Growing up, I always heard the phrase, "Be careful what you wish for" and would always roll my eyes at it. I think a better phrase would be, "Be careful what you prayer for", because God might take it in a direction you never knew was possible. I had often thought about the idea of mission work or becoming a missionary growing up, but at that age I am not sure I fully understood what that meant. I remember watching my oldest brother travel to Louisiana after hurricane Katrina to help with the clean and not too many years after that I remember watching him go to Grenada and help build a school. I watched my other two brothers travel to Mississippi and teach VBS in one of the poorest counties it the nation. I remember watching two important people in my life travel to Uganda and India. I had a strong sense of pride every time one of them left on a trip, yet my heart was aching. "Why can't I go yet? When will it finally be my turn?" I patiently watched and waited each time until finally my time came. My eighth grade year I traveled to Carey, Mississippi for the first time, to help teach VBS and to give lots of love to those sweet kids. I then went back 3 more times. My final trip there, while I knew it would more than likely be my final time there, I knew God had something bigger in store, but I did not realize how big it was until after I had returned home. In September of 2016 I blindly purchased a ticket to Honduras not knowing much about what I would do, but basically only knowing where I would be staying and at the time, I had never met the people I was going to stay with, but nonetheless, On December 28th, 2016 I left all that I knew and all that was "comfortable", hopped on a plane, and landed in San Pedro Sula, Honduras where I met my host family for the first time. I was all alone in a foreign country and I was terrified, but not worried about a single things, because it was God and me. I spent almost a month living in Siguatipeque, Honduras teaching kindergarten, 1st grade, 3rd grade, and 4th grade at a bilingual school, orphanage, and clinic. I also went with my host family into one of the poorer communities called Puran. This trip broke me so hard and my heart and mind were left in many pieces, but I can not begin to describe how much this trip taught me and how much I grew while I was there and while I adjusted back to the U.S. If I had not put every ounce of trust in God while in Honduras, I honestly believe that I would not be here today. While I felt guilty and empty when I returned I was filled with love and joy and thankfulness, and a burning passion to continue to be Jesus' hands and feet.
The original plan was to return to siguat in January of 2018, but sadly those plans fell through, but for really good reasons. I had become content with staying in the states and maybe travelling to another state or staying at a friends house when the first week of school God placed an offer in front of me that I could not say no to. So on January 11th, 2018 I will be travelling to Kenya, Africa on a 16 day medical mission trip. God has blessed me in HUGE ways and I can not wait to see how He uses this trip. SO much has changed in a year(too much to share in one post, but I would love to share so feel free to ask).
In 40 days I will travel with an amazing group of people to share the gospel and assist in giving medical care to the beautiful people of Africa. Y'all my heart is so anxious and I can not believe how good God has been. He's moving mountains everyday!
I will try my best to update y'all as much as possible, but for now here is how you can pray:
Please pray for:
- My health and the health of the team
- My heart, the hearts of the team, and the hearts of the African people
- Safe travels and safety while there
- That God continues to break me to grow me
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