Pushing through fear to find GREAT JOY
This past month and a half, God has taught me a lot about obedience and pushing through fear to follow the Holy Spirit. In the past year, I have gotten a lot more comfortable talking with people at outreaches. But talking to random people on the street? Sharing the Gospel with a random person in the metro? Not my thing….terrifies me. But for months now, I have felt the Holy Spirit asking me to do it. I keep hearing the verse over and over, "If you love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15). After several weeks of ignoring or not doing it and feeling guilt, I just decided to try? What do I... Read more
Unity in the Gospel
As I ended my time in Mexico with Avance, I was encouraged to think about what I had learned about cross-cultural living and ministry. I immediately thought about how different cultures have their own beautiful aspects and how each one adds something new to the kingdom of heaven. This is the topic I had in mind as I worked on my capstone project for Avance. For my project, I created a visual representation of how different cultures are unified through the gospel. This multimedia, watercolor, and ink on canvas represent two cultures very different from each other. Color culture and Line-... Read more
Christmas Down in East Africa
What has Christmas looked like this year? Well, it is a little different. I was thinking about it this year. How many of my traditions were I going to bring here? Would I try to recreate the holiday minus cold weather, family, and dairy? Would I discover the Eastern African version of monkey bread without butter, canned biscuits, or brown sugar? Would we decorate the weekend after Thanksgiving, listen to Christmas music, and watch movies? Or like Thanksgiving, would I let the holiday almost slip passed unnoticed until the day of, say a quick huzzah, wish all well and merry, and move on?... Read more
My First 2 Months in Berlin
Frohe Weihnachten & Adventszeit from Berlin! Hard to believe it's been 2 months since I landed! Berlin already feels so familiar I feel like I've been here longer. Everyday I feel more and more comfortable in this magical, captivating, and mesmerizing city. I started language school back on 10/31 and am now about halfway done with my second class. Each class is an intensive 4-week class. My classes have been fairly small with about 10 people total. My classmates come from all over the world! I can already tell a huge improvement in my German. I've also been going to what's called "... Read more
A Refuge for the Refugee
Several months ago, before I left for the field, I had a very specific chapter of the Bible in mind for the work God was calling me to. I used Psalms 46 to help me pray. I encourage you to do the same along with me as I re-enter the field, or use it for yourself however you would like. Or even use this to pray for peoples and countries all over the world. You can read through a section at a time, pausing to pray in between verses. I thought I’d provide my own thoughts and prayers here as well, focusing on praying for the refugees my team and I work with in the Middle East. God is our... Read moreGoer Story
Looking back on it now, I think my story with going began from a very young age. I have vivid memories from when I was in highschool of telling my friends, “I will never be an international missionary. It’s cool for other people, but it is NOT for me”. Growing up, I watched my dad embark on short term missions trips building houses in Haiti, and truthfully, that was pretty much my view of missions as a whole. I knew it was for adventurous people who wanted to travel the world and who didn’t mind being uncomfortable, and I knew that wasn’t me. I went to college and knew that I wanted to do... Read more
Let it Matter
You have probably heard a lot of talk about "desensitization". It's been huge in media, asking if there is so much violence on TV or video games that kids don't realize the consequences of violent actions. The term can be applied to a lot of things in life. You have coffee too often and are now desensitized to the effects of caffeine. You live in a noisy neighborhood so it no longer fazes you when someone is playing really loud music next door or when cars drive past. The room smells funny when you walk into it but within 15 minutes you are desensitized to the smell and it no longer bothers... Read more
1 Year on the Field: a Journal Entry
Time has FLOWN by, and here I am, one year into my two-year commitment with GoCorps. In some ways it feels like I just left the states—there is so much still for me to learn about the language and culture of the country I am in. And yet, it also feels like in one year, I have lived a whole lifetime. In one year, God has grown and changed me so much. I took some time at the beginning of this month to journal and reflect on this past year and all the ways that God has grown me. Here are some thoughts from my journal: “Thank you for how you have grown me in the past year, Lord! I am... Read moreBlind Obedience & Closed Doors
It was with my feet on the very African soil that I had felt God pulling me towards for almost 10 years, that I committed years of my life to serving in a different nation. I have been dreaming of missions since my 12 year old self saw a vision of me living in a different country, specifically one in Africa. I spent years watching videos, researching, and itching to know these people and the land the Lord had so clearly placed on my heart. Because of this, partnering with an organization like GoCorps was a no brainer- I knew all I wanted was to GO. It was also an easy decision to begin... Read more