Newsletters

Newsletters should be out within a week so hopefully you will all be receiving them soon. Thank you again for all of your prayers and support. I will continue to use this blog to keep you updated on my future plans and my life at college.

Currently, I am filling out my reapplication form to continue to work with Team Expansion. I am hoping by next August/September to be in Costa Rica learning Spanish. I have a passion for children but I also have a deep passion for Latin America and Latin American Immigrants in the USA. I want to continue preparing myself for the mission field so please pray for me as I take the first steps into going into full-time mission work.

Kentucky

I am back in Kentucky now! I start debreifing today and continue debriefing until tomorrow. I will fly back into Chicago on Friday! Well, I am sorry this is so short but it is time for lunch, Adios.

Starting to Reflect

Below I am going to tell you about some of my struggles and share with you some of my reflections on my time here in Spain. These are my answers to some of my debriefing questions:

What were you most challenged in this summer?  

I was most challenged in self-control. I had to learn how to control how I felt in certain situations and try to see things from God's perspective, while continuing to show love to those around me. 

Culture Shock In...

Murcia: language class, connecting with Spaniards, a lot of language difficulties, the time differences (eating, the lack of schedules, etc.), never knowing what was coming next, and street evangelism. 

Granada: not having a lot to do around the Irwin's house, talking with strangers in another language (sometimes rejection), having to learn how to adjust to different people's learning styles, and trying to fit into a new culture with a new 3rd culture missionary family.

Madrid: having to learn how to present my faith in a very skeptical and searching environment, plus having to learn how to go about speaking English or Spanish in a very bilingual environment (where English is sometimes look down upon). 

Before ( B ) and After ( A )

Tastes

B: I liked to try new things and have new experiences.

A: I have realized I really like Horchata. Also, I have realized I will never like olives. 

Lifestyles

B: I was growing strong spiritually through some difficult trials and learning more about who I am created in Christ.

A: Throughout this year and this experience, I feel stronger in who God has made me as a person and I feel very firm in my foundation in Christ. I also feel more peace in uncertainty.

Job

B: I quit my job before I came and was uncertain about what to do next.

A: My future is still uncertain but I feel more comfort and peace in letting God direct my ways. God has helped me realize I need more training before I go onto the mission field, whether that is in the states or overseas I am not sure.

Interests

B: I love to learn new things, meet new people, read, and travel to new places.

A: My interests are the same but my desire to learn Spanish is stronger. 

Hobbies

B: Reading, playing with kids, and working with at-risk kids

A: My hobbies stayed the same but I do want to try walking more places, it is a lot more fun :-)

4 Phrases that apply to me (picked these out of a list)

My world has been expanded

My heart has been broken for lost people

My mind has been instructed 

My spirit has been set on fire and is running free.

3 New commitments or changes

Perspectives:

  I have realized the importance of being well trained and learned ministry can take place no matter where you are. My commitment is to doing more training before I head out into full time cross-cultural ministry.

Loyalties:

 My commitment is to being more intentional in relationships (Christian and non-Christian) and be more committed to my own personal devotion time. 

Priorities:

 God always comes first.

Well that is just a bit of my debriefing sessions. God has stretched me in many different ways this summer and though it was not always easy I love it. I will miss this team and place deeply, but I am so excited to get back and continue on the journey I feel God putting before me. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and continued support! 

Please keep in your prayers my family, we lost a close family friend, Gina, to cancer yesterday. My mom is very upset and it is hard for me to be away from them during this time. Also, please pray for Gina's family: Bill, Leah, and Brian as they have just lost their loving wife and mother. Please continue praying for the team as we are all starting to become restless and ready to leave. Pray that we would continue to rejoice and enjoy the short time we have left here and have a safe travel back home. 

I will try to write one more time before I leave :-)

Coming Back But Not The Same

I have traveled a lot this summer so the trip back to Granada was a breeze, but this time I got to ride on a high speed train which was fun and very smooth. Now that I am back in Granada the team and I are going to be getting ready to debrief our time here in Spain. All I can say is wow!

