Sullivan's in Swazi [part 1]

{Where it all began}

The beginning of this year, January 2015, Austin and I were at church on what seemed to be a pretty normal Sunday morning, or so we thought. At the end of a service our pastor gave a call, a challenge, a cry to send out missionaries to reach the lost and hurting, bringing the hope of Jesus all around the world. After he closed his message we had a chance to respond to the call by standing, ready to take the next step in that calling, whatever that may look like. My heart was racing, I knew the Lord was telling me to stand, yet I had no idea what the details looked like or what I was even really signing up for! But as I sat and listened to the pastor pray I knew standing was my only option. I then saw what seemed to be a picture of Haiti playing through my head, lots of laughing, joyful children hanging all over me as it seemed I was taking a video of all of us. Then I heard the Lord spoke to me, reassuring me that He will take care of all of the details, including what my husband would think if I stood and he didn’t. So, with that, I began to stand, ready to answer the call, yet so unsure of what that meant or looked like. I looked to my right and there was my husband, simultaneously standing too. Tears instantly began streaming down my cheeks. The pastor was praying over us and although I could not tell you what he prayed that morning, I know that God was whispering to the deepest parts of my soul, placing a passion and desire in me only He could, but He was also tying them to Austin’s passions and desires as well. As soon as he finished praying and dismissed the congregation, Austin and I looked at each other and he said, “We need to go get prayer for this.” I agreed. We walked to the front of the church were the prayer team was ready to listen, embrace us and pray for us. There were so many questions yet to be answered, yet peace overflowing in both of us as they prayed. Later, I found out that while the pastor was praying, the Lord was laying the country of Swaziland on Austin’s heart. As soon as Austin said that, the picture I had earlier came back to my mind (as it seemed I had already forgotten it) and I realized that the children it were not Haitian, they all had barely any hair and their skin was much darker…they were African. Our next step then was to begin praying/preparing our hearts to go on the December Swaziland mission trip if that was where God led us.

Fast-forward…here we are today! The time has come for us to begin to walk, after months and months of prayer, and we are excited!

Yes, you heard me correctly! This December 3-12, 2015 Austin and I will be venturing to Swaziland with our church, River Valley. Our team is filled to the brim with 36 people going! (WOO-HOO!)

Where is Swaziland you ask?

Let me show you…

Now, let me tell you more about this amazing country…

Swaziland, a small, landlocked monarchy in southern Africa, is known for its wilderness reserves and festivals showcasing traditional Swazi culture. Marking its northeastern border with Mozambique and stretching down to South Africa, the Lebombo Mountains serve as a dramatic backdrop for Mlawula Nature Reserve’s many hiking trails. Nearby Hlane Royal National Park is home to diverse wildlife including lions, hippos and elephants. [Wiki]

At no more than 200 kilometres (120 mi) north to south and 130 kilometres (81 mi) east to west, Swaziland is one of the smallest countries in Africa. Despite its size, however, its climate and topography is diverse, ranging from a cool and mountainous highveld to a hot and dry lowveld. The population is primarily ethnic Swaziswhose language is siSwati. The population of Swaziland is 1.25 million (2013) and the life expectancy is 48.85 years (2012). [Wiki]

During our time there, our team will be focusing the majority of the time on staffing Swaziland’s largest Christmas party for 1,000s of orphans, helping the missionaries and church staff, as well as caring and aiding the children at the CarePoint (school and caring facility for poverty-stricken children) located at the River Valley Church campus in Swaziland. I know though that the Lord has much more in store for Austin and I with this trip, although I couldn’t type it out to you right now. It is truly going to be an amazing trip and the beginning of a spectacular journey with God as a family. I cannot wait to share it all with you.

There is so much to this trip, physically, mentally and spiritually. We would greatly appreciate your prayers for us now as we prepare to go, as well as when we are there. Would you please consider praying for us regularly? If you’d like a prayer card, please text or email me and I will send you one.

