Rose with a Mission

  When they handed me my diploma and I was walking back to my chair, I started to cry. I was overwhelmed by God's faithfulness. I remembered all the times He had helped me overcome difficulties to get to this point. We made it! We (God, my team, and I) had made it to the end. I love this group so much. They have taught me so much and become so dear to my heart.  After a ton of pictures, goodbyes, and one victory shout, I went to bed happy at all that God had done.  The next day my dad came and picked me up and took me home. It was so good to see family and get hugs from them. There's nothing quite like family hugs. Plus I loved showing them pictures from Tanzania and stories of what God had done.  This week I've been doing a lot of resting and organizing of my room. I'm glad to have a place to stay for a few months while I fundraise. My plan is to work for the next two months while fundraising to become a full time missionary with YWAM. I've loved my tim...

  Today I graduate SOE!  This has been a crazy amazing journey with Jesus and I wouldn't trade it for the world.  I'm incredibly thankful to Jesus for how He has lead me this year and how He has been drawing me closer to Himself. I'm so thankful for my amazing school leaders Anthony and Emily for loving me, challenging me, and encouraging me in my walk with Christ. I'm hugely thankful to the staff at YWAM who spent hours mentoring me, encouraging me, letting me cry with them, and drawing out the best in me. I'm also so thankful for all of my fellow students. All of you were a part of my spiritual growth and demonstrated God's love to me in such a deep and powerful way. Thank you for all the deep conversations over coffee, the times of volunteering together, discussing lessons on short breaks, comforting me when I was crying, encouraging me when I was feeling down, and helping take care of me when I had a blood blister and a sprained ankle. You are amazing.  And ...

  While I was in Tanzania, God was doing a lot of work in my heart.  As I have been debriefing, I came up with a lot of sentences to summarize what God did. God loves me for who I am, not what I do. I'm valued more than I dared hope or imagine by God and my team. When a little girl was content to sit by me for over an hour, God whispered to my heart that He wants me to be as content with Him as that little girl is with me. When we were with the Dhaiso I became friends with a girl named Fazla. Even though we didn't speak the same language, her supporting me on uneven ground and working alongside me spoke more than words. I went to Tanzania to share God's love with people. Little did I realize they would share God's love and joy with me.  When I struggled with feeling left out, God used it as an opportunity to have intimacy with me.  The slower pace helped me learn to be more than do.  I also fell in love with Tanzania. I pray that one day I will get to return in ...

  After leaving the Dhaiso, we headed out for a much needed rest day.  I can't thank my team enough for how they helped me after I sprained my ankle. They pushed me around in a wheelchair, included me in games, put a compression sock on my ankle, encouraged me to walk on it some, and encouraged me to lift my eyes to the one who was above it all. They are the best team a girl could ask for. From Tanga we took a bus to YWAM Arusha.  Here we rested and prepared for the last week of ministry.  On Sunday our team had the privilege of speaking/leading worship at a small church in Arusha. I'm so thankful that whether in a mega church with bright lights or a tiny church with a dirt floor, the same God fills them both. The next day we headed to a YWAM base called Enkicaret. It's within sight of Kilamongaro and the mountain views were spectacular. Ministry here consisted of sharing some stories and songs with the kids in school, visting/encouraging wido...

  Just a few days later we were in a bus heading to the Dhaiso village of Bewetti. As we got closer, I got so excited. I couldn't wait to see what God was going to do in response to our showing up.  When we got to the village, the village leader said he didn't know if we would be good for his village. But Pastor Alfred reassured him that we w hiould be better than he might think.  That first day we went to examine some property to purchase for a future church and missions center. The land that we felt like God wanted us to buy is so beautiful. It's on the side of a mountain in Tanzania overlooking the village and has so many large trees.  For hours we prayed for the land and the people and worshiped God. It was great.  The next day we returned to see what we could do. The village leader invited all the kids to come out and play with us. We ended up playing with about 50 kids. It was so fun. I tossed a ball around and we showed them how to do a dance....

  There is more to come about Tanzania, but I wanted to tell you about what God has been doing this week.  After a few days back at YWAM Tyler, we headed up to Kansas City for a huge evangelism effort called the Flood. 5 days of worship, prayer, and evangelism. Even though I was still tired and processing everything God did in Africa, He empowered me every day to go out and share His love every day with people in Kansas City. I enjoyed being able to pray for so many in the city and the people I got to meet. They were so encouraging to my tired heart. God has also been using this week to confirm my call into full time missions with YWAM Tyler. I'm excited about that.  Today we are attending a missions conference called The Send. So far God has been speaking to me about cultivating intimacy with Him and continuing to labor where He's placed me. God is so good and I've seen Him moving this week as I step out in obedience. God knew I was tired, but He ...

  I'm back and so excited to share my Tanzania adventures with you. Thank he first place we went was a town called Boyamoyo. Pastor Alfred (our main contact for this trip) and his wife Anna made us feel so welcome to the Amazing Grace Church and preschool. A few years ago he had a vision to build a church and preschool. With prayer, vision, and help from some American donors the church and preschool are thriving. The first day we were there, I got to experience my first African church service. I didn't understand what was being said most of the time, but I loved the worship music and dances. I enjoyed joining in and dancing to Jesus. The next day we jumped right into ministry. Half the team was working on helping Pastor Alfred clear land and put up a fence around the church and preschool. The other half of the team (myself included) spent Monday through Friday in the mornings teaching at the preschool. Whether we were playing games with the kids,...