My last few days at English Camp were amazing! My boys in my group were a hand full like always but like I said before I just loved on them and we had a lot of fun. My host family took me to two villages: an old Roman village and a village in the mountains. It was very neat to get the chance to visit this old villages with so much history and life. My host family and I were able to bond a lot in my last week and they invited me to come back any time I want. The father, Mick, said, "We got lucky when we got you!" That was really sweet of him we all enjoyed one another and were able to get along great. I felt very comfortable living with them in Tres Cantos.
It is from my time in Madrid, in Tres Cantos, that I have learned that I could work if God wanted me to in Spain. In Madrid, I found a ministry in which I was able to use the gifts God has given me and work with children, which I love.

I can't really sum up my whole summer but I will try to write what is on my heart and a little of what I have learned. God has shown me through this summer that all though I am growing and I have matured a lot through out this year I still need to do some more training before I go on the mission field. I am not sure what that entails but that much has been made clear to me. I have also learned a lot about the importance of working well with others and the importance of communication. I have learned that there are times when I need stand out as a leader and there are times when I need to just sit back and be an encourager to allow others to grow. I have learned that my quiet and devotional time is a must in order for me to be the person God has created me to be. Pray in all circumstances. I learned not to take for granted random acts of kindness done by strangers sometimes it is God reminding me to keep my head up and lean on Him. God has shown me a lot and hopefully I will be able to tell you more later, but for now this will do. This summer has been amazing, thanks be to God! Oh how I will miss it here but I am so excited to see what the future holds, for now I will live in the moments and take in my last 9 days in Spain.

Getting Ready to Pick Up and Go

My time here in Madrid has been short but wonderful! I have enjoyed my time here working in the English Camp and my host family has been great. I have had a busy two weeks with camp but it feels good to come home to a nice family at night and swim in the pool with their two kids. The two boys in my house have had a lot of fun with me and have kept me very entertained, it has been fun! Plus I have been able to have some good conversations with Mick and Susanna (the dad and mom). We have all become good friends and I am sad to be leaving them on Saturday to head back to Granada for 9 days.

The English camp has been a blast! The camp is through Global Ventures but Tim, the director, is a Christian and lives his faith "out loud" through his kind actions. Tres Cantos, the area I am working in, is very skeptical of religions and Christianity, but most of the people here hold the English camp and Tim in high respect and seek his advice for things. It has been great just living my faith through my actions and sharing vocally what I believe about Christ when I get the chance. Some questions about Christianity have come up and I have tried to answer them according to the Word and my faith in Christ. The main thing I have tried to do is just share my love and love for God with others through my actions and daily life, this alone has been amazing for some of the people here to see. Like one man from Tres Cantos said, "Yeah people are suppose to live according to their faith but very few actually do". Well, through my time here I hope that they have been able to see Christ working through me.

The boys that I work with at camp are rowdy and hardly listen at all, but it has been great to just love on them. The boys I have been working closely with are the ones that most people consider to be the trouble makers of the groups, but I love just playing with them and talking with them. All I can do is show these boys through my actions my love for them. It has been trying at times but the times that I get to break through the bad attitudes and see the boys laughing and smiling are the best! I can't believe in already four days I will be leaving them.

Thank you all for your prayers and thank you for your words of encouragement! Steph, my coach, is doing well and her leg has healed just fine. A couple people in my group have been sick but they are all well now. Please pray for our English camp graduation to go smoothly! (I have been working with the little ones by teaching them a dance to The Lion Sleeps Tonight, it is adorable!) Also, please pray for a safe trip back to Granada.

Living out Loud

Wow, I can't believe I last wrote only four days ago! Each day feels so long because I learn and do so much in one day, but then looking back it goes by really fast. (I am not sure if that makes sense :-)

Well, I left Granada and I am now in Madrid. Just when I thought I had seen it all God throws another experience my way. Madrid is completely different then Granada and Murcia, but I love it! I am working with children, 1st through 6th grade, everyday in an English camp and it is a lot of fun! I laugh now because I can't speak Spanish to the children and often catch myself getting ready to respond to their questions in Spanish. The children are not suppose to know that we can understand and speak some Spanish because the children are to be completely surrounded by English. The camp reminds me of a VBS but with a language learning twist. We sing songs, dance, eat snacks, and have a lesson. The lessons are very basic and involve learning how to greet, get dressed, and express emotions using the English language. The three boys in my group are all in 6th grade and are a blast to teach!

