100% Supported

“I don’t want my life to be explainable without the Holy Spirit. I want people to look at my life and know that I couldn’t be doing this by my own power.”
― Francis Chan, Forgotten God

It is with great joy I am writing this to announce that God has provided me with 100% of my support goal to go to Romania between what has already come in and what has been pledged.  I cannot sufficiently express my gratitude to those who have felt led to give.  If you would still like to pledge support, additional money will go towards ministry expenses, and what is not used for ministry while I’m there will go to the orphanage. Thank you to The Pier Church in Wyoming, MI for launching me past the 100% mark by providing the $2500 for purchasing a car!  If you want to see a man tear up in front of everyone, tell him that you’re buying him a car.

My goal of $1800 per month was, in part, symbolic of the 18 months that I will be spending in Romania.  I am excited about the work God has in store for me while I’m there, and with a full ministry budget I trust that He has a lot of work for me to do.  4 months ago I had not started raising support yet and I placed this huge financial goal in God’s hands.  I fully understood that if I were to meet my goal before summer, it would only be because God did it and not me.  What a blessing to know that God, through the work of the Holy Spirit, reinforced my call to go by fully supplying for the work. I reflect on Hudson Taylor’s words regarding the faithfulness of God’s provision for the work he has called us to do:

“It seemed to me that if there were lack of funds to carry on work, then to that degree, in that special development, or at that time, it could not be the work of God.” 

“God's work, done in God's way, will never lack God's supply.”
― James Hudson Taylor

Some of you know that I have adopted Proverbs 3:5-6 as my life verse, meaning that I meditate on it often and allow it to guide me.  There are so many verses that are close to my heart, many of the rest speak about God’s unfailing love and grace for my wretched self.  I chose Proverbs 3:5-6 because I spent years struggling to find God’s will for my life while not taking these words to heart. 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
 in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.

The more that I learned to trust Him and submit TODAY to God, the clearer my path became.  I spent a long time being frustrated, not knowing what God wanted me to be doing 5 years from now, but I wasn’t asking Him how I could serve Him where He has me today.  I am thankful that he has given me direction for my next phase in life, but I am also thankful that He taught me to focus on today first. 

As I follow God in this next step, please pray that I continue to submit to Him every day and in everything.  Pray that the Holy Spirit would work through me in ways that cannot be attributed to human capabilities.  Pray that He would make straight my path for each day, and ultimately make straight my path for what He has in store for me after 18 months in Romania.

I leave from Toronto on June 27^th and arrive at Casa Dorca in Romania late in the night on June 28^th. 

God bless,

Nate Storvik

Whom Shall I Send?: The Inner Struggle of Saying "Send Me"

"...But God doesn't call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn't come through.”   -Francis Chan

I don't know about you, but I really like being comfortable.  I like having a comfortable couch to come home to, with some good familiar comfort food and a T.V. show that I love.  I like having a group of friends that get all of my inside jokes, a cozy coffee shop to study in, and a day that passes relatively drama free.  I like when my finances aren't dependent on someone else, when I have a cushion in the bank account, and a nice insurance policy that leaves me worry free.  We were designed to enjoy comfort.  But when we give it priority over loving Christ and His mission for us, it leaves us feeling empty and unsatisfied.  Naturally, responding to the call to "Go and make disciples of every nation" (Matt 28:19) will lead us into a lot of uncomfortable situations, but we shouldn't forget his promise after the command: "and I will be with you always, to the very end of the age." 

I've known for several years that God had a different plan for me than a job in the secular field.  Every time I've held a normal job, I get an unshakable feeling that it's not where I'm supposed to be.  Nevertheless, I've put off my calling for all the reasons mentioned above.  After a 2-week visit to Jim Morgan in Romania in 2014 I realized that my call into missions was something I couldn't justify putting off any longer.  I also caught a little glimpse of the truth, that the joy which comes from doing what God has called you to do dwarfs the fears of discomfort.  After voicing my desire to explore the possibilities of entering the mission field, the following 9 months were exceptionally difficult.  I was in a battle against the Devil and my own sinful self.  Through that, God needed to teach me that His love for me was sufficient.  That I didn't need to be dependent on friendships, finances, and hobbies for my joy.  I had to learn to trust that His joy would always be with me regardless of circumstances.

