For those of you who don't receive my mailings, here is my most recent update!

Hello all!

I love this time of year! Spring is beginning to gather some momentum, but we still have a few surprise snow storms mixed in! It’s been a long time since I was here to appreciate a Colorado spring, and it is soothing to my soul.

Since I came back to the States almost six months ago, I have been rejuvenated in many ways! Most importantly I have been spending time with my family (and my extended family – grandparents, uncles and aunts, cousins and 2nd cousins – when possible). There is great truth to the saying “you don’t know what you’ve got ‘till it’s gone” and it’s been wonderful to be together again! I have also been able to reconnect with my church here in Colorado Springs (Sunrise UMC). I have been welcomed back with many hugs and smiling greetings, and have been promptly put to work! I find myself busy a few days of every week with something relating to church – from a young adult group we started for us “forgotten people” too old for youth group but too young for the 30’s group, to a Missions Club for kids on Wednesday nights, to teaching classes on Missions at church retreats and workshops. I am keeping up with my Spanish by working as a medical translator once or twice a week, and recently have started subbing at our church’s preschool. It’s so nice to be home!

Aside from feeling rejuvenated, I have also begun looking toward the future and wondering what the Lord is preparing for me. I left Guatemala last fall, unsure of when I would return, but knowing there was still work to be done there. Since being back in Colorado, I have been meeting with OC, and in January was officially switched from short-term to long-term missionary status! (For some reason they didn’t consider four years long-term…) We have set some goals for me while I am in the States, with the ultimate plan being returning to Guatemala in the future. These goals include reconnecting with my family, friends and church (as I plan to return to Guatemala, I am looking to my family and friends for emotional and spiritual encouragement, as well as financial support in order to continue my ministry), continuing my education (I am currently applying to several Masters Programs in Counseling) and gaining more experience in ministry (in my own language and my own culture!).

So, what does all that mean? What will Rebecca’s life and ministry look like over the next few years? Well, I wish I had it all figured out, but I think the Lord is stretching my ability to trust in His control! The current plan is for me to start grad school in the fall, and to tentatively return to Guatemala in the fall of 2011. These next two years, then, will be ones of preparation and growth for me, and I am unsure what else they will bring! I have applied for several ministerial jobs in Colorado Springs and am still waiting to see what direction the Lord opens up for me. Ideally, I hope to continue working in the area of missions at Sunrise, expanding some of the things I am already involved in and seeking to encourage our church’s global awareness. I am also excited by the possibility of serving at OC’s headquarters here in Colorado Springs, where I could learn so much from my teammates in international missions leadership positions. Since OC considers my time in the States an “extended furlough,” I continue to be dependent upon your financial gifts to carry out my ministry. Therefore I will also be dedicating time to support raising and seeking out new ways of expanding my funding base.

Thank you all so much – whether you have been receiving my updates since I left Colorado in 2004, or if this is your first one – for your interest, prayers and concern. I am grateful for your companionship as I seek to serve the Lord in the way He has called me. May God’s blessings always be felt in your homes and families!

Con cariño, Rebecca Patterson