My host family is wonderful! My team and all the camp workers are divided among different host families so there are 50 students living in 50 different houses. My family I have told you about before are so nice and they are also very hospitable. It has been great to be able to live with them and talk about life and the cultural differences (between the USA, Spain, and Australia).

Although my housing situation is good, one of my team members is having a hard time being alone and has been put in a difficult housing arrangement so please pray for Jessica. Pray that God would give her strength and that God would open the hearts of her host family so that Jess may better communicate with them. Pray for Stephanie, my coach, she went to the doctor today to have a lump on her ankle looked at. Also please pray for Rebecca, my teammate, her mother has had a miscarriage (twins) recently and Becca is taking it pretty hard so please pray for her and her family to have peace. Thank you.

Madrid in the morning!

Okay so this is my last time writing before I leave for Madrid in the morning :-)

Today I got a really nice e-mail from my host family in Madrid. My host family has 2 sons, ages 5 and 7. Mick, the father, is from Australia and Susanna, the mother, is Spanish. I am really excited to meet them tomorrow at the English camp. From the e-mails that Tim, the camp director, has sent it sounds like I will be busy in the morning teaching English and playing with the kids, then at night hanging out with my host family. I am very excited about teaching and playing with the kids!

Since I last wrote things have been looking up. This past week I started my language route and the first day was really rough. I tried talking to some people but quickly I got tired of asking the same questions (e.g . where is the market?). Though on Tuesday I decided to do my language route with Jess, my teammate, and we had a blast! We were able to have a lot of good conversations with different people and from then on I continued to visit the same people, by myself, at the stores and benches every day. I was able to meet a lot of really nice and interesting people! The good conversations I had with the people on my language route were an answer to prayer! I prayed every day for God to guide me to where He wanted me to go and the bless the conversations I would try to have with people, wow did He ever! One little old man, named Pepe, that I met when I first saw him was sitting on the bench wearing his sun glasses behind a magazine stand and I thought, "Oh there is no way he is going to want to talk to me". I ended walking over to him and talking with him for over 40 minutes just talking about music and life in Spain, it was great! The more I continue to open myself up to God the more the Holy Spirit continues to work through me.

Please continue to pray for the team in this coming week in Murcia as we start teaching and meet our host families tomorrow night.

Adios Granada...

This will be my last time writing before I leave for Madrid on Saturday. My time in Granada has been short but it has been fun and yet another growing experience. I have been continuing language classes and going to the free culture class on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. I have also met a lot of interesting people from all around the world. God has been stretching me in many ways since I have come back to Granada and my relationship with Him continues to grow stronger. I have really enjoyed my bus rides this past week because it has given me some good quiet time to just sit and just dig into the Word. Currently, I have been reading through Romans, which has been great!

On the other hand, some hard times have come to the team. Recently, the team has been having some conflict within ourselves and with the missionaries we are serving, but we have been trying to work things out and speak to one another in love. Also recently, I have been personally getting annoyed by little things through out the day but I have done a good job at having patience (I think this is because I have not had a lot of quiet time expect for on the bus.) Most of the team, including myself, is going on the lack of sleep and has been around one another 24/7 so I think that has a lot to do with tension and emotions arising.

Please pray for the team and for myself. Pray that we would all continue to love one another and recognize each person's personal needs. Pray for peace to be over the team and the missionaries (The Irwin family). Please pray personally that I would get some good rest (I have been having a real hard time going to sleep). Also please pray for healing for me (I had an allergic reaction to some food and I have been having some minor pain in my right foot).

