It's so strange to be living fully in the present, but knowing that in a few, short months I will be on the World Race again. Once again, I will be walking foreign streets, with young people bold enough to leave all they have for the sake of bringing hope, healing, and the gospel to the nations. Thank you Jesus! : ) I am so excited!

 

India

With nearly a sixth of the world's population within its borders, India is a country bursting with people and culture. Home to a diverse array of beliefs from Hinduism to Islam, to a blend of folk religions and other faiths, it is a country of pluralism with twenty-nine languages spoken by over a million native speakers, multiple religions, cuisine, socio-economic classes, and political parties. India's struggles with poverty and crimes of human trafficking, forced prostitution, religious persecution, and more. You might work with local churches to encourage believers and most likely be challenged by their testimonies. Your presence'll bring hope and truth to those that society deems "untouchable."

Nepal

Home to Mount Everest, the world's tallest mountain, Nepal literally sits on top of the world. In addition to adventurous experiences you will have here, you may also visit widows and orphans in their times of distress and protect the innocent who are prey to human traffickers. This month of your World Race experience will submerge you in a culture that is desperate for an encounter with the living God.

Thailand

According to the CIA, the kingdom of Thailand, known as Siam until 1939, is the only country in the region not colonized by Europe. Their 2000 census showed that 94.6% of the population is Buddhist, 4.6% are Muslim, and 0.7% are Christian. Approximately 600,000 people live with HIV/AIDS in Thailand. With nearly two million people estimated to be forced into prostitution, it has become one of the most popular places for sex tourism. Change lives in the city-where you, like Jesus, might befriend prostitutes-or in the countryside-where you may serve youth, care for orphans, and encourage a remnant of believers.

Challenge: Asia

Blaze a trail for your team and future World Racers. This will be the opportunity for you to continue flexing your faith muscles as you depend on a few words of advice from the staff and mostly God's guidance. With God, all things are possible and the possibilities are endless.

 My co-leader is Joel Dutton. His role is to be there for the men on our squad...and we have a lot of them! Thank you God for Joel : ) I just know he is going to call these men into greatness. After our third month on the field, Joel and I will choose new squad leaders, from within the squad, to continue leading the group for the remaining 7 months.

Please join me in praying for F-Squad! Please pray for:

• Traveling mercies and favor

• Provision in full measure

• Healing/Transformation/Deliverance

• Deeper relationship with the Father

• Wholeness over their hearts

• Health and Protection

• Perseverance and Endurance

• Hearts and Minds set on things above

• Ability to embrace all that God wants to do in them and through them

Our squad is going out into these nations to bring light and hope to places that persecute and kill Christian believers, traffic women and children for forced prostitution, and face extreme poverty. They will come face-to-face with distressed orphans and widows, encounter people with aids and other diseases and illnesses, and be in places where child sacrifice is prevalent. They need people back in the States to lift them up in prayer and cover them.

I feel so honored to be a part of this journey along-side them, but I can't do this alone. I not only need you to stand in the gap for us in prayer, but I also need your help financially. As a squad leader, I need to raise money to cover the cost of my plane tickets leaving the states and coming back, and my plane tickets to and from the 8 month debrief and the final debrief. The total cost needed is $5,700. The break-up of the cost is as follows:

July 1
Launch: $2,950
Month 8: $1,750
Final: $1,000
Total: $5,700

To donate: Please click to the left of the page where it says "CLICK HERE TO DONATE...thank you for your support."

Thank you for your generosity and for your obedience to the Lord. May He bless you abundantly for blessing me, and allowing me to lead this radical group of young believers to the nations.

 The most important thing for me as a kid was to have time to be outside and daydream.

I still like to do that : )

 I finally gave myself a chance to grieve, that I was no longer in Georgia, surrounded by an amazing community of people that "get me". Now, I have really started to enjoy being home.

I feel like a kid again!

 

 

 

 I love hanging out by the pool, laying in the sun, and watching the shape of the clouds.

What's changed?

