withdraw your support or how to re-direct it to others on my team if you'd like. I'll pass that official info on as soon as I receive it via email, blog, and letter.

In the meanwhile (the last 24 hours, actually) there have been a couple of 'plan B' options open up--some talk of late-admission graduate programs in Biblical studies, etc. The response from my philosophy and religion department at WCU has been so gracious and overwhelmingly supportive (since I was there when I got the call and had to make the decision). I'm pretty excited about what that all means for getting the academic side of my future underway (one of my initial draws to Sweden) so we will see how God directs those plans and conversations over the next few days. I've also been thinking about collegiate ministry options state-side simultaneously with seminary/academic training. I'd love to talk more about that with you sometime soon. Keep praying for Sweden, keep praying for the STINTers who will continue their work there, keep praying that God will graciously reveal himself again and again. Pray that we will be ready and open to receive that beautiful gift.

Anyway, I thought that I'd let you know all this--things are going to be momentarily hectic as I start to tell others, but they should slow down soon.

I'm praying that even today we will be spurred to find and know the God who lives with us here, in the mess of human condition, and offers us real life like we can't imagine.

Thank you so much. So, so very much. May you be encouraged to pursue a great God of mystery, deliverance, and hope. May grace and peace pervade the community that has grown around this venture, and may God continue to open and interrupt our comfortable complacencies.

God is still speaking;

Maleah

PS -- Please stay in touch: maleah [dot] pusz [at] gmail [dot] com

http://newerformsoflife.blogspot.com

Update: Busy, busy, busy

Again, I've been swept away by the sheer fact that everything I want/need/have to do may not fit in the number of hours that I have in the day.

You deserve an update, dear blog-reader. And now, having inhaled a very large iced coffee, I'm ready to start one by answering a few crucial questions.

Who? -- You! Thank you so much for reading this, for asking, for checking and talking and sending and giving and praying. I really don't have the vocabulary for all the gratefulness and warmth you've sparked in me over the last months. I'm just so surprised and overwhelmed by the grace you've given through investing in me and the future of spiritual movements in Sweden. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

What? -- Support-raising! I'm not done yet! One of the most helpful ways that you can partner with me is by linking me with your friends, your family, your bosses, your church groups, your blogging circles--anyone that you can think of, actually! Telling people about me and this crazy dream for Sweden is a great way to multiply your personal investment in what God is doing.

Where? -- Sylva, Cullowhee, Franklin, Hickory, and the Raleigh-Durham area: Let me know if you've got free time in the next month. I'm considering making a road-trip to meet supporters and I'd love to grab a coffee in a place that's closer to and more convenient for you. Leave a comment, send an email--we'll work something out.

When? -- Any time between August 21 and September. As soon as we reach 100%, we'll buy the plane ticket, kiss the family, and head out to Uppsala University (here's why) for a year. If you know that you'll be giving any amount any time in the next year, please let me know so that we can figure that into the total--and so that we can get on the plane sooner!

How? -- Pray. Give. Share. Please consider giving a small amount monthly: I've been thinking and if everyone I knew would give up having one coffee date a month ($7), that would make it possible for me to go and have a life-changing coffee date with a Swedish college student who needs to hear hope and grace. Would you consider sponsoring a fikapaus or two? It's easy to set up a monthly gift online here.