Thank You Very Much, Mr. VIce-President!

     It was August of 2009.  A distraught woman in her late 20's sat at a corner booth in a Burger King in Riverside, California, sipping a Diet Coke.  Frustrated, she pushed a strand of her A-line cut auburn hair behind her ear.  She had to get to business.  On the table in front of her was a journal, and she began to write in it, fast and furious.  Anything that would come to her from the happenings of the last several years.  As the late morning hours passed into afternoon, she wrote on, oblivious to time and place.  She only occasionally took a sip of her Diet Coke, refilling it once.  By the end of the afternoon when she got up to drive back downtown, where she lived, her journal was filled with bridge-burning material.  Powerful stuff.

     I was that young woman.  At that time, I had every intention of burning bridges with what I had written.  I still have that written material today.  It is not bad.  It is not unkind.  It is true, the word of my testimony.  My heart had been hurt, and I still believe I had every right to shake the dust off my feet and turn away.  However...this was not what God had for me in this instance.

     No ministry is perfect.  Churches and para-church organizations are made up of Christians, who are forgiven, but still in the sanctification process.  That very much includes me.  

     As I have shared in other posts, I had been involved with that wonderful ministry since high school days in the 90's.  From that first time I attended Christian Youth in Action training and became a summer missionary to Riverside County at age fifteen, I had found my calling.  I loved (still love) this ministry.  I loved the way God used those of us who participated.  I loved seeing children (and sometimes even adults) give their lives to the Lord.  

     Over the years, I had experienced some disillusionment.  I had seen people allowed to serve on mission trips who had hurt me.  When I had tried to express what had happened, I was not listened to.  I was once told by a ministry superior, "If you had it your way, almost no one would be involved!"  I saw numbers become a priority at times.  One time, a young woman who had served on several of their trips confided in me that she didn't really know the Lord.  There was a lack of discernment that was causing harm.  I had also heard many praising the ministry to the point that they put down the effectiveness of other ministries.  I even heard one of my fellow workers wonder aloud of the organization would usher in the rapture.  

     My concerns weren't listened to, so I wrote.  I was going to get this information to the right person.  I didn't know who that was.  Back in 2009, I had felt led by God to step down from this ministry for a while, and work for my church.  I was entering a new phase in life, but I had to write about all that I had seen.  It was vital.  I still believe that.  God just had a different time, place, way and attitude for me to pursue this.

     It must be understood that I had no desire to hurt the ministry's effectiveness.  This organization was and still is an amazing children's ministry.  Many children receive Christ as Savior every year.  My goal was to make them aware of what was going on.  Things that could be improved.  That was my only objective.    

     I happened to be in a bookstore shortly after completing my writing.  A book stood out to me.  It was Standing Firm, by former Vice-President, Dan Quayle.  He had served under President George H.W. Bush from 1989-1993.  I always had a special place in my heart for those years, since I had largely grown up during that time.  I had been a young adolescent in 1992 when the Bush-Quayle ticket lost the election.  I had been too young to vote, but I had been for Bush-Quayle.  So, seeing this book by former Vice-President Quayle in 2009 intrigued me.  I picked it up and began to read.  I ended up buying it.  

     I could write a whole review on Standing Firm.  It is a wonderful book, and I highly recommend it.  One line at the very end stood out to me.  When talking about his disappointment at losing the 1992 election, Quayle says, "How you leave is as important is how you enter, especially if you think you might come back."  That struck me like a bolt of lightening on the road to Damascus!  God used that little quote to really hit me hard.  

     I had entered the ministry a joyful young girl, happily embracing whatever God had for me.  That was how I needed to go out of it.  I shouldn't burn bridges.  Especially since I might come back.  So, in spite of my feelings, I exited as sweetly as I had entered.  I kept my bridge-burning writing to myself, praying about the right time and way to share it.

     Much has changed over the past nine years.  I continued to do ministry, even volunteering with this organization from time to time.  I have gotten healing from my painful experiences.  I am married to a wonderful Christian man.  I have gotten more experience in the professional world.  This ministry has changed as well.  They run their mission trip programs vastly differently than they used to, and their current way is much more discerning.  Certain things have come to light, without my writing.  And their ministry continues on, as I always hoped it would!

     I rejoined that ministry this summer.  I work for the Iowa chapter.  Currently, it is only for summer, but I may have future involvement with them as we prepare to move to New Mexico.  That is in the works, actually.  I am so glad I heeded Dan Quayle's advice.  In a funny way, I owe my job to him.  Probably the most underestimated Vice-President in US history, and I owe my job to him (I also have the same birthday as him, but that is beside the point).  

     I am so thankful God used our former Vice-President to help me avoid burning bridges.  He (God, not Dan Quayle!) knew what He had in store for me, and for this ministry.  Also, as a side note, I did eventually write my memoirs, in a completely different point of view.  No bridge-burning.  You can read it for 99 cents on Amazon Kindle.  It is called "Why I Still Believe".  

     I am beyond blessed.