With all this being said, of course there we are also in middle of fundraising for the trip. Our first payment of $2,200 (both) is almost reached! Praise God! Now on October 5 our next payment of $2,200 ($1,100 each) is due. We know that the Lord will provide and are adjusting our budget to make the necessary sacrifices as well. If you would like to give and support us financially as we answer this call of God, you can send tax-deductible gifts to River Valley Church (address below). Checks need to written out to “River Valley Church” and you write 2015 Dec. Swaziland in the memo line as well write our names on the envelope or another enclosed piece of paper (please don’t put our names on the check, otherwise it is not tax-deductible).

River Valley Church

14898 Energy Way

Apple Valley, MN 55124

Online contributions can also be made by visiting https://my.rivervalley.org/default.aspx?page=6721&mission=130 and selecting Austin or Katelyn Sullivan.

{ALSO!! Keep your eyes and ears open for me introducing other fun and potentially tasty ways to support us financially too!}

We are so grateful for those who have already supported us and are continuing too! We could not do this without God using you, so thank you from the deepest part of our hearts to you. May the Lord bless you as you partner with those He is calling to directly go.

I will leave you with these verses from Isaiah and my closing thoughts as out part one of the Sullivan’s in Swazi comes to the end…

“And if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness, and your gloom will become like midday. And the Lord will continually guide you, and satisfy your desire in scorched places, and give strength to your bones; and you will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.” Isaiah 58:10-11

We will see God do great things in Swaziland when were are there, things as promised from these verses to us as we give ourselves to the hungry and afflicted…this is my prayer and it reassures my soul when the journey begins to look rough and challenging. It brings me hope. This is also true for each of us in our every day, right now. It is all about what we choose to every day- either God’s agenda or our own. These promises from the Lord are not just for those who are traveling to a foreign country, this is for you and me today if we are willing to give ourselves to those hurting, broken, hungry, in rough spots and situations, meeting their needs and desires. This means we have to look past our own self and see as Jesus would if He were here in the flesh. We have to let Him through us. Then we receive this promise the Lord spoke. A promise of hope, desires met in times when they seem most likely to not be met, strength when we feel so weak we cannot carry on, and refreshment in profound ways that satisfy your innermost soul. This is God’s challenge to me and to you today. Will you expect it and conquer it, reaping it’s amazing, generous reward from our Lord and Savior?

Be Divergent

Divergent :  [ diˈvərjənt, dī- ] : Adjective

Tending to be different or develop in different directions

This has been burning inside of me the past few weeks [after watching Insurgent, the sequel to movie Divergent]. If you haven’t seen the movies (or read the books if that fits your fancy) you may want to watch them before reading this blog, as I may spoil a few things while trying to draw connections to our lives today [sorry]. If you don’t care or have seen the movies, it is my prayer that this is an encouragement to you as you live as a alien on this Earth, awaiting  your true citizenship in Heaven. (And no, not everything from the movies can be directly correlated to our walk with the Lord, but some truly can).

Summary of two movies [skip if you have seen the movies, read the books or just want to get to the meat of this post]

Here is the jist of the first movie Divergent:

In a world divided by factions based on virtues, Beatrice Prior (Tris) learns she's Divergent and won't fit in. When she discovers a plot to destroy Divergents, Tris and the mysterious Four must find out what makes Divergents dangerous before it's too late. (IMBd)

Tris is a normal girl who wishes to fit in and follow the “laws” put in place by the society around her, but after being tested to see which faction she should fit in, she doesn’t fail the tests, she passes them all. (This test is done to also find divergents so they can be eliminated because society states they are a threat to the order of the society). She is divergent. Throughout the movie as Tris realizes the weight of her “calling” or who she truly is, the fact that she is divergent, she faces many trials and tests. She wants to try to avoid it, try to pretend its not there, but it is inevitable that no matter what she does, she is different. She stands out and she is being hunted down for it, along with all others who are different as well. So, she has to learn how to stay alive and save thousands who are in danger.