Thank you all for your continued prayers, I will again as soon as I can! :-)

Learning the Language

This week I started my Spanish class and so far it has been going very well. Getting to the school each morning is quite a journey. I wake up at around 7:15am, grab the 8:05 bus for a half hour drive, and then I walk for 40 minutes to the school, which is on the side of a mountain so the roads are very steep and narrow.  Although the journey is long the walk is beautiful!

My Spanish is improving so I am now able to make conversation and understand a bit of what the other person is saying. Some of the Spaniards speak slow so that helps a lot. The school offers a culture class on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays so I have been going to those which has been very interesting. I have learned a lot about the Muslim population in Granada and the history of Christianity in Spain. Through this class I have also been able to meet some nice people from all around Europe (e.g. Norway, Germany, The UK, Switzerland). It has been fun to interact with a lot of different people. It amazes me how many people from different cultures all come together in this country. 

Please pray that my Spanish classes would continue to go well. Pray that the relationships I have started with the people I have met will continue to grow. Also please pray that I would be able to get rest. I have been having many restless nights. Thank you!

The Amazing Race

Today we went into town and did a game kind of like the amazing race. We were given a map and a list of places we had to find and take a picture with. This game required that we talked to people in Spanish because almost all of us had no idea where these places on our papers where so we had to ask people. We split into teams and spent all morning going around the town and searching for the places on our sheet of paper. My team was able to find all of the places and it was a lot of fun to be able to go around and look at all of these historical sites. Mixed in with the places we had to find we had some challenges that were extra credit, which were just for fun like finding the longest mullet. A lot of the people I talked to where very nice and made me laugh. A few people laughed at me but it was funny because I knew I was a sight to see running around and then asking for help and then whipping out my map. At least I know my directions in Spanish so for the most part I could understand people.

Besides the Amazing Race today I haven't really done anything except help around the house and reflect on my time in Murcia with the team. I loved the people in Murcia and God has shown me so much through my time there. Not once while I was in Murcia was I ever comfortable but I was happy. I was stretched a lot with the language, laid back lifestyle, and people. We often did not know what we were going to be doing until the last minute which was really hard. Eric would come downstairs and say something about street evangelism and the team doing a skit, then an hour till we left to go evangelize, which we would not know was that night, he would say "Is the skit ready?" We were always on our toes but we wouldn't have had it any other way because we were stretched in many ways. I am learning to let go to structure and just go with the flow.

I also honestly did not expect to miss home or struggle with the language as much as I do. I loved it when I was able to have a full conversation with people but there were many days when I was like " I am not even going to do this today because I am not going to know what they are saying anyways". I knew that I could speak the Spanish that I knew but following the people's responses was a lot harder. I am learning to be vulnerable and put myself out there. My last week in Murcia I tried to talk to people and since then I have tried a lot more with has been great!

I am learning that despite my weaknesses God still uses me to reach out and His Holy Spirit has been my guide. The night that Michal and I prayed with Elizabeth, my host mom, was completely from the Holy Spirit. She walked into our room and asked what time we had to be at the church and then told us she would not be there in the morning because she had to go to the hospital in the morning for tests. Before she left I asked to pray with her. Michal and I prayed in English and she prayed in Spanish. In the middle of her prayer she just started weeping and I know that all though I couldn't understand her God could. That was a hard night for me because God knows that I wish I could of understood her prayer more than anything, but I know it was God that knew that Elizabeth needed to pray and He heard her prayer so that is all that matters.

That is just a short reflection my time in Murcia and on what I have learned, and on what I am continuing to learn.

Hello Granada and Green Grass

Yesterday was great! I couldn't have asked for a better day. In the morning the team, the pastor's family, and our host families along with a few people from church went into the city and had a great time sightseeing and just spending time together. Even though many of them have spent a significant amount of time in Murcia many of them are not able to go into the city because of the cost of transportation and time. We all had a lot of fun and I was very grateful to be able to spend my last day with my host family.

