***First, apologies for the delay on the Light of Hope blogs. Right as I was gonna finish the series we took a trip to Springfield,OH (mommy's hometown) to visit my grandmaw who was newly placed in a nursing home. Driving down we were about an hour away and got a call that grandpaw, who was already in the same nursing home, passed. Sooooooooo that turned into a CA-RAY-ZAY extended visit with a couple of week recovery once we got back to Philly.
THEN, I decided I would make a donation and follow the money through the whole process so I could guarantee that your money is going where you send it. Therefore, I had to wait until I had some money! :o) I sent 6mos of support to the young man I sponsor. I'm following the trail and talking to the people who get our money in the USA (YWAM Colorado), the person who gets it in Cambodia (YWAM Phnom Penh) and am currently waiting to here from Vuthy that he has received the money. This is an INCREDIBLE ministry and we will all be SO blessed partnering with him/them to help God's plans come to fruition. All that to say…
STAY TUNED!***
Never wanting there to be dull moment in your lives <smile>, I have some more exciting news for you. I came home from subbing at this awesome Christian school in West Philly (shoutout Cornerstone) and opened my email. There's a message from AIM asking me to lead a Passport trip to Uganda or Uganda/Tanzania/Kenya in THIRTEEN DAYS!!!!! Whoooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!
BACKSTORY: Pretty early on in my Race and continuing throughout God told me that Philly was to be my home & mission field for the next few years. So I've been steadily praying into and turning down offers (there's been a grip) and instead trying to dig-in/plug-in here in Philly. I've found an AMAZING church (shoutout Epiph), am developing incredible friendships with people, looking for a job…settling in, ya know. My spirit has been absolutely clear on saying no to all the other opportunities even when my flesh was screaming "YES!: Just a few days ago I posted on FB for God to help me find my place in Philly and to really seek and obey His will for my time here.
Aaight so now you're caught up. Of course I get the email and I'm immediately like "GET THEEE BEHINDETH ME SATAN!!!! I just committed myself to Philadelphia." LoL :O) But then RIGHT after that my Spirit is like "Nah, Shi this is different. This is God loving you and knowing you and giving you a sweet little golden nugget for pushing through the tough times and consistently choosing Him despite…
So I hit up a few Racer buddies and they're confirming the same thing. This 2mos is a gift from my Daddy to restock, reignite, refocus and re-enter America again ready to go! It's a chance to pour out what He's poured into me for a year+. It's a chance to give back to AIM a lil' tidbit of all the amazingness they gave to me on The World Race in 2011. I was JUST telling someone that high school and college aged youth are my heart and that I really want to work with them. God knows our hearts and loves us SO well! WOW
Okay so I could ramble on & on about how perfectly this came together (lemme know if you want the full story), but just trust me when I say I KNOW this is where I am supposed to be. Okay so the UBER exciting part is I leave May 30th! Yep 10 days from now! Uh huh YEP that's right less than 2weeks notice to go across the globe again. AHHHHHH I LOVE LIFE!
Y'll have been ridiculously supportive of me and no words could really tell you a heartfelt enough thank you. If any of you would like to continue our missional partnership financially I would be SO grateful. I need only $2000 (compaired to last years $15K) by May 30th. So if 20 of my lovely partners give $100 we're good to go. Or if 100 of my lovely supporters give $20 we're super great! The thing is I need the money and not my AIM account because I need access to it in order to purchase a last minute plane ticket, travel insurance and restock on some camping supplies. If you would prefer a tax deductable donation please click HERE. However, if you're okay with skipping the tax break and giving to me directly I'd really appreciate that as well. Click HERE to do so through PayPal. All you'll need is my email address ([email protected])
Y'll are great!
I can't wait to see what all God has in store for this season. It's such a different experience to be on the leading end. I feel such love for them already and can't wait to see the amazing things He does in their lives! AHHHHH God's gonna rock their (and my) worlds!!!!!!!!
