Glitter Gold

Yesterday I got back from a trip to Washington D.C./Annapolis, MD. I went to see a couple of my friends that I met at Passion in January. These were a few of the people that I first talked about YWAM with. These were the people that have been with me every single step of the way, from deciding on what organization to go with, to where I should be going, my decision to switch from Australia from New Zealand and then the whole waiting process.  They have prayed with me and for me. They have just been there and it was so awesome to spend a few days with a couple of them.  


When you are at Passion you are broken up into community groups, which can be anywhere between 2000-5000 people.  Ours was about 4000 and we were Glitter Gold.  You are then broken up into family groups, groups that you can process with what's happening at Passion and what you are learning. Last time I went, I had a good group but we really didn't connect. This time however was completely different. We all connected, we became a legit family. We were open and honest, vulnerable and shared what was really going on in our lives.  We were praying with each other each time we met. We were close and I didn't want to leave them. We have kept in contact via email, skype, letters, texting and phone calls. We have seen each other through some pretty tough times in the past few months. One of the guys has been really great about helping me out because he actually just got back from YWAM before he came to Passion. And the amazing God is totally in control of what is going on is that I am going to the same base that he went through. I am going to have some of the same people leading my team that led his team. He has been awesome about answering questions whenever I have them. It's awesome to see how God truly does have everything under control. The rest of my group has been awesome and so supportive as well and I am completely and utterly blessed to call them family. 


Today I head up to camp for the summer. I will be serving at Lake Geneva Youth Camp as the Counselor at Large meaning, that I will be the counselor for the girl counselors. I am very excited about this opportunity to serve and minister in a new way. :) It will push me and stretch me and I am very excited about it. Some prayer requests while I'm up there are:


-For health and safety. It is long days and short nights, so be in prayer that I can stay healthy and that I can  make sure that my girls are taking care of themselves.
-That I will be a strong leader for my girls and that I can bring us together as a group and we can support each other.
-I will also be buying my plane ticket, getting my visa, medical insurance, and putting more things together for YWAM. Just be in prayer that I buy at the right time to get the best deal and that I make the best decisions about what I should be buying for my trip. 
-That God is glorified in every single thing that I and the rest of the staff do. That we would love each and every camper, family and whoever else we come in contact with this summer. This is the reason of why we are going. This is the reason of why we are serving and giving up our summers. 


If you would like to send me mail while I'm at camp :) It's a great encouragement to get mail at camp. :) You can send me mail at 
Lake Geneva Youth Camp
W2655 South Street
Lake Geneva, WI 53147




UPDATE ON SUPPORT:
As of today I have 40% of my support that I need to raise. I am so incredibly blessed to have you all supporting me in my life and I am blown away by how God is providing. This was something that I was very worried about before heading off to camp was if I was making a smart decision about serving at camp. But God has proven to be continually faithfully through you all and I am on my way to being fully supported. :) A verse that comes to mind when I think about this is Romans 8:31 "What shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" I should not fret and worry about money coming in because if God is for me then what can come against me?  I am so grateful for all of the prayer and financial support you have given me. I love you all and hope you have a great summer. I will continue to post updates about my trip and what's going on in my life this summer. 

God in the Small Things

In the past few years I've become so much more aware of God in the small thing of life. I've gone through some big changes/struggles/issues/problems in the past 4 years, as most college students do and I learned to see God in the small things in life as well as in the big things. God has been confirming that New Zealand is the right thing in my life right now. I've just been finding out so many different connections with New Zealand or with Oxford that I never knew that I had! 


-My friend's grandma lives about an hour and a half from where I'll be in New Zealand. I never knew that  his grandma lives there and it was just one of those random connections. 
-A guy that I worked with at North Park, his wife did a DTS (Discipleship Training School) at Oxford right after she graduated from New Zealand. 
- A girl I went to North Park with my freshman year told me she knows another girl going on this exact same trip! I'm going to be hopefully connecting with her in the next month or so. :)
-My parents have friends that live in Auckland and they have most graciously said that I can come stay with them early so that I can adjust to the time and also to do some sightseeing on the North Island as I won't be doing that while I'm in training. 