That evening it was very hard for me as I said, "Adios" to some good friends. At the church we had a big dinner with our host family, the pastor's family, and some of the church members. It was a lot of fun! We laughed together and shared some time together before the team headed off for Granada. The host families expressed their love and appreciation for us, and the pastor's family also gave us a nice goodbye. I barely made it through the first speech before I started to cry. The people in the church have been so wonderful and my host family has been great! I didn't know what to expect coming on this internship but I know that any expectations I would have had would have been blown away by these people and the Alcantarilla community. I have loved my time here and even though it has not been easy it has been a blessing. I am blessed for having known these people for the short time that I have and I am blessed to be able to be apart of their lives. They have touched my heart deeply. Saying goodbye is never easy but I know that the friends I said goodbye to in Murcia is not forever for I am sure in my heart that I will see them in heaven one day. Their passion for the church and for Christ is outstanding, it was beautiful to be able to see such loving and selfless people working hard and with all their heart for God's Kingdom!

Today I am safely in Granada. Hearing Chris Irwin, the Team Expansion missionary, speaking English to me after a long bus ride was a nice relief. Though I did cry a little because I know that life in Granada is going to be very different than in Murcia. Here in Granada I am going to be working with more language learning and starting this week we will begin language classes and next week we will begin language routes. Language routes will consist of me going into town with the team and then splitting up to find people to talk to in Spanish. Despite my difficulties and frustration in learning the language I am very determined to make the most out of this experience, and I am very excited to go out and meet new people! Well, it is almost time for dinner, yay! Nicia, Chris's wife, is an awesome cook!

Please pray for team unity because as of now, in Granada, we are going to be in some stressful situations with learning the language and in a smaller space. Pray that we would live in peace and also please pray for Chris and Nicia as they take on the task of having us in their home for the next 2 weeks. Also please pray for our language routes, pray that we would have open hearts, develop relationships with new people in Granada, and be stretched.

Getting Ready to Move Out..

In only a few days I will be living Murcia. I have grown to appreciate this laid back lifestyle. I have loved my time here in Murcia and though my time here has been short I have grown to love the people and the church here. I am sad that I am going to be leaving my host family and my new friends but I know that God will continue to be with them. I have learned so much from these people and from God by just being here. I know that I am going back to Granada changed for the better and with my eyes now wide open. I wish I could explain more but my time on the computer today is short. I hope all of you at home are celebrating and having a good Father´s day! (The Paster Eric has been going around singing Happy Birthday Father (in spanish) since we told him about this holiday, it is really funny, he is so much fun)

Please pray for team unity (which by the way has been great!). Also please pray for Jess, Tiffany, and myself as we still struggle a lot with the langauge, pray for a safe trip back to Granada, and please pray for our leader Stephanie for clarity in life and in where to direct the team. Also please pray for our youth and church events tonight that everything would go well and that God would be glorified.

The Seasons Change...

Life in Spain is not easy and there is a lot to get use to here, but I honestly love learning new things each and every day. I have struggled a lot with the langauge but slowly I am getting better. I am putting myself out there to try and talk to people, which has helped a lot. I am denying myself and putting God first. I am trying my hardest to glorify Him in everything I do. I have missed home a lot this past week, but I am getting through. I really do miss home but I do love it here!

These past few days I have been able to sleep in a little and get some much needed rest which has been great! Saturday youth group did not go as planned, but it was fun! There was 3 kids there for the first 45 minutes but then a few more came and we sang songs and played games. We sang worship songs together in English and Spanish which was really cool. Saturday night I went to the home Bible study and since our leader was gone for a few days we did not have a translator, but the pastor, Eric, tried very hard to translate for us with the English he knew. I ended up loving the home Bible study because I got to see more of the pastor´s heart for God and His passion for the word. He also does a wonderful job at making sure that all of the team members are involved in every discussion.

The Sunday youth night went well we were able to play games, sing songs, teach a lesson on Following God, and hang out with the kids. Jared, one of my team members, preached in the main church service and Steph, the team leader, made it back in time to translate. Jess also finally joined us on Sunday and has been a great addition to the team. Jess´s heart for people and life is contagious, I love it!

Well my time is almost up, please keep praying for team unity and for peace. Pray that we, as a team, continue to be stretched and broken in order for God to be glorifed completely in our lives.

