Rose with a Mission

  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 ...

  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,...

  As you read this, I am somewhere between Texas and Tanzania! After 12 weeks of classes, preparation, and growth, we are heading to Tanzania to share His love! I'm so pumped.  Yesterday was the one year anniversary of my YWAM tour. That night I went home and applied for DTS and started packing. How much has changed. Now one year later I'm flying to Tanzania! Only God could have orchestrated such an amazing adventure.  On Sunday I was able to walk normally without pain for the first time in almost a month. New skin is forming and the wound has closed up. This is a huge praise Jesus! While I'm going to continue to monitor it while I'm in Africa, I'm so grateful to be this far in the healing process.  This week has been very busy with packing, prayers, team building, preparation for Tanzania, and preparing our hearts for the trip.  I'm so excited! This is going to be an amazing adventure and God and I get to go on it together! Since I'm not going to be updatin...

  God did it! He provided for not only my Tanzania missions trip, but for all of of my teammates expenses as well! Yahoo! We serve a great and awesome God! We are going to Tanzania and I'm super excited!  We still need some money got the greenhouse and the church, but I know that God will provide.  Thank you for your prayers for my foot. It's still healing, but we are making progress.  This weeks topic has been Ministering in the Spirit. I love how rooted this week has been in the Bible anf how our teachers have cried when sharing stories about how Holy Spirit has moved in their lives. I've been encouraged this week to pursue God more and let Holy move in me more.  As we get closer to time to leave, we have been working hard on stories, skits, and songs for kids ministry. Whether I've been working on a parable, learning a new song, or playing a part in a skit I've so enjoyed working as a team. I'm so looking forward to doing kids ministry.  We fly out in 13...

  Hey friends, it has been quite the week for me. Yesterday was the three week mark until I leave for Tanzania and the one week mark that all of our funding is due. Where I am I at? I still need $1,628 to be able to go.  God is really growing my faith with this one. I'm having to pray and trust Him as never before. I don't know how that last part will come in, but I am looking to the One who owns it all and has promised me that I'm going to Africa.  Please pray about partnering with me in prayer and with finances.  Below is a video I created yesterday explaining the heart behind why we are going to Tanzania. This weeks topic in class has been Apologetic Worldview. Our teacher was one that we had had in DTS and so I was so excited to have him be teaching in my SOE. His teaching style is very interactive and he asks a lot of questions. I loved how he framed apologetics so differently from the way I've been used to thinking about it before. Apologetics is all about givi...

  From crying in the classroom, to hearing stories over lunch, to encountering spiritual warfare, to deep conversations with friends, to a visit from my family this pasty week has been packed.  It was so fun to have my family come visit. It felt so good to share meals with fun conversations, play spoons and keep track of points with Hersey kisses, stay up late talking about friendships, share chocolate covered strawberries, get a ton of hugs, and laugh at inside jokes. It was the best.  As they rolled out of the parking lot, I cried. I won't see most of them until graduation and I was already missing them. Even though I know this is exactly where I'm supposed to be, there are moments that I have to pay the cost of the path God has called me on. And still God calls me on. They joy in Him is worth anything I have to give up.  Class this week was focused on fulfilling the great commission, practical steps for being a good missionary, and the history of missions. Our spe...

​ Wow! I’m back at YWAM! It has been a full and great week.  For starters, I have loved being back at the beautiful YWAM campus. I felt at home instantly and was so thankful I got to come back. Even though it’s cold, I love being here.  I’m so grateful that I get to have Emily and Anthony for my leaders for the school of evangelism. They were amazing leaders during my DTS and I’m so excited that we get to walk together in this next season.  I also love that I get to walk with several of my DTS classmates as well as some new friends. It’s exciting.  Since I got back God has really been speaking to me about focus. Focusing on Him and being present in the moment. Please pray that I would continue to do both in this season.  In addition to orientation classes, they told us where we are going on our missions trip. We are heading to Tanzania! God has opened a door for us to work with an unreached people group there. Please be in prayer that God would be preparing the ...

  I was so excited when we started out from Tyler. Even at 2 AM, I was so excited to begin the outreach adventure! It was so fun sitting with Marisa on the bus being excited for the new sights. It was Marisa's first time to Dallas. While I've been there many times it was fun seeing the city through her eyes. Full of wonder and fun. We arrived early and made our way through security. It was then that I started to feel bad. I didn't drink enough water the day before and it made me sick. I'm so thankful for the team I was with. Even though I felt awful, they took such good care of me. Marisa was my seat buddy and helped me navigate through the day. The guys on my team carried my bags. Joy (a classmate) prayed for me. Emily (my school leader) gave me a hug and helped me to calm down. And so many asked me how I was doing and just loved me even when I was feeling tired. Thankfully that afternoon when I arrived at our host home I was able to get some rest, water, a...

  This week has been so full and so good. For starters Sarah's shower went so well. She is a gorgeous bride to be and I had a blast being the MC for the shower and seeing friends I hadn't seen in a long time. Then Sarah took me to their apartment and showed me around. It is so cozy and so much Sarah. I'm so happy to see them so in love.  To top off the day I had dinner with the family and got to share some of what God has been doing in me since I got here. Such a fun day.  I decided to drive back to YWAM that night. The drive back did give me lots of time to sing and process with Jesus. I did get very tired towards the end of the journey. I pulled in to the base at 12:05 AM and got a hug from Marisa before ii went to bed. Adventures never end. Although I was tired, I went to church and was so glad to spend time with my friends and get a hug from Hannah. Sometimes you don't even realize how much you need one until someone reaches out and gives you one.  Monday I was t...

  I have some exciting news! I know where I'm are going on my missions trip. Are you ready? That's right! I'm heading to Panama! Here's the Panama team. How did I decide to go to Panama? That's a great question.  On Thursday our school leader surprised us in the afternoon by saying that we were going to be picking our missions trip country. First he told us that we were going to be going to Lancaster, PA and Ocean City, NJ from September 17th through October 3rd. I'm not sure all of what we are doing there, but I'm excited to see what God has in store for us. Then they gave us the option of 2 countries and asked us to pray about which one to go to. After prayer I felt like God highlighted Panama to me. As far as what that part of the adventure will look like I'm still a little unsure. I know that we will be doing some urban evangelism and some time in the jungles. I'm excited to have more planning meetings and see what we will...