What are your plans for 2012? You know you’ve been looking ahead and wondering what the year might be like. What if it were full of roundabouts and revolving doors?

Have you ever been through a season in life when everything was changing? Maybe your kids moved up to a new school, a family member died, you changed jobs, there were financial problems, your friends moved out of state, etc. Change is an inescapable part of life and whether good or bad change brings  loss of some kind. For many families serving overseas, change is a constant. Relationships, homes, mailing addresses, and even languages keep changing.

If you are a Christ-follower, Jesus has called you to follow Him wherever He may lead you. Once He was “going along the road one day, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’” This brief exchange from Luke 9 gives us a little insight into the trust required amidst change and the demanding nature of discipleship.

Looking ahead to 2012, we have made the decision to commit ourselves to serving another school year at Black Forest Academy. Many staff members have to return to the US or Canada in May for a year or for good because of decreased support, family problems, or immigration regulations. The revolving doors are already spinning and the roundabouts are full of traffic. It’s a tough season for many missionary families and their kids.

Mike Koerber, director of mobilization for TeachBeyond said, “One of our greatest needs is for staff at BFA. Because of the [German] totalization treaty, we are looking for about 50 staff members for 2012-2013.” Yep, 50. Imagine if your company or school had to replace 50 people! Koerber continued, “This is the largest turn-over Black Forest has ever seen. We are seeing significant progress in recruiting, but that is still quite a large number of positions to fill.”

Well, the Griesses are staying for another year. We need to be here to provide stability and support for the students, their families and our fellow staff members whom we love and lock arms with everyday. We need your help and continued support. If you aren’t already, would you become a part of our team and help us be a stabilizing part of this missionary community?

We also need you to pray. “Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers” (Luke 10:2). Is the Lord calling you or someone you know to BFA? Perhaps it would be a one-year sabbatical for you. Maybe you are being called to long-term missionary service. Either way, “the laborers are few” and the revolving doors and roundabouts keep going around. What is the Lord asking you to do in 2012?