Time...

There is so much to do here in Spain and my team and I have been making every effort to help out the church we are serving in every way possible. I know I have said this before but the people here are wonderful! I love everyone I work with and the people in the church have been so good to us.

The past few days the church has been doing some street evangelizing in a small area of Murcia. I have never participated in street evangelizing before this week, but I really do enjoy it. It is almost just like we are doing a church service outside and inviting whoever wants to come to come. I have been trying to communicate with the non-Christians that come to the service and it has been interesting. I am learning that sometimes sitting in silence is better than using words. I love sitting by the older women and watching them watch the service. They often try to speak to me and then we just laugh because my Spanish is terrible, haha it is really funny.

Elizabeth, my host mother, is definately continuing to capture my heart. I love my host family so much and we have such a great time talking about church and learning about one another. I found out the other night that Acts is here favorite book in the Bible. Michal, my roommate, and I got to pray with her the other night before she went to the hospital the next morning. She had to go to another doctor to get another diagnosis and see about having surgery. During our prayer even though we couldn´t understand Elizabeth she broke down in tears. I wanted so much to be able to comfort her but all I could do was continue to pray for her and hold her hand. I know God has control over everything and even though I couldn´t understand her prayer or needs that night He did.

Please continue to prayer for Elizabeth and her family. Pray for healing for Elizabeth.

Also, I have some exciting news Jessica will be joining us in Murcia on Sunday! Despite the lost in her family and her illness she is finally going to be able to join the team!

Please pray for team unity and peace for all of us. Also, please pray for opportunities for me to learn Spanish. Thank you!

Time to Grow

This blog does not give me enough space to express to you how much my heart is breaking. I am learning so much from my team and from the people in Murcia. God is doing amazing things in this city and God´s people here just amaze me. The few churches and people that love God in Murcia have such a passion for Christ!

While I am in Murcia I am staying with a host family from Peru, who attend the church where the team is serving. My host family has been amazing:Elizabeth, the mother, and Mario, the father, and their three children have been trying so hard to teach me Spanish and make me feel welcomed. The other night during one of the church services I got to hear her testimony, Elizabeth has a brain tumor and since she found out she has been seeking the Lord. Despite her condition her family is so happy and full of joy. My heart just goes out to the family and despite the langauge barrier we have been able to communicate fairly well.

Trying to communicate makes me very tired because there is just so much to take in. The American culture is just so different from the culture here is España. Though I am loving every minute here in España because my time here is just flying by.

Yesterday, I got to share my testimony in front of the congregation and as a team we got to sing worship songs in English for them. It felt great to worship with this church because it amazes me how diverse and different everyone is. The pastor, Eric, is from Nicaragua, my host family is from Peru, some of the people are from Costa Rica, some are from Brazil, and some are from Bolivia. It just blows me away that God has brought all of these people together here in España! God is doing amazing things here in Spain! I feel Him at work here, but I also feel Satan have a strong hold on a lot of the people here, it just breaks my heart.

The team overall has been doing very good. Satan has been definately trying to pull us back but through our daily team talks, prayers, and devotions we continue to move forward in our work for the Lord.

Please continue to pray for the team and pray that we will continue to live in unity with one another. Also please continue to pray for Jessica, we are still not sure if she is going to be able to join us. Please pray for the team´s housing arrangments because some of the team members are having to switch host families so please pray that they would be able to find a good host family.

Thank you all for your notes of encouragement!

Time to Move

Tomorrow we are leaving for Murcia to work in the English camp. We are leaving a day later because they were not prepared for us to come, but now we are packing to leave tomorrow at around one. One thing I learned over and over again in missions is to be flexible, so we are all trying our best to just go with the flow.

At night our team meets together for team time to debrief and do devotionals together. Our team times have been awesome and as a team we are really coming together. Tonight we shared our fears and failures with one another, which was really hard and great at the same time. In order to let God completely use us on this trip we need to give ourselves completely over to Him.