Here is the jist of the second movie Insurgent:

Beatrice Prior must confront her inner demons and continue her fight against a powerful alliance which threatens to tear her society apart with the help from others on her side. (IMBd)

Tris and all of the divergents are in hiding because society has not only been trying to quietly eliminate them because they say they are threat to all civilization, but they are being hunted down to be terminated once and for all. However, Jeanine Matthews, the leader of the faction Erudites (the smarty pants group) wants to gain complete control of every faction thus being able to influence any as she pleases. She is motivated to do this because she knows the truth about the factions and doesn’t want to go back to the rest of the world, but rather stay in the factions with Erudite in control so that they would never leave the city (Hence, trying to take out the divergents who will change it all!)  In the beginning of the movie, a box is found,. It is a mysterious artifact that was hidden by Tris’ parents. They don’t know what it inside and Jeanine (evil lady) wants to open it because she believes it is the answer to destroying all divergents. But *GASP* only a Divergent with potential for all five factions can open the box, not another with potential for only a few of the factions. In the end, Tris has to fight through all five factions, completing them all, confronting her inner demons as the description says. In the end, there is a message inside stating explaining that the whole faction system is an experiment and that Divergents are the solution (not the problem) to the problems outside the fence (which is surrounding their “world”).  So, after this, everyone is able to return to the rest of the world.

[Resume here if you skipped the summary above!]
So… what does this have to do with being a child of God? This is what has been burning on my heart and the Lord spoke to me, encouraging my heart along this journey.
The Divergents were being persecuted, blamed, hunted down and attacked. Society was labeling them as the root cause of all their problems, because they broke all the “peace” and disturbed “their world”. They stood out and had a much different purpose and outlook of life from everyone else. They weren’t affected by the same things everyone else was and although they hadn’t seen that there anything outside those walls surrounding them, they felt it and had faith that there had to be more.
What about Christians today? What is our world saying about us? How much do we stand out and are blamed from the problems in this world because we are judgmental when really we are just speaking the truth? In the end, the Divergents were actually the exact opposite of what everyone told them they were…they were the solution! We as Christians, Christ followers, have the solution, know the solution…Jesus Christ. With that, we are Divergent to the society around us. People want to keep us quite, tell us we are problem and need just need to have tolerance. We are attacked for what we believe and even more if we try to speak or live it out.  The enemy has this world deceived and they want to shush us, push us down and eliminate us, nothing to disrupt “peace”. 
Then God spoke this to me: “Be Divergent. Don’t be ashamed of it, but speak out for the truth (Jesus). Do not conform to the patterns of this world. You have the victory of Jesus already, always with you-walk in that and set captives free.”

I wholeheartedly believe that our God did not give me this charge to hurt His creation or to shame them for acting foolishly out of being deceived. No, just as Tris and the other Divergents in the movie had a heart of love to save those around them who were being deceived as they embraced their divergency [yep, I just made up a word]… I know that this is God’s heart and so mine too. Many people in the Bible were divergents (Moses, Daniel, Paul, Peter, Jesus himself…just to name a few). But in Daniel 3:8-18 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego are great examples of being divergent. They don’t conform to the patterns of the world by bowing down to worship the idol, even though they know it could mean dying a brutal death by being thrown into the fiery furnace. I can just picture it like a movie scene, thousands are bowing and there are these three (who all have high rankings in the kingdom might I add) just standing, looking straight forward at the idol not about to budge, their faces firm with boldness to honor God above all else. Wow! And because of their divergency they were thrown into the fire, but they were saved by God! And from that many were saved (shown who the true God worthy of worship is) and the name of the Lord was glorified.


Push through the fear of being Divergent, look to the Lord and be strengthened. It is worth it to grab a hold of your calling as a child of God, being Divergent in this world.  You are not alone, there are many other Divergents here, standing with you in faith that there is something more “outside the wall”, carrying out our mission to share the hope we have in Jesus and living by His ways not this worlds. Share the solution despite the hardship to, Jesus did and He is our greatest Divergent example of all.