Hi all!!
My name is Samantha Dillon, I am 22 years old & I live in a very very hot town called Gilbert AZ! I graduated from NAU, but still just spend most of my days nannying sweet little babies. I have been leading for an outreach ministry called Young Life for the past 5 years & if I am not hanging out with high school kids, I am probably just hanging out with my dog or writing fancy signs for a wedding or something. Or sitting at a coffee shop. Or having a dance party with my roommates. Yep, that basically sums up my life!
God used Young Life to completely change my life, and provided me with deep purpose & such an incredible community. I am so grateful everyday for the people & opportunities that it has given me. If I am being honest, from the moment I got involved with Young Life, I thought I was going to be doing it for the rest of my life.. and maybe I will come back to it, but for now I will be moving into something new & exciting & so different than I ever thought I would do.
After a season of deep growth and learning, I have gotten to see & experience God working so evidently in my life. A truth nugget for you all- look for Jesus. He. Shows. Up!! In a super simplified version, I have heard so clearly that I must go, so I am going. I desire to love people deeply, to see them, to serve them, & to share the good news of Jesus with the world! I have felt so moved by the reality of this world & that it is so, so broken. I physically hurt because of it. I weep over it. I pray & I believe that God gets to use a broken vessel like me to love & care for others experiencing their own brokenness.
I am so excited to say that I will be leaving in January 2020 for 11 months, to visit 11 different countries, sharing the gospel and life with so many different people. I will be going to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Nepal, India, South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. If you’d like to read a little bit more about what I will be doing in these countries, feel free to read about it here! https://www.worldrace.org/routes/january2020-route-2/
Philippians 1:18-21 is always a constant reminder for me – “Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me.” – This life I live is for Christ!
I am feeling all sorts of emotions about leaving my life & people here in Gilbert for 11 months, but I am so excited & eagerly awaiting all that God is going to do through this experience. It would mean so much to me, for anyone who is willing, to join alongside me in this! Whether in prayer or financially, or both. Prayers for the countries I will be entering into, the people living in these places, that my heart & mind would be prepared for all I am going to experience, as well as the people I will be serving with, & anything else that may be on your heart!!
A big thank you to all of my pals & people who push me to seek Jesus constantly, and move into what God has called me to. And thank you to anyone joining me on this journey! I’d love for you all to stay updated with my blog until the days that I leave, as well as the time that I am there, & see all the ways that God works!
so much love!!!
Samantha
