How It All Began

For those of you who may not know the whole story of how I got here, leaving the country in about a month, here it is:

I used to always say that I would never go to college, ask anyone in my family; I don't know why but I was adamant about not going. Well as the years went on and I thought about my life after school, I realized that I do indeed want to go to college. Not because I love school or for the college experience, but because I want to make a difference in kids' lives my age. I want to spread God's light to those who have come from hard backgrounds or have made mistakes that landed them in a Juvenile Detention Center.

Because my goal was to get started in that field as soon as possible, college was the obvious choice after high school. I decided that Gordon College was probably where I would attend in the fall of 2013 because of their Christian Ministries major that has a concentration in Juvenile Justice Ministries. However, God had different plans for me. Through talking with my parents, my cousin Adrienne, and my art teacher Mr. Swartz, I realized that maybe God was calling me toward taking some time off before school for missions.

I decided to start looking at different mission organizations that offered trips for the fall semester so that I could start school in the spring. I talked to one of my friends that did it this past year and decided that although it would be hard transitioning into school halfway through, that's what I wanted to do. As things progressed and I looked for a trip and organization that I liked, things changed. I looked at Eastern Mennonite Missions and I realized that the trip wasn't in the right time frame for me to be back in order to start school; but, I realized I felt God calling me towards missions and that college would be there when I came back. I realized, however, when it was time for me to schedule an interview that EMM didn't seem like the right fit for me.

Time was running out because of deadlines and I needed to make a decision, so I decided to apply to Mennonite Mission Network even though I didn't see myself doing Radical Journey because it was a ten month program. Throughout the process I found myself more and more excited to go on the South Africa trip. I set up a time for an interview and was excited when I got accepted. During my phone interview, however, I was told that the South Africa trip was not happening this year - Paraguay was an option and they were going to start a new trip to Indonesia. My heart sunk immediately and I told the woman that my preference between the two was Paraguay but I would go to either as they saw fit. As the interview ended, I hung up and, although downtrodden, decided to try and have a good outlook because apparently God wanted me somewhere other than South Africa. Through talking with my dad and some others I switched my preference to Indonesia and I got excited about that trip, hoping that I would be placed there.

God has a funny way of working, though, and I got an email from MMN that said, "I just wanted to check in with you and see how things are going and if you're getting excited about Radical Journey. So since we talked things have changed a bit and we will not be sending a team to Indonesia after all." My heart sunk for the second time during this process, but I continued reading only to see, "Which means several things: first, that orientation will be in Chicago instead of Los Angeles, and we'll be sending a team to South Africa instead. Since that was your initial interest, I wanted to give you a chance to be on the South Africa team. Does that sound OK to you?" Does that sound OK to me? OK? Are you kidding me? That was my dream! My heart started racing as I read those words: It sounded better than OK! Filled with such immense joy I could barely contain it so I ran downstairs to tell my parents and before waiting for much of a response besides their initial excitement for me, I raced back up to my room to text my sister Amanda. As I started typing the words that I would be most likely going to South Africa, the tears started flowing and I was beaming from ear to ear. I couldn't stop smiling and it was one of the happiest moments of my life. All I could think about is Psalm 37:4, "Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." I thanked God over and over again for His hand in it all; it made me realize that I am doing His will because I trusted Him with my future and He placed me where I wanted to go.

So, the time is approaching where I will depart to South Africa and a whole new adventure with God by my side is about to begin. I am trying to, amidst the nerves and fears, remember the initial excitement and joy that I experienced. I know with God by my side I will be OK and that there is nothing to fear - it also helps that we are in the middle of a sermon series at church on Psalm 23 which is making me realize and come to terms and face my fears. (But there is still room for all your prayers of course!) I can't wait to see what God has in store for me over these next 10 months!






Also, on a side note: if you would rather get these blogs through email instead of having to check for updates, shoot me an email with your name and email so that I can add you to an email list. You can put "South Africa" on the subject line so hopefully it won't get lost in my spam.