This past summer I interned under Jim Morgan and Drive-in Ministries in Romania for 3 months.  God's provision was incredible as I geared up to leave the country.  I was immensely blessed to be fully supported only 2 months after I began raising support.  Unquestionably, it was the direction God wanted me to go. 

The first few weeks of being in Romania were rough.  The two weeks in 2014 was the honeymoon period, where everything new was fun and exciting.  In 2015 I had a few weeks to get settled before the ministry kicked into full gear and I was mentally struggling to adjust to my surroundings.  It was discouraging and I began to doubt my purpose there.  Once the Cinema on Wheels ministry started up, my heart wasn't in it for a few days.  Then I attended a church service which had a lot of focused prayer time.  It was there that I was able to refocus and restart my heart for the ministry.  I asked the Holy Spirit to fill me until it overflowed into the lives of others.  Effectively submitting that I cannot do any of this by my own power. That was a turning point in my summer.  The Lord began to use me in the evangelistic ministry, giving me the boldness to share the Gospel with groups of people. 

I also had the opportunity to lead several Bible studies with the teens and young adults on our team.  These were very informal times of sharing what we learned from assigned Bible reading, and digging deeper with some prodding questions that I had prepared.  Working on discipleship with the team members was my primary goal for the summer, and it was very rewarding to build deep relationships with a few of the guys specifically.  I had my own apartment in Craiova where two of the guys stayed for much of the summer.  Working with teenagers that are passionate about ministry, giving much of their summer to serve the Lord, is an inspiring experience. 

As the summer marched on, Jim shared with the team that we would be taking the team on two separate 5 day trips several hours away to do the movie ministry in a few villages that we were invited to.  I don't think I knew, until we were on our way there, that we would be staying at an orphanage called Casa Dorca for the first trip.  I have worked with homeless children in Africa, but I really had no idea what to expect at an orphanage.  I remember being nervous about it.  However, that nervousness didn't take long to subside as the kids were there with smiles to greet us and to carry our bags inside.  I literally had the time of my life at Casa Dorca.  These children brought up in me a joy -which ultimately came from the Holy Spirit inside me- that I had not experienced before. 

My secondary goal for the summer was to evaluate God's call on my life.  In other words, I was trying to discern what God wanted me to do vocationally.  Instead, I discerned that it's better if I don't know all the details ahead of time.  The lesson that I learned is to follow God in the next step that He has guided me to, rather than being majorly focused on the long term.  We are a society that values long-term planning, and it is wise to look ahead and plan, but we must be willing to submit those plans to God knowing that He will likely change them.  Right now, I may not have had the life experiences yet that would drive the passion for what God has planned for my distant future, so I have learned to focus more on the present. 

Drive-in Ministries (Cinema on Wheels in Romania) has been a great and life-changing experience for me.  I want to thank the board for giving me this opportunity and the office for all their administrative work.  Mrs. Jones is the hero of the summer, picking up an extra workload in the office.  I believe in this ministry and I'm grateful for the work that Jim is doing in Romania.  I've seen firsthand how it has changed the lives of many people.  Through my experience at Casa Dorca, God lit a passion in me for ministering to the familyless.  I don't know what that means for me precisely.  It could mean working in an orphanage.  It might mean working with refugees.  I'll just follow wherever God leads me.  In the short term I will return to Casa Dorca for a month in December of this year (2015), and I'm also talking with a mission organization about the possibility of refugee relief work within the Syrian refugee crisis.  From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your prayers for me and Jim and the summer ministry in Romania.  Please continue to pray for Jim and his team.  Pray that God would continue to lead passionate young people to join in the work there.  And lastly, please pray that I would have the courage and the boldness to go when God says "go!", no matter the destination. 

Dumnezeu să vă binecuvânteze,

Nate Storvik

God's Will for Your Life is That You Love Him.

Uncertainty.  Change.  Impermanent.  All words that describe my life.  There are aspects of these descriptors that I love and aspects that cause me pain.  The most difficult part is maintaining companionship.  As time passes by, close friends settle down and get married, and I search for new companionship.  Married people don't have much time for single folk, it's just a fact of life.  God bless them and their new families.  Marriage is very good, and I am happy for them.  I'm serious, the only thing more frustrating than what I just described is people feeling sorry for me that I'm 27 and single.  Stop doing it.  This is where God has brought me for reasons He knows because He loves me, and you would dare feel sorry for me? Through this, God has taught me how to have joy in seasons without companionship.   Last night I was watching one of my favorite shows, Pushing Daisies, and one of the characters said "you're no good to someone else unless you're good with being with just you."  That really summed up what I discovered about myself in the last couple months.  I had an unhealthy dependency on my friendships for my joy, and the Lord had to pull me aside and show me that I needed to be okay with just Him and me.  If I am going on the mission field, there will be times where I cannot be dependent on companionship. 

