I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the end of summer in the USA, I know I am! I just wanted to send a final update, as I said I would, about my decisions for this fall. Then I promise, no more African updates ;)
A couple weeks ago, I found out unfortunately that after a long, LONG waiting list process, I did not get accepted to Duke. Needless to say I was pretty disappointed, frustrated, and shaken because I really felt that was where I was going to be and why I had come back from Cape Town. So I responded by doing what I thought best at the time...feeling sorry for myself. After a worthless day of that, I decided maybe it was actually better to not be upset with God, realize that it happened for a specific purpose, and to figure out my next step.
Never having felt fully convinced that Fuller was the place for me right now, I opened myself up to other possibilities. I considered going back to South Africa, but everything about leaving had felt so right and gone so smoothly that I really felt it would be a step backwards and not forwards. Then out of nowhere, Colorado became a real possibility for me. Since I've been home, I have been attending a church called Redemption City which was just started by a South African who felt called here. As I've been going, I've been blown away by so many people who were leading churches around the world and the USA and have felt called to my backyard in Westminister, Colorado with a heart to bless the city. Now all they are missing are local people from the area with that same heart. I began to look back in old notebooks and had written down back in April, while in Cape Town, that God had whispered to me some things about getting involved with this church. (Which I had ignored at the time of course, because I was going to Duke! haha)
To make a long story short, I saw this as a unique opportunity to be a part of something in Colorado and felt it was where God is leading me for now. It's a great chance to learn from a lot of guys who have tons of ministry experience and have a great heart for the Lord. So I'm going to be joining this church and I have deferred my acceptance to Fuller until January. It will give me time also to decide if seminary is the right fit for me. This will mean that I will be living at home for now and looking for work in an unfriendly economy, which will take some getting used to, but I feel that this is where God wants me for now and for that I'm willing to humble myself and be obedient to His call...be it Africa or Arvada.
I am excited for more time with my family, my friends in CO, and to see what God does in my time here. Please pray for God to accomplish everything that He wants in and through me in this season in Colorado. Thanks for all your love, support and prayers over the years! Love, Ryan
