Today is a special day. Today marks the end of my first term of service and the beginning of my second term. Today is the day I was supposed to be flying home. There are so many things on my mind as I look back over this past year.

Everyone at training was right. Missionary life has taught me so many things. To trust God despite the circumstances and uncertainty, that the relationships you build with the people around you really are the most important thing, and to ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS be flexible.

I never thought I would enjoy being a teacher. I never thought I would make a good choir director. But every day, as I watch my students progressing, learning, enjoying their music; as I stand in front of my youth choir every week, making them go over and over their parts, I find myself thinking that I couldn’t think of a better job in the world! I get to help so many kids learn to make good music, and learn about God in the process!

Of course, I have other responsibilities, as well. Two days a week, I help watch two little missionary girls while their parents study Thai. Every Sabbath, I assist with our Pathfinder club. I pitch in for the church’s media department whenever I am needed. Very often, my housemate and I will spend a free evening with the youth of our church, becoming their friends, having fun with them, building those relationships so we can influence them for the Kingdom.

The longer I stay here in this beautiful country, the more I never want to leave! There are so many wonderful people here, people who have never heard of a God who loves and cares about them. People who need to hear this message.

I have one student who is very close to my heart. For the sake of his privacy, I won’t share details, but for several months at the beginning of this school year, we were praying for him like we had never prayed for anyone before. He was headed down a very dangerous path, and we all were scared for him. God intervened, and I praise Him every day that this student is now a Theology Major at our Adventist University.

Before I made the decision to go to the mission field, I thought I had my life figured out. I would work for a ministry in America, make a living for myself, maybe get married and start a family someday. But when God’s call came, suddenly everything seemed not so certain. Sometimes, I would feel anxious when I considered what the next 5 years might be like for me. God is teaching me to take one day at a time, and to trust His perfect plan.

Right now, I know that God wants me to stay here for one more year, and maybe even longer. I may not know what the future holds, and COVID-19 has certainly done a good job of creating even more uncertainty. But I am learning to be content working exactly where He has placed me.

But for me to stay the full second year here in Southeast Asia, I need to raise $2,400 more. If the Holy Spirit impresses you to support me, however small the amount, you may donate by sending a check to:
Adventist Frontier Missions
PO Box 286
Berrien Springs, MI 49103
(write Rachel Bourque on the memo line)

Or you may donate via the AFM secure website here:

https://afmonline.org/missionaries/detail/5974

Finally, please keep me and the mission work here in Central Thailand in your prayers.

Thank you for the support and may the Lord bless you!

• Twitter