I’ve been staring at this screen for a month now, waiting for some beautifully fabricated story to unfold before me. One that perfectly depicted my final days in the Dominican Republic and the exciting new adventures I’ve been a part of while staying in Orlando, all while simultaneously conveying God’s glory and the work that He’s done around me. But life isn’t perfect and this story isn’t fabricated, it’s mine. When I first began praying about whether or not I wanted to create this site I remember committing to sharing about what God has been doing in my life, not publishing a script that shared of all the glorious moments accompanying the life of one devoted to following Christ while neglecting the rest. Life, like a roller coaster, is flooded with exhilarating highs and treacherous lows, moments that feel as if you’re flying and those that your stomach has sunken so low you feel it will never return. Only together is the experience made complete. Both the highs and the lows, the good and the bad are worthy to be documented – this I often forget. Philippians 3:7-9 reminds me of what I ought to be striving for, to lose perfection and simply gain Christ. With this in mind, I shall yet again invite you into my life and pray that God’s love be reflected throughout it all.
I find it bittersweet to inform you that my twenty-six day adventure in the beautiful Dominican Republic has come to a close. The lessons learned, relationships formed and miracles witnessed have left me immeasurably richer from whence I first arrived. I stand amazed at how vastly different my life is from what I imagined it to be. Inevitably, this life is filled with changes and with every new beginning I always find myself questioning how I got on this path when I intended for another. Little time is required for me to praise God that His will is sovereign over mine. The DR was never a part of my initial plans, but now I can’t fathom that time being spent anywhere else. I praise God for the things left unrevealed, for as His mysteries begin to unravel before me I’m left to admire His beauty all the more. My final days in the DR were nothing short of such. Physical beauty is far different than the spiritual beauty I saw flourishing around us – though the remainder of my stay was filled with countless sights to behold. Leidi serves as a great representation of God’s amazing grace. By no accords of my own, the Spirit led us to Leidi’s home where we were kindly welcomed inside, offered seats and given refreshing chinola juice to combat the scorching heat. On what seemed to be any other afternoon, with the world continuing around us, the gospel was shared and a soul was won to the Lord. After her tear-filled decision to surrender her life to Christ, Leidi committed to meeting with us every day for the remainder of our stay in order to grow in her faith.
As I write this I remain in awe of her faithfulness; I’m humbled by how powerful my God is and how He allows us to be a part of moments far beyond our comprehension. Leidi’s decision to follow Christ was by far the most important choice of her life and I was so fortunate to watch as one simple prayer impacted not only her life but generations to come. When asked whether or not I thought our trip to be a success, I would initially have considered how many people accepted Christ or even the number of churches established. However, God has since retrained my heart regarding what determined our success or failure. Even if no fruit had been seen, the language barrier proved far more difficult than imagined or the trip was considered a complete failure in the eyes of those around me, I would see victory through it all had it meant simply sharing in that moment with Leidi. The world seeks after tangible results, but I’ve found the most precious of all are incalculable.
Leaving the Dominican Republic also meant returning from the safe haven I had created for my healing heart. Orlando meant learning to work with a new team, encountering old faces, becoming accustomed to a new routine and yet again trusting God with the unknown (something I’m still learning to do). The Lord has been sweet to me, though, and has shown me nothing less than His power. In this past month I have seen the formation of new and beautiful friendships, unending amounts of laughter, fleeting moments of sorrow, the joy of a brother or sister witnessing someone coming to Christ, freshmen getting connected to our church on campus, hearts challenged and humbled, and the body of believers come together through love to operate in one Spirit. Going into my leadership position with LiNC I prayed that God would either solidify my passion for working in ministry or reveal to me otherwise. What I know thus far is that leadership is quite messy – it requires versatility, trust, humility, patience and a great amount of love towards others. It’s also something that I have a great amount of passion for and see myself doing in the years to come. With the days being filled with hours sharing the gospel on campus, holding bible studies, training new believers in their faith, staff meetings, book studies and everything else under the sun one would assume that my exhaustion levels have reached an unnerving high. I cling to the verse in 1 Corinthians 15 that encourages us to “always give {ourselves} fully to the work of the Lord, because {we} know that {our} labor in the Lord is not in vain” and with that in mind, I gratefully welcome sleep each night knowing that my labor is not in vain.
Thank you again for taking the time to read my lengthy updates and for your continuous support. I have been blessed with constant reminders of how expansive the body of believers is and how generous they are - be it their time, money, listening ears or caring hearts. After my training in January for my employment with Reliant (the company that mobilizes me as a missionary) I was set with what seemed to be an unattainable amount of money to raise in order to support myself for the next year. God, however, is faithful to His children and with your help I am $2,000 away from being fully funded! THAT’S CRAZY! I trust in God and in the power of bold prayers. With than in mind, I ask that you pray about partnering with Reliant to enable me in my mission opportunities for this upcoming year. The process can easily be done online at www.reliant.org/morgan.cline. If giving financially is something you are not feeling led to do, than I ask that you commit to praying over my team and I and the hearts of those we’re encountering. With less than three weeks left in Orlando, it’s hard to imagine that much more can happen, but we know this to be a lie! I love that God is not confined to the limitations of my mind and that He does immeasurably more than all we could ask for or imagine according to His power (Ephesians 3:20). Please pray that God continues to allow us to see fruit in our finals days, that committed laborers be devoted to the church here and that the saints here in Orlando leave this summer with hearts that have not only been transformed but have been set on fire for the Great Commission and seeing the lost won to Christ. As always, feel free to send me any prayer requests you may have via my contact page. I’m actually learning to delight in praying for others more, as it takes the focus off of myself and gives me all the more reason to be continuously in prayer throughout the day :)
With Love,
Morgan Cline
"If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind" (James 1:5-6).