I've spent a lot of time reflecting on what God has brought me through (good and bad), during my 9 years as an adult, in order to prepare me for the work He has for me in the future.  Yet, he hasn't revealed to me what that future work will be, and that brings me to my second point.  We worry and ponder too much about what God would have us do in the future.  Especially young adults.  "What is God's plan for my life? What is His will? What would He have me do?  There must be a grand plan for my life and I don't want to miss it."  I think that more important than any of these concerns is "how can I grow in my love for God today?  How can I serve Christ with my day today?"  I do think that it is important to plan for the future, but we will be blind to His will for us until we've learned to love Him with all of our heart.  When you've learned to serve Christ right where you are (school, workplace, home), and you've made falling in love with Him most important, then His plan will be clear to you.  I'm tired of students waiting to be done with school in order to serve Christ, as if it is a prerequisite.  As if you need a diploma or degree to share the love of Christ.  School is your mission field, even a Christian school.  You will find joy in serving the Lord wherever you are.  

What Happens When our Cultural Values are Different?

Yesterday I wrote a status on Facebook and then I took it down a few minutes later because I realized it sounded like the people I get annoyed by on Facebook.  It sounded like a plea for attention.  Since I didn't feel like elaborating to show that it wasn't, I took it down.  Perhaps a blog post is a better medium to communicate deeper thoughts than a quick status. 

Being isolated has given me plenty of time to ponder why I feel isolated.  That's a process that has not been particularly enjoyable.  Any time you have to peer into yourself for analysis through the lens of scripture, it's not fun.  You end up hearing God say "see this over here, that's pride." "this thing over here, that's selfishness".  The answers I've found so far are pretty complicated and I certainly won't cover it all here.

I'm tired of the status quo.  With the way that our culture works.  Everyone's priorities are so wack.  I went to a seminar at the missions conference about the different things that people value in different cultures.  I realized that this is why I get frustrated and discouraged.  The things that this culture values do not line up with the things I value.  I value lifelong friendships, but this culture has no sense of commitment.  We're so ADD  when it comes to building friendships.  We just get distracted and jump to the next thing in life.  Our life goals, professions, desires, whatever, are more important than friends, and so when the time comes we leave them behind.  And so I've lived this cycle my whole adult life of fully investing in a friendship just to have them move on to higher priorities.  I don't blame you for that, it's the way we were raised, it's our culture.  But every time it gets harder to invest in the next friendship.  

I write all this so that you, brothers and sisters in Christ, can understand me a little better.  When I admit to being lonely, it is not a plea for attention, but nearly the opposite.  It's an admission that I'm scared to cultivate new deep friendships because I fear they won't last.  And that is an issue of selfishness that my prideful self has a difficult time admitting. 

A few of my friendships, though separated geographically now, are still very precious to me and to the other person.  Overcoming the obstacles of physical distance is worth the fight.  I'm glad you guys think so too. You know who you are.  It hurts my heart not having you nearby.  

Here am I. Send Me

This is part 4 in a series of blog posts reflecting on my time in Romania.

Many of you who have heard the way I talk about Romania know that my heart did not return to America.  I fell in love with a country I knew nothing about a year ago.  Longing to be back in Romania made it difficult to find motivation to do anything here in Michigan.  God picked me up out of my sorrow and told me he still had a job for me here in Michigan, which I have regained my excitement for.  Yet he also told me that Romania will, one day, be my home. 

About 4 weeks ago I was speaking with my friend Simeon in a coffee shop.  We were discussing the possibility of me moving to Romania for long-term missions.  I said that the main roadblock is my debt.  I have to be debt free in order to go.  While I was still having this conversation, I got an email from my realtor saying that we had an offer on my house.   The offer was for the amount that I needed to pay off all my debt.  I do not believe in coincidence.  I believe that it was a crystal clear sign from God that this was his will for me.  He knew that I would need such clarity.  The past month has been difficult and discouraging as it starts to sink in that I will be leaving behind those who are very dear to me.  The thought of being on the other side of the world from my best friend and my family has been wearing on me.  He knew that I would need such clarity, or maybe I would be tempted to settle for the comfortable.  He has called me out into the unknown and I am as excited as I am freaked out.  I don't know what the future timeline will be for this.  I am tentatively planning to spend most of the summer next year in Romania and investigate the possibility of moving there long-term.  I would appreciate your prayers as I continue to seek the Lord's will and as I will begin to raise support soon for this.  

