OH I AM SO READY TO GO!!!

MAY 25 CAN NEVER BE HERE SOON ENOUGH!!


Well, I have got my plane ticket booked. I thougth that would be really stressful, but it really wasn't near as stressful as I thought. I have just about everything I need for my trip. And to say the least GOD IS BEYOND AMAZING!!!

It is so hard waiting right now. When you absolutely know God has called you somewhere. I believe is where you're heart is 100%. And this week I have had to stop and ask God several times to reveal my purpose to me while I am here. My life right now is not easy, with finals, school, and then getting ready to go to Peru. When you are called to something and your heart is in another place, you just get careless. I just want to be where my heart is. I am so ready to go to Peru that it is unreal. I long for the day that I will be somewhere my phone does not work, there is no t.v., and my computer and ipod will be at home.

Please continue to pray for me. Pray for school, but pray also that I will not forget my purpose here in the US. Pray for safety and also pray for the other 100 students who have committed to missions in Peru for the summer of 2009.

"BE the church!"

Again, it is amazing to see how God has been preparing me for the past year, even when I didn't see or know it. I was blessed with the privilage to be a youth director of a small church for seven months and this is something I got to share with the church a year ago.

Not long ago, I came across this quote "Don't go to church, BE the church." I think we have gotten so caught up in our ways, that we do not even realize what and who the church is supposed to be. The church is not just a building with stained glass windows. I got curious and looked the word church in Webster's Dictionary and one of its definitions is "a body of believers." I like that,another way I like to refer to the church is God's greenhouse. It nourishes us and helps prepare us for who we need to be. Rirst things first, Jesus didn't die for a building Jesus died for me and you. But after I read this quote, I could not help but think "How am I supposed to be the church?"

First, it has to start with prayer. Praying for fire. The fire that John Wesley talks about people coming for miles to watch burn. And praying for passion. Passion to see my colleges classmates turn to God, and passion to see my church thrive for you.

Second, being the church starts with me being a missionary to the mission field. And that mission field starts at my school and continues with the homeless people I see on the street. And I pray that I can really be a missionary to the mission field by loving the unlovable. This world will know we are Christians by our love.

Third is realizing I have a ministry. My ministry is not just at church, but at my school. Where I don't want to be another face in the sea of faces. I want to be somebody, somebody for God. I really believe He has put me there for a reason, and I want to make sure I follow His command. I want people to be able to look at me and say "Hey I want what she has." And I realize if they don't then I'm in trouble because I am lacking something. God has been SO great to me. He has set my feet to dancing; he has set my heart on fire. He has given me a wonderful church family that I adore. And I wanted a job as a part-time youth director and he has given me that job. And I want all of the people in my mission field to know that God can do the same thing for them. He is so much bigger than any pain or addiction they will ever have. He is so much bigger than their parents' marriage or anything another guy or girl could ever offer.

One another thing I pray for is that I will live my faith unashamed. That I will speak and stand up when I need to. And I pray that when God puts divine appointments in my way, I will see them and not pass them by. Our greatest purpose in this world is to know God and make God known. The least I could ever do is say "Hey, do you know of a man named Jesus? Let me tell you what he has done for me. Better yet, Let me tell you what he did for you?" and being the church while we're in the world.

MY Calcutta

Here is a blog I wrote last July. It is so amazing to see where God is calling me now, but this still applies to me here in the US, and the mission field. I love to read this today, it constantly reminds me who I supposed to be and why I am here. I God speaks to you through this.

Mother Theresa urged her fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to find their own Calcutta. And recently God has telling me to do the same thing. And I have realized God has blessed me with a place to claim as my own Calcutta, Wallace State Community College. God has placed me at a school full of non-Christians for a reason and a place of service. Everyday I see many people who have not accepted Christ, and they don’t even have a relationship with him. I want to make a difference, and be who God has called me to be. I want to let people know about Christ by me being the hands and feet of Jesus Christ. I want them to see Jesus in me. I want them to have a relationship with mine and their Heavenly Father. I want to be continuously growing in Jesus Christ; because I want to see the people around me grow. Grow in their faith and children of God. I want to be a light in a dark world. I want to speak to the people that nobody ever talks to. And live each day like it was my last. I know it will not be easy, but Jesus is always by my side. I thank God for an opportunity to serve, love, and make a difference. I am ready to go any distance I have to go, and do anything I have to do. And I pray I will not forget my purpose and calling.

“God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day, right up to the end of the age.”

~Where is YOUR Calcutta?

Where is your place of service?

Are you willing to serve regardless of what others will say?

Are you willing to serve regardless of inconvenience to you?

UPDATE!

Well, this week has been crazy, but amazing.

I have started communicating with the missionaries I will be working with this summer. And it has been hard. The only way we really have to communicate is through e-mail and they have been so considerate and so nice. They have answered every question and made me and my fellow missionaries know they are praying for us daily. And that is a major blessing, they even asked if there was anything they could specifically pray for.

And then there is the travel arrangements. I have talked to the travel agent as well. This has been so stressful. I was worried about my plane ticket getting booked but I felt better after talking with some of my teammates about this. My plane ticket will be booked this upcoming week, hopefully. I have been worried about flying into and out of the country by myself but I guess if that is the only worry I will ever have concerning this trip, then I would forget about Jesus. Unfortunately, I will have other worries I feel, but Jesus holds my world in His hands. I will be OK.

I ask that you please continue to pray for me. Pray for the wonderful missionaries, who give up their entire life and go somewhere completely out of their comfort zone, but pray that God will help and lead them as they lead us college students this summer. Pray for the travel arrangements, that God will have His complete will when it comes to which flight to take and when to arrive and return.