It has been one year since I have applied to the race. I remember looking at amount $16,250 and thinking ‘Its truly going to be a miracle if I pull this off’ and that is exactly what it is, a miracle. I am happy to announce that I am fully funded! Thank you so much to everyone that believed in me, prayed for me and supported me. This is all because of you.
I want to give you a brief rewind on the past 7 months and share with you some of the awesome things God has done through me because of your generosity.
India
In India we did a lot of practical things such as; clearing brush on mountain tops, painting class rooms, cooking over an open fire, taking pictures of sponsor kids, helping with VBS, cleaning and helping with construction on the hospital. I loved being apart of each of these ministries but what touched me the most was being able to uplift the people around me. One night around the campfire God used me to encourage a young man that had just recently given his life to the Lord. I was able to share my story with him and the struggles I had when I first gave my life to the Lord.
Nepal
Nepal was our month of evangelism. We hit the streets almost every day to tell people about Jesus. We went on Jericho walks around temples. Sang worship songs on crowded busses. We were able to show God’s love to street kids every Wednesday by hugging them, holding them, spinning them, playing soccer, and feeding them. But on one of our off days, while I was relaxing on a bus I met a lady. I was able to share the gospel with her and tell her how much God loved her. I shared my story with her and how I used to have the same emptiness that she was feeling. All though she did not receive Christ that day, the Holy Spirit was moving. With tears in her eyes she hugged me and allowed me to pray for her. I believe I will see this lady in heaven one day and I’m so excited to hear about the moment she did chose to give her life to Christ.
South Africa
This month that was not like the rest. There was nobody waiting for us when we got there. We didn’t have specific ministries to do. This month our main task was to find ministries to connect with AIM. We met up with many different ministries that are doing amazing work in South Africa but one of them we were able to serve along side every Monday. We hung out with the boys from iCare once a week. Telling them where we came from and about Jesus’ love for them, we played games and took them swimming. These were boys that begged on the streets but wanted something more out of life. iCare is a 3 step mission, first step is to get them to come to the center every day for food, showers, games and a message but every night they go back to the streets. When they finally chose they want something more they went to a group home were they learn more about Jesus and eventually the finally step is bringing them back home to their families. It was such a blessing to be apart of this wonderful mission while in Durban, the people that work at iCare have such a beautiful heart for these kids and will do anything to get their life back on track.
Swaziland
We spent month 4 loving on kids at th El Shaddai orphanage. This month was extremely hard for me, I was surrounded by kids that either had no parents or they were not wanted by their parents. I seen kids that had nothing and have been through more than I could have imagined but they had an overwhelming sense of joy. I fought through emotions such as anger, sorrow, joy and then guilt for feeling joy. These kids taught me how to love, something that I had thought I knew how to do but apparently I was wrong. It broke my heart knowing that I was going to be one more person to walk out on them but I knew that was no excuse not to love them the best I could while we were there. These kids touched my heart and I miss them every day.
Mozambique
Preach, teach, pray, and play pretty much sums up my month in Mozambique. Preaching 2-3 times a week and leadership training once a week. Door to door prayer for widows and hospital visits once a week. Every night was spent playing games and dancing with the kids from the orphanage and the neighboring kids. Having only one man that spoke english, we spent the month getting to know each other on the team. But I want to share something amazing that God did. On our first day of door to door prayer we met a sweet lady named Rosa. Rosa hadn’t walked in over a year, slept on the ground and each day moved outside to lay on the ground in the sun. My team continued to pray for her and massage her feet, hips and lower back. One of my teammates felt led to buy her a mattress. A couple weeks after we left Mozambique we received word that through more prayer Rosa is now walking and not just walking but working!
Latvia
Living life at a Christian Family Rehabilitation Center. With only one translator who was not always there we had to figure out different ways to communicate with these people. We were basically living one big game of charades, it made for a good laugh. In the span of a month we seen hard hearts soften, people that said they didn’t believe in God started chiming in during bible study. When we came to the center it seemed very heavy. But by time we left everyone was filled with joy. This just shows the awesome work of the Holy Spirit, we were not able to communicate with them but by loving them and choosing joy in every situation we were able to melt hardened hearts.
Estonia
We’re going to camp! This month is all about the youth. We spent one week in the woods sleeping in tents and another week putting on a city camp. We went to the beach in the morning to hangout with any youth that would walk by and then we spent the evening back at the church hanging out, worshiping and listening to some of Paul’s stories. After every session we split into small groups. I was so blessed to be the one leading the girls small group. I was able to speak some truth into some young ladies lives while telling them about my story. Leading a group like this is something that I was very nervous about, but in the end I had so much fun and it was a true joy to get to know each of the girls in my group.
This is just a brief on how the Lord has been using me while I have been away and none of this would be possible without you. Not only have you made it possible for me to change lives by supporting me on this trip but you have also made it possible for my life to be changed. The Lord has been chipping things away and it has been painful but at the same time I am starting to see the beauty that lies beneath. I don’t know how I could ever thank you for giving me this life changing experience.
If you feel like you would still like to support me in helping with my monthly expenses such as shampoo, bug spray, sunscreen etc. Or if you want to support me in what God has next for me you can do so on Pay Pall. My email is [email protected] (You will no longer be able to support me here on my blog, any thing over the amount I need goes to AIM not me so please use the pay pall.) I don’t know 100% what I will be doing after the race the Lord has put a couple things on my heart. Whether thats going back to finish my last semester of bible college, going home to serving at my church or maybe coming back to one of the countries I have served in. One way or another I could still use your prayer and support over these last 4 months. Thank you again for making this all possible!