These are just a few of the ways God has been confirming this in my life. It just seems very much the right thing and what God is calling me to do. Someone told me this awhile ago when I was in the waiting process of hearing back from YWAM about whether or not I'm accepted. "When God says Yes, No one can say No." If God is calling me on this trip then everything will fall into place, my support will come in, I'll get everything done and ready and it will be a (hopefully) smooth process. :) I think about in Romans 8:31 how it says "If God is for me, then who can be against me?" And it so true. If God is for me in going then who will stand against me? I know I will come across hardships and difficulties because I am going to proclaim the name of Jesus and to make Him known to the lost. To show compassion and love and mercy and justice to those who receive none. The Devil does not want this and so I pray and ask for you to pray for me that I stand strong and that I do not get discouraged by things that don't go according to plan. That I would persevere through hardships and trials that come. 


Thank you for all the love and support I have felt and gotten in the past 2 weeks! I am so deeply encouraged and will be giving you an update on how I am doing on my support soon!


Love you.

Kia Ora...or Greetings in Maori

Just a year ago I was walking across a stage and receiving my Bachelors Degree in Elementary Education. So much has happened in the past year, and all of it gears up to the next step in my life. I have applied for, interviewed and gotten turned away from jobs. I also was finally hired as a Substitute teacher for the Chicago Public School system, which has been a very interesting experience. My dad had a quadruple bypass last fall, which showed me that God has a plan for everything and because I didn't have a permanent job and because I am living at home, I was able to be there during the day and hlep the transition once he got home. He's doing great in case you were wondering. 


In January I had the opportunity to go the Passion Conference in Atlanta. Passion is geared towards 18-25 year olds. Honestly, I went to hear David Crowder one last time and to hear some awesome speakers. God had a different plan. At the conference the overall theme was freedom and slavery. Right now in the world there are 27 million people enslaved. This number is outrageous and it bothers me that I have been sitting idly by and haven't done anything to stop this injustice. I was challenged by Christy Caines who shared how you truly don’t have compassion on a person until it moves you to action. Francis Chan challenged us with a very simple yet profound statement, that you read your Bible and do what it says. We are called to go into all the world and make disciples. We are called to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God. Louie Giglio challenged us to be fearless and to live out our everyday lives for God, to be fearless in our actions and to be bold in what we do and say. I was challenged by the music from songs like White Flag and The Only One by Chris Tomlin, Not Ashamed by Kristian Stanfill and seeing Chris Tomlins How Great Is Our God World Edition brought me to tears. We are so very blessed here in the US to be able to worship God in our churches and being able to have the freedom to talk about Him. 


I came home challenged and on fire for God. I felt called to go and serve. I don’t have to wait for my life to start or for me to settle down or anything, I am called to go now and serve and tell the world about Jesus. I decided to go with YWAM because of their DTS program. DTS stands for discipleship training school and it was exactly what I need and want for right now in my life. The first tree month I will be in Oxford, New Zealand learning about God, his attributes, how to hear his voice, how to pray, how to intercede and so much more. My DTS also has a justice focus so I will also be learning about slavery and human trafficking, fair trade, gender equality and human rights. The next 3 months I will be putting what I have learned into action. I will be going to another country and serving God and telling people how the love of God and what he has done for us. I will be working with a team of people who are from all over the world but who all have a heartbeat of serving our God. 


I am so very excited about this opportunity and so very excited to have you partner alongside of me in this journey. In the next few weeks I will be sharing how I came to the point of YWAM and the journey of getting accepted to New Zealand. It was a journey of God opening and closing doors and I can’t wait to see where God will be leading in the future. 


I want to leave you with the verses that are on the homepage for my trip and I have fallen in love with and what I believe is the calling for this trip. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment or send me an email and I will get back to you as soon as possible. 

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called Oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. ~Isaiah 61:1-3