"Here am I. Send me!"  -Isaiah 6:8b

Preaching in Romania

This is installment 3 in a series of blog posts that reflect on my time in Romania. 

When we were preparing  to leave for Europe, Jim Morgan told me that they will ask me to preach while I'm over there.  I was a little freaked out by the thought, but also very excited.  Preaching with a translator sounded very intimidating.  It was one of those experiences where half of me didn't want to do it because it was uncomfortable, and half of me knew I shouldn't pass on an opportunity like that.  Part of the goal of a short term missions trip is to throw ourselves from comfort to experience our faith outside of the familiar.  I spoke 4 times and experienced services at 3 different churches.  I loved it. 

In the region we were in, the only two denominations within evangelical Christianity were Baptists and Pentecostals.  Certainly none is better than one when it comes to divisions in the Church, but it was so refreshing to only have one.  There are so many denominations in America that I couldn't even find an accurate estimated number;  it's somewhere in the thousands.  We have the mindset that we cannot get along with other Christians with minor theological differences.  This leaves us with a broken family that is beyond dysfunctional.  Yet, in Romania, there are 2.  I even saw Baptists and Pentecostals working together for Christ.  What a novel idea. 

After I gave my first message we were invited to have lunch with the pastor and his family.  This man was an inspiration to me.  I would like to be more like him.  He is the pastor in 2 villages that are 15 minutes apart, but he has no car, so he hitchhikes between the two.  When we ate together he told me that he was nervous having an American pastor give a message because American pastors water down the Gospel; but he was very pleased with what I said.  From the state of Christianity in America I can see that his critique is accurate, but I'm encouraged that he exempted me from that critique.  

“In Darkness God's Truth Shines Most Clear.”

As promised, this is part 2 in a series of blog posts about my time in Romania and various other places in Europe.

On our way to Romania we visited the Dachau Concentration Camp outside of Munich, Germany.  I'm still processing that experience.  I'll never be able to fully wrap my mind around it.  I've learned about what happened there, and many places like it, my whole life.  In the last decade I've been especially fascinated by WWII.  Yet, standing there, in the very location that at least 100,000 Jews and enemies of the Nazi's died, was different.  They played a half hour movie with real footage from the liberation and stories of atrocity.  There was video and pictures of the stacks of emaciated corpses laying there with their eyes open looking back at you.  I'll never forget those eyes for the rest of my life.  I knew that going there would be difficult.  It affected me in a deep way that will take me much longer to process. 

At the far end of the camp there were several religious memorials representing different religions that had prisoners there.  The most interesting of which was the protestant memorial, which was actually a church.  Not just a church building, but a church body.  The sign said that they meet there every Sunday for worship.  Can you imagine going to church in the very place where one of the worst atrocities of the world took place?  Incredible. 

I brought along the book The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom.  It was my intention to read it before we went to Dachau, but I didn't start it until the day after.  In it she tells the incredible and true story of how she was a Christian in Holland and hid Jews during the war.  Eventually she was imprisoned and sent to a concentration camp.  The pages came to life because I had walked around a camp and could visualize what she described.  Her story is one of forgiveness that could only have come from Christ.  Her and her sister would lead Bible studies and pray for the very people that were torturing them.  If you've never read The Hiding Place, go on Amazon, pay the $4, and read it.  It will affect you. 

“....And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world's healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives along with the command, the love itself.” -Corrie Ten Boom

Not coincidentally, I am writing about this on September 11th.  A day in which we remember a different atrocity.  Both of these were born of hate, and both of them left deep scars of hatred in the victims.  The context of this quote from Corrie is difficult.  She is standing in front of the man who tortured her.  Having accepted Christ's forgiveness, he is asking for hers.  No one is too far from Christ's love.  Not a terrorist and not a Nazi.  We must pray for those who persecute us, that they would experience the love of Christ. Only then will we be free of the hatred that binds us.  

“In darkness God's truth shines most clear.” - Corrie Ten Boom

Stay tuned for part 3