TRUST

 I am confident when the time is right...doors will open and all will be revealed.

In the meantime....I am going to enjoy being a kid....His kid.

 

Have you ever seen the movie Groundhog Day, where Bill Murray wakes up to the same day over and over again?

I feel like that is my life right now.

 

I wake up, check my email, have some quiet time with the Lord, play with my 7 year old sister, laugh with my dad, and wait...and wait.....and wait.

I have no other choice but to believe that God is moving in the unseen, and that He will show up. It would be silly for me not to think this way, because He has proven that this is how He works, time and time again.

However, how would that solve my problem? And is that was this is... a problem? Or is this the mercy of God?

My time in Georgia was a season of preparation...for what I don't exactly know yet. Hahaha! My time in Florida is a season of recovery (which I dislike to admit that I need, but I so do). The next season that I walk into...is a season of entering into my destiny.

 

 

Thank you for continuing to follow my blogs, even in the midst of changes and transition.

I have officially moved to Miami, Florida, 3 days ago. I was so confident when I left Gainesville, and excited for the new things that are in store for me. Once I got here though, those feelings changed. I was faced with reality....no community, no friends, no church, no job, and no car to explore around and meet new people. God is really going to have to intervene here. How am I supposed to get plugged in to a community of believers and new friends, if I can't even leave the house?

I started the Daniel Fast, on February 4th. It has been really good so far. I am hoping that once this fast is over, in 18 more days, then I will have some kind of breakthrough. I am doing the fast for several reasons.

1. To cleanse myself from my horrible eating habits in Georgia.
2. I really felt the Lord pressing it on my heart to do this fast.
3. Hoping this will help me keep my eyes on the Lord, in a time when it seems really easy to give up.

I have been reading in the book of Hebrews.

^1-3For as long, then, as that promise of resting in him pulls us on to God's goal for us, we need to be careful that we're not disqualified. We received the same promises as those people in the wilderness, but the promises didn't do them a bit of good because they didn't receive the promises with faith. If we believe, though, we'll experience that state of resting.

I need to rest in my Father, by leaving what is behind and what is to come in His hands. If I fully trust Him, then I am able to rest in Him. I can be confident that He will be the one to pull down the walls and open the doors in my path.

Dear Family and Friends,                                      

      I want to thank you for supporting me with encouraging words, prayers, and love. Ever since I came off of the World Race, my life has been one roller coaster ride after another. First I spent 4 months in Africa then I felt like I was supposed to go to Thailand for 2 years. God really spoke to my heart, and I knew that I wasn't passionate about working with Burmese child soldiers. I felt like God wanted me to serve Him out of passion and not out of a place of religion. Then God made a way for me to do the apprenticeship in October. I had the funds I needed to serve in the office and help get others on the World Race. I also got to be a part of an incredible community and church, relationships have been formed that I will forever be a part of. I am so thankful for the time that I have spent here!

The original plan was to continue my time here, and work with the American Indian Missions Department, as I had stated in my last newsletter. However, the course of events has changed once again. I love how God works, and I love how when you live for Him, there is never a dull moment. Most of you probably didn't know this, but my support account has been completely drained. I have been working at the office for free, and have missed 3 paychecks. God has miraculously provided money for all of my bills and an abundance of food. However, He has made it clear that my season in Georgia is finished and it's time for me to return home. Once I embraced this decision, the turmoil that I felt I was swirling in, has stopped. I once again feel peace.....

I will be finishing out this month helping out in the office, and I will be heading home to Miami, Florida the first week of February. I have no idea what this next season has in store, but I am really excited to find out. The plan, for now, is to spend some time resting and getting back to health. I want to continue to pursue working with Native Americans, but I also want to go back to teaching. So God-willing, I will be able to do both by getting a teaching job on the Seminole Indian Reservation.

I ask that you would continue to keep me in prayer. Please pray for doors to open up and that I would embrace each day of this season. Thank you again for being such a strong support system for me, and please know that I am always thinking of you.