Rose with a Mission

  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...

  This week didn't go as I thought it would.  We left for El Comarca (the indigenous reservation) after breakfast on Monday morning. After a 3 hour bus ride we made it to the YWAM outpost in the mountains of the Ngabe people. We came with plans for a women's Bible study, kids program, and one of the guys prepared a sermon.  Once again I'm so thankful for my team. I got so sick on the car trip and they took such good care of me. Thankfully by time we were in the bus climbing up the mountains (the really pretty part of the trip) I was feeling fine again. The mountains are so beautiful. Being surrounded by them was so amazing. I loved it. Psalms 121 came alive in a whole new way.  Tuesday the guys and girls split up. The guys went to cut firewood and do some projects around the base. The girls got to go pick corn. We took an hour long hike, through the jungle, up the side of a mountain and picked corn. We picked our way along with these strong wo...