Hi friends! In case you haven’t already heard, I have the opportunity to go on a mission trip for the month of June to the Philippines with the World Race. I am absolutely STOKED!
The summer before I moved to Chattanooga to begin my freshman year at UTC, God really started transforming my life. It’s like He had been tugging on my heart for years and He finally got my attention. Before this, I didn’t know who I was. I was constantly finding my identity in anything other than Christ and I had no idea what a true relationship with Him was. After I began listening to the Lord, my whole perspective changed. My perspective on dating, friendships, and goals in life were completely different. All I knew was that I now wanted to do everything in my life for Christ. I wanted to have full identity in Him and be a light to others through Him. Psalm 40 became something I meditated on. It really opened my eyes to the Lord. Verse 3 says, “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God…” and verse 4, “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, who does not look to the proud…” These verses became huge truths in my life. I saw how my outlook had changed once I allowed the Lord to move into my life.
And so, around this same time, I felt the Lord calling me to missions. I didn’t know what that meant or where, if anywhere, He wanted me to go. I started looking into mission trips and wanted to go abroad summer 2019. I really didn’t commit to finding a mission trip and didn’t end up going anywhere this past summer summer. But, I still felt the Lord calling me to missions. I obeyed His call, applied for a World Race: Semesters trip, and went through the interview process until my acceptance. So now, I will be spending June 2020 in the Philippines serving with Kid’s International Ministry (KIM)! At KIM we will be working with children by tutoring, teaching devotions, and identifying medical needs of both kids and other people. We will also assist with disaster relief and serve in a birthing clinic! This will be my first time traveling outside of the country and I am a mixture of everything excited and nervous. I know that the Lord will use this trip in so many ways. I am so hopeful that He will work through us to impact the lives of the people we serve in the Philippines and that my team and I will grow through the experience.
This trip is a big turning point in my life, I think. I feel like it’s the first time I’ve truly been obedient for what the Lord wants for my life. I also know that it will make a huge impact on whether or not I’ll want to do missions/ministry full time at some point in my life. This trip is full of so many unknowns and new places and new people…and yet God has given me immense peace about my decision to go. I’ve seen that theme in my life for months: peace. It’s a good feeling.
The next 6 months will be full of preparation for this trip. Preparation spiritually, mentally, and financially. I hope that the Lord teaches me perseverance throughout these 6 months and that He works through my life and those who are on this journey with me. I invite you to be a prayer partner with me on this journey. If you think of it, please pray for my team and I as we all prepare for this trip! I hope to keep this page regularly updated throughout the months, so keep checking back in and subscribe to my page for any specific prayer requests or information I may have on the trip!
I cannot wait for this next adventure. Thank you so much for reading!
– B
