Hey new friends!
It’s been great reading about all of your stories and knowing soon we will all mesh together and become one big family. 🙂 Here is a bit of my own story:
I am 28 years old and am originally from Wisconsin. I come from an amazing family of 6. When it was time for college I moved to Chicago to go to Moody Bible Institute and received a degree in Bible and Theology. It’s pretty general but I knew all I really wanted to do was minister to people and love on them and God for the rest of my life so it worked.
After college, I had the most random assortment of jobs but knew in my heart that I really wanted to pursue missions….so I did! I spent four months in Kenya with Adventures in Missions which ended up leading me to do the World Race in 2007. Seriously guys, the World Race was to date the most awesome thing I have ever done. It expanded my world view and left me aching for more. There is something that happens to you when you see God at work on all corners of the earth and it reminds me of a quote in “Poisonwood Bible” that says, “I was afflicted with Africa like a bout of a rare disease, from which I have not managed a full recovery…” and that’s how I feel about the world. My year on the WR was an incredible journey that I am so grateful the Lord set me on. ** you can check out my blog if you want… http://stacyutecht.theworldrace.org**
After the World Race, I knew the Lord was calling me to stay stateside (which was really hard!) but I ended up with the most super de dooper fantastic job ever…I am a Resident Director at Malone University in Canton, Ohio. I am currently in my second year and I oversee a dorm of 222 girls…it is a stinkin blast! I mean, let’s be real. I get paid to have pizza and game nights, attend track meets and stay up late laughing and having deep talks with gals. 🙂 But in that, my heart has increased for discipling college aged women and living life together. It truly has been awesome and challenging and I look forward to returning for a third year…
(Me and my 6 sweet Resident Assistants rocking the ugly Christmas sweaters and the arm shelf. Don’t hate.)
One of the greatest things about being an RD is that I get all the students breaks. My co-workers say I have the biggest wings ever because I usually fly right out of here come summer. When the earthquake hit in Haiti, my heart was compelled to go down there but the timing wasn’t right. It’s funny how God works. I was actually supposed to lead a trip to Thailand and be there all summer with a few girls I minister to at Malone but all our plans to go shifted to the end of July. So, June ended up being totally free and I knew that the Lord had opened the door for Haiti.
I’m totally stoked to meet all of you and spend an incredible month together. I was thinking this morning about looking out the window as we first get into Haiti and to be honest, I have no idea what we will encounter. But I know the Lord has us each specifically there for a unique purpose. One thing I learned on the Race is that we aren’t able to DO much in the short times we get to go to places. But we will go, learn, love and get to be a part of something so much greater than ourselves.
Henri Nouwen is one of my favorite authors and I thought this was fitting:
“When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing… not healing, not curing… that is a friend who cares.”
I am excited to grow together with each of you and embody this to one another and to the Hatians we come across as we are there. C’mon June! 🙂
Oh, PS….for anyone connected with Facebook you can find me. I think my network is Moody Bible Institute. See you all soon!