During out time in Granada we have learned alot about the culture and the people here. We have had the chance to meet some very nice Spaniards and I amazed at how friendly and nice everyone is here. I am looking forward to talking with people during our langauge routes in a few weeks. My Spanish is coming along slowly but surely :-)

Today we did a prayer walk around the Irwins' block and I was amazed at how much you can learn about an area by just observing and praying for the houses and families in the area. As we did our prayer walk we took note on what stood out to us and we found a lot of interesting details about the homes around us. 

God is so good! This trip is opening my eyes to many things about missions and myself that I have never noticed before. I know this is where God wants me to be for this point in time, but seeing Him daily at work in the people around me is awesome! God is definately doing something big in this city and it will be very interesting to see what God has planned for the rest of this summer.

Please continue to pray for Jessica! Her uncle passed away and she was suppose to join us in a week here in Spain but now she is unsure if she wants to come and leave her family. Jess has faced many problems and obstacles trying to make it here, so please pray for guidance for her as she debates coming to Spain.

We're Here!

We left on Saturday at 2:30pm and now we are here in Spain.  The trip was very interesting but it went very well! Nobody lost their luggage. The Irwins (the missionary family in Granada) met us at the airport amd drove us to their home. The weather here is beautiful! This summer is going to be amazing because already from Pre-field training I can feel God at work within the team. I am pressed for time right now but I will write again soon.

By the way thank you for the letters of encouragement! I LOVED them! Some of the letters made me cry but others made me laugh, thank you so much! I will continue to read them when I am I need some uplifting. Right now, I am completely at peace but I know Satan is going to try to attack this team that God has brought together so pray for strength for the team.

Also, please PRAY for Jessica she called while we were getting ready to board the plane and was crying. Her uncle was found not breathing in his home and she was on her way to the hospital, please pray for Jessica and her family!

Expect the Unexpected

This summer is going to be awesome! Before coming to Kentucky I was excited about joining Team Expansion and going to witness in Spain, but this team and organization has gone way beyond my expectations.

The team is great and everyone is so different but every one of them is so encouraging and honest with one another. I can tell that we are going to work well as a team. The Lord has completely put this trip together and I can see Him at work in all of us. Team Expansion has been so wonderful to work with. They have all been keeping the team busy by having us take classes on language learning, using our spiritual gift, and team conflict among many other things. We have also been doing some team building activities which have been a lot of fun, through these activities I have been able to learn alot about my teammates and myself.

God is so good! I was surprised that on the first day when my parents left that I didn't cry but I know this is exactly where God wants me to be that is why I feel completely at peace here. I can't wait to share my experiences from Spain with you! I leave on Saturday at 2:20pm, yay!

PRAYER REQUEST:

Sadly one of our teammates is not here. Please keep Jessica in your prayers because she has been very sick and has not been able to join us. Recently she had surgery on her jaw and now is recovering she will fly out on the June 11th and meet up with us in Spain. This is a very scary trip for a young girl to make alone so please pray for her.

Taking Off

Adios!

I am leaving tomorrow morning for Kentucky for Pre-field orientation/traning. I am so excited to be able to go on this trip and share God's love with others. I know that without God in my life I could never have gone on this trip. God's has led me on some amazing journeys and He is continuing to lead me. Thank you for all of your prayers and support! I know that God has great plans for the team and I am grateful that God has allowed me to join them.

Also, I found out that getting mail to Spain is very easy. If you would like to write me a letter or send a package please e-mail jessica@christiscentral for the mailing address.

Getting Ready for Spain

Hey, thank you for visiting!

I would have loved to have been able to send out personal e-mails but because of the lack of internet and time, I thought this blog might make it easier for me to keep in contact with you! Right now, I am getting ready to leave for my internship in Spain!

Next week, starting on May 24th, I will be in Kentucky for Pre-Field training. I heard from my coach Steph Saufley that the training is very intense and can often determine how the rest of the summer will go, so please be praying for the team! Pray that we learn one another's strengths and weaknesses, pray that we build strong relationships with one another, pray that we all are at peace, and pray that we have a safe flight to Spain!

(If I am able to post pictures I will) Love you.