Shields International Ministries

  They say that life is never the same after a survey trip.  It’s one thing to know there is a need, but its another to actually see it in front of you- the spiritual emptiness, the longing, the darkness, and all the things that happen as a result of it. It’s enough to fill your heart with incessant aching, and your soul with a desire for change.  They say that life is never the same after a survey trip, and boy have we found that to be true. We knew going into it, that there would be significant change as a result, but never did we imagine just how much. Our perspectives have changed, and with it, many of our circumstances. And somehow we are fully aware that there is no going back.  Someone once told me that we should never live life as if seeing through a rearview mirror. We are to consistently move forward despite the setbacks, disappointments, and heartbreaks. And as we near the end of another year, we plan to do just that. We’ve turned the page into a new chapt...

  Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Over five million current residents. Two hundred and fifty thousand immigrants each year and counting from all over the world.  It is a city full of endless opportunity where many have come to start a new and better life. The job market is increasingly generous and plentiful, and the contrast of the endless ocean and towering mountains unmatched. Yet somehow, less than a third of these people live their lives from day to day with any knowledge or interest in God.  On November 15, 2022, after two full years of being denied access to return due to the countries strict adherence to covid laws, we boarded our first flight as a married couple to Sydney. Twenty-six hours, and 9,474 miles later, we arrived physically exhausted but mentally and emotionally renewed.  Over the course of two full weeks in the country, we were blessed to be able to partake in the ministries of four different churches, two on the northern central co...

  We are exactly twenty days out from our very first international missions trip as a married couple working under ABWE and the excitement has begun to peak. Plans are set (Tentative plans…as things do not always go as we plan them to…), bags are ready to be packed, and schedules have been cleared. In a little less than three weeks, we will, Lord willing, be on a plane to Australia together for the first time. This will be Hanna’s first trip there since the pandemic, and Trenton’s first ever. Expectations are high, and it could not have been scheduled for a better time (The Lord has a way of doing that).  As of the second week of October, our house has been officially been sold and closed on. The new owners seem to love it just as much as we did, and though it was sad to see our first home go, we are confident that the Lord has His hand on the situation in both big and small ways. As of yesterday, we have been fully moved in to our temporary room, and all of our outstanding de...

  It started in my early teens and worsened into adulthood. At the very moment my life was supposed to be beginning, it felt in every way as if it were about to end. I wanted an escape from the pain, and often turned to all the wrong things. But because of the Lord’s great grace, He pulled me from the ashes and gave me a heart to run after Him as I never had before.  I remember those years as I look back. I was not the person I wanted to be, and I knew I needed to change. So I dug through the Scripture, I listened to preaching, and I read every book I could get my hands on. These are just a few of the books, aside from Scripture, that helped bring me back and change me into the person I am today.  1. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand     I came across this book while working at my first job. I worked at a movie theatre and saw the ad for its upcoming movie. I was so moved by it that I bought and read the book in less than a week. All 567 pages of it…As I read t...

  A Change of Plans September 2022 Missions Update The month of September did not go as planned for us. While we had many appointments, meetings, and prior obligations, many of them were abruptly cancelled due to illness.   Shortly following our fundraiser/moving sale the beginning of the month, Hanna found out that she will need to have all four of her wisdom teeth surgically removed. It was scheduled three times this month, but each time, issues with insurance prevented it from happening. While we still do not have a specific date for this procedure, the Lord is working on our behalf to provide the funds necessary in the near future. All praise to God, we received a full offer on the house and will be closing on it October 6 th . The extra funds we receive from that will more than pay off our outstanding debt and the surgery she needs. We will then be moving out of the home officially the beginning of November, only one week before our departure date for Australia. ...

  “ You’re young, you can handle it.”               If I had a dime for every time I’ve had this said to me, I’d of been on the field months ago… So many times within the past few months, I’ve confided my deepest struggles to someone only to be met with this statement- as if the trials and the hardships weren’t that big of a deal because of my age.   When you’re twenty-four, there’s no excuse for burnout. But there I was, six months into pre-field, dealing with just that. Every day I woke up, I did the exact same thing- I went to work from nine to six and maybe fit a few church calls into my thirty minute lunch period. My only days off were Sunday and Wednesday which were often filled with more church obligations and missions meetings.    Week after week it was the same thing- go to work for nine hours every day and make a barely livable paycheck, then somehow find time to squeeze in the ministry. And a...

  It’s no secret that the past few months have been incredibly difficult. Between managing secular jobs and striving forward with the ministry, it seems that our past and future lives are at constant odds with each other. Each day I wake up, I am reminded of the passage of Scripture found in Philippians 3:12-14, which reminds us to consistently “forget what lies behind and strain forward to what lies ahead, pressing on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Unfortunately, the journey often feels long, and each day we move closer to the goal while still trying to manage our secular jobs, gets harder. But we know that God is in ultimate control and that this too shall soon pass.  The month of August proved to be another very eventful month, with ministry opportunities taking root even before we arrived home from our training at Headquarters the end of last month.                  Our first two w...