Hi Friends! I have been in Morocco for two weeks now and the hospitality has been incredible! We have built a close relationship with the family that lives across from us, and we need your prayers. We have been sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with sisters S and A, and their father M has ALS (neurodegenerative disease). Please pray for healing of his nerves and motor skills, so that his whole family can witness the healing powers of our Lord and Savior. Thank you!
I have about a month left before I come home! As I have been reflecting over this past year, I have compiled 20 things that I am thankful for:
1. God remaining the same throughout the year, no matter where I am, sovereign and faithful.
2. Staying healthy overall (other than a 24 hour bug in Nepal).
3. My prayer warriors (you guys!) back home. I couldn’t have done this year without you. Your prayers and listening ear have sustained me and also showed me that the body of Christ isn’t just found in a church building, but in every single home.
4. Access to a shower or source of running water in every country. Most creative shower award goes to Kazakhstan.
5. Worshipping with the local church body in 10 different countries!
6. Google Translate getting us around in every country, and helping me translate the good news of Jesus Christ in multiple languages.
7. Speaking Chinese like a native in China. They all wanted to know where I learned my English so that they could send their kid. Thanks, mom and dad.
8. Surfing for the first time in Morocco.
9. Experiencing the incredible hospitality and home cooked meals in places like Indonesia, India, Turkey, and Morocco.
10. Discovering my love for learning new languages. I can now say Hello and Thank You in over 10 languages!
11. Participating in my first archaeological dig in Kazakhstan.
12. Having the dollar stretch further in most countries and living on $10/day (food+lodging).
13. Having a sense of humor. I’ve lost track of the number of times people try to convince me that I’m not from America.
14. Being surrounded by the beauty of God’s creation and seeing some of the most beautiful mountains and seas. The Taj Mahal and Great Wall are pretty cool too.
15. Paragliding for the first time in Nepal and celebrating my birthday.
16. Only needing my tent 2 out of the 11 months.
17. Getting out of my comfort zone and sharing about my first love, my Lord and Savior, in a taxi, on a ship, on a train, or in a park. The most exciting part of all is that I get to choose to do this for the rest of my life!
18. Traveling to 4 different continents and being accident-free. Busses on the mountain roads in Nepal were something else though, keeping me airborne half the time.
19. Making new friends from all corners of the earth. Now I have family to stay with in Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, and many other countries!
20. Witnessing the fact that people all over the world are really not that different from you or me. Every single person desires to be loved, to be known, and to be valued. Jesus loves you, knows you, and values you beyond measure.
For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. ~John 3:16-17
Please pray for M (3rd from the left) to be healed from Lou Gehrig’s Disease
