March 16, 2007

From: Carol McKinney

Hi All,

Chris asked me to write the update this month, since I have news to share.

Some of you know that since college I have wanted to be a counselor. I enjoy being an encouragement to others when they are going through difficult times, and before we came to the Philippines 20 years ago I earned an MA in Counseling from California State University, Fullerton. But we moved to the mission field before I could work toward a license.

Our first term we lived in a provincial place where they didn't even have a word that meant "counselor", nor could they fathom why anyone would go outside their large extended families for input when they had problems.

After that we moved to a rural city, and over the years I had opportunities to use my degree informally, and to teach occasional seminars on lay counseling in one of our churches. But what I didn't have, and have always wanted, was supervision, like I would have received if I had stayed in the California long enough to pursue a license.

Finally, when we had an extended furlough of 3 years in the States, I saw my chance to work toward a license. But after checking into how much time it would take, and knowing that I needed a job with a flexible schedule and limited weekly hours because I still had four kids at home, I worked as a substitute teacher. Besides, the main reason we were home for that time was so Chris could pursue his doctoral studies. Once again I buried my hopes of becoming a counselor.

This term we are living in Manila, a "modern" city, and our kids are attending Faith Academy, a large school for children of missionaries. Last year the head of the Marriage and Family Counseling Center there invited me to join the counseling team. It seemed almost unbelievable to me. We had several discussions about this. I told him I'm not licensed. He said my Master's degree is sufficient, but as a licensed counselor he would be willing to supervise me. After a few months of thought and prayer I joined the team.

I began in January, two days a week. This is not a paid position. Like most of the teachers and staff there, I'm working as a missionary. I enjoy it tremendously. Some days are hard, as I am aware of my limitations. I pray about each person who walks into my office.

I am thankful for God's timing. The truth is that I wanted to be a mom, first and foremost, when our kids were young. God allowed me to be. And this opportunity came at a time when I was seriously considering what kind of outside ministry I would like to focus on, now that our kids are older and we are living in Manila.

I love to see how God works in people's lives. Send me an email if you'd like to tell me what he has been doing in yours! Thank you to all of you for your unfailing support of our work here!

Serving with you,

Carole McKinney