To all of
you who have shown me support by believing in me, loving me, giving
to me, praying for me, serving me, befriending me, challenging me,
and encouraging me - your investment into my life whether big or
small has not been overlooked. I would not be the person I am today
without each and every one of you. Thank you so much!
I wanted
to give you a flashback of my adventure in New Zealand and an update
on where things will be going next. I often think that life is like a
'Roller Coaster' you ride for the first time...
As you
stand in line, one of two things can happen: 1) Your excitement grows
for the adventure of the ride; or 2) You become overtaken by fear and
think you are going to die. You may be able to see the framework of
the roller coaster but you do not know what it feels like until you
ride it.
In
January of 2011, I took a step in lining up for a great adventure
ride, of following God and discovering who He made me to be. The
first step in the ride was God asking me to uproot life and move
across the world to New Zealand. That move came with an assignment to
join Albiston Family Ministries and be a blessing to them. I found
myself with the great honor of looking after the household, caring
for the children, helping in ministry, doing outreach in the
community, taking an internship course, and much more.
On this
roller coaster ride, the downward swoop came with a high level of
enjoyment which was what I needed to live through the turns. The
turns were things that had to change in order to carry out the call
of God on my life. Much of the change created a great deal of
challenge that I had to overcome. The challenge showed me that I was
riding with my eyes closed and missing out on a lot of awesome things
in life. I believe everyone rides the roller coaster of life, but not
all do so with eyes open. I wanted to see and enjoy every moment to
the fullest. So with the help of the Holy Spirit, I started to change
the things that kept my eyes closed. As my eyes opened the ride got a
whole lot better. I will share more of those changes at another time,
so keep a lookout for them.
Life took
a quick twist in November of 2012 when the Albiston family started to
consider the idea of moving from Tauranga, New Zealand (home of 3
years) to Sydney, Australia. Brendon and Deveri's dear friends Luke
and Amber Harris are Location Pastors at Empower Church Shire and
they asked Brendon and Deveri to join the team and ministry there.
After a few weeks of praying, God opened a door that they confidently
said yes to walk through. In that time Brendon and Deveri encouraged
me to hear from God myself on whether moving to Sydney was right for
me. I can not put into words the peace that I felt when praying it
through. Although, it was a big twist to my life, I believe that
moving to Australia is a must for the ride God has me on.
As 2013
started, we looked at dates and assumed it to be a straight forward
move "across the ditch," as so many locals like to call it.
However, the process got "put through the fire" literally,
when our home burned down. We suddenly had to process the grief of
losing our possessions while trying to juggle all the necessities of
moving a family of seven overseas. It felt like the roller coaster
stopped, but God was still mighty, working everything out for our
good and for His glory.
The plan
moved on and Brendon was the first to fly out on March 20th, with
Deveri and the boys following 10 days later. I would have around a
month in New Zealand with friends before joining the Albiston's
again. It was hard to see them leave, but I knew our tracks would
join up again along the way.
The last
month in New Zealand has been amazing. God has brought so much
clarity to my vision and life for the next part of the ride. Now as I
step into this new adventure of living in Australia, I can't do it
alone, I need your ongoing support in many ways.
If God
touches your heart to join me in this adventure ride, please let me
know as I would like to stay connected. Through your prayer and
financial support I am empowered to move forward, but I want to take
you along for the ride as well. Thank you!
In
Christ,
Joy
Hostetler
