A Reflection on My Summer

I was asked to share a little bit about my summer in a sermon in church on Sunday. I typed it up to share on here for anyone that may have wanted to hear about it. Keep in mind the context of this is speaking to my church congregation so that might make it a little weird at certain times.  Here it is!

You might be surprised to know that I was very stubborn about spending another summer serving with Next Step. I had been in contact with Nick Cocalis, the director of Next Step for since last November, he kept on nudging me about being the team leader of one of the sites for this summer. I reassured him that I would be graduating in May, finding a ‘ big girl’ job and didn’t think I was supposed to do another summer of missions with Next Step. Little did I know, God had something else planned for me. Other job opportunities had fallen through, leaving this position for me still standing. I especially didn’t want to go to the Bahamas. International sites seemed more difficult… I mean what was I supposed to do with no phone service when I needed to call my mommy crying about something… not that I do that or anything. But  I just wanted to be comfortable though, you know? I knew another summer doing mission trips wasn’t going to be.

In a blog that I wrote before I left for the Bahamas and this is what I said:

Working in 90 degree heat and humidity 8 hours a day, then returning to site to help cook and feed the mouths of several students, lead nightly worship, have staff and leader meetings, while trying to have fun for 9 weeks straight... It's all so exhausting. It's as if I have my heels dug deep into the ground as God pulls me there. My selfish ambition wants me to be comfortable. God wants to challenge me. But my heart knows just how wrong I am when it comes to my own desires and just how much better it is when I follow God's desires. 

I sat down at the piano and began to go through old worship songs that I love. I came across "Called Me Higher" by All Sons and Daughters. That was it. The Lord spoke loudly to my heart, and it was a slap in the face.  My favorite part of the lyrics say "I could be safe...I could be safe here in Your arms and never leave home, never let these walls down. But You have called me higher. You have called me deeper. And I'll go where You will lead me Lord."  

I realized that I could sit in comfort, but that's not God's plan for me this summer. He's trying to grow me and he's not going to do it in the comfort of A/C and sleep-filled nights. He's going to do it in sweaty days, long and sleepless nights, and insecurity. Discomfort. 

Oh Boy did God use discomfort this summer… So after God had spoken loudly I began to put on my brave face and reluctantly went.

The first day on site I knew immediately that All Saints Camp was going to rock my world. As you walk through the camp you can see what life is like for the residents living there. They each have a tiny little room that has enough room for a twin bed. For those that aren’t bed ridden there is a communal bathroom at the end of the path. For those that are bed ridden wear diapers and get changed by caretakers, which are just other non-bed ridden residents at the camp who don’t get paid for that work.  They don’t have running clean water, so they wait for a new jug of water each week. There’s no air conditioning, and the lucky ones get fans in their rooms. A few of the residents have jobs and leave during the day, but others just live off of a stipend of $80 a month for everything they need. Which in the Bahamas is even less than what we would think of because everything there costs almost twice as much as it does here. The physical aspects of the camp broke my heart. What I saw… it was so different from anything I’d experienced.

To be honest it made me angry. I prayed, “How could you allow this, God?” These are your children, and you’ve completely forgotten about them. Where are you in this place?

Well, I began to develop relationships with the individuals that lived there and learned their stories over the first couple weeks.

 I first got to know Garvin who is 32 and has cerebral palsy. He basically can’t do anything on his own. He lays on his stomach 24/7, his body going one-way, and his legs another, his hands unable to even open. Garvin had been in the camp for over 16 years there lying on his stomach. Some days I got to help spoon-feed him lunch, other days I got to help clip his finger and toenails and give him a hair cut. Garvin’s face always lit up when anyone walked into the room. It was difficult to understand him when he spoke, but he was always doing well when you asked, and was always in a good mood. His room was covered in Bible verses…his favorite being John 14:1-2 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you.” 

I also endeared myself to Perry pretty quickly when I would sneak him small bags of potato chips from our kitchen every day. He couldn’t remember my real name for the first half of the summer and just called me ‘pretty blue eyes.’ I would hang out on his porch with him and talk about his life. He would tell me stories of God’s redemption. He was a scuba diving instructor in the Bahamas when he was young before he got into drugs. He was a cocaine addict and alcoholic. He explained how his life was empty…only filled with drugs, sex and alcohol. Eventually he was homeless, sleeping between two tombstones in a local cemetery. He had lived there for 2 years when brother brought him to All Saints camp. It was there that he gave his life to Christ and was completely transformed. He threw out his drugs, dumped out his alcohol, and surrendered. Every day when I approached Perry on his porch all he would say is “I thank God for waking me up for another day.”

Paulette was quick to warm everyone’s heart as she hung out under the pavilion where we took all of our water breaks. Paulette is mentally impaired, not understanding a whole lot, and not able to communicate very well. But she has the brightest most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen. There wasn’t a day that went by that she didn’t hug me and lift my spirits with her smile. There was a certain innocence about Paulette that’s hard to explain. She had the faith of a child and a contagious excitement about life. I handed her a photo of her and me one day and she screamed ‘YIPEEEE!!’ and started laughing uncontrollably and hugging me. I couldn’t help but think that there were so many things I could have given her but she was grateful for something this small. 

Patrick is seriously the most joyful person I’ve met in my life. He only uses three phrases when speaking to you, “Amen! Amen!” “True, True!” and “Yes! Yes!” If you want to talk about positivity, Patrick is the definition of it. It didn’t matter what you said to him, he would reply Amen! Amen! And start laughing. We would go out of our way to entertain him because he had one of those contagious belly laughs that you couldn’t help but join him in laughter. All Patrick would do is sit by where we were working and watch. He spent his days like that, which made me wonder what his life was like when we weren’t there.

Brother Vince who is blind lives on the lower level of the camp.  I would always walk down the hill to get some spiritual encouragement. My first conversation with him, he asked me “Emily, what are we?” and I didn’t really know what he meant, I said “friends?” he said “NO! We are brother and sister. Do you know why? Because we have the same heavenly father!” And just like that we were good friends.

We took all the residents on an outing to see various landmarks around Nassau because many of them haven’t left the camp in years. Vince sat behind me and before we’d even left the camp on the school bus he burst out in song.  Singing “This is the day that the lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it” Now, brother Vince has a pretty loud voice and some people may or may not have began shoving paper towel in their ears, which was kind of funny to me…  This struck me, those of us that could see everything around us didn’t have half the appreciation for things as Vince did, and he couldn’t even see God’s creation.

I could go on and on about each of the 32 residents from All Saints, each with their own story of heartbreak and pain, but the redemption they have experienced and the joy that they are living with today.

I realized how wrong I was about them all…. There stories were testaments to how they were not forgotten by God at all. In fact, He was the only One that had not forgotten them. They had almost nothing physically and materially, but they had everything spiritually and they held onto God’s hope every single day.

In Isaiah 25:4-5 it says “You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall and like the heat of the desert. You silence the uproar of foreigners; as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is stilled.”

God is defending oppressed people until his final triumph. After being surrounded by the people at the camp, the condition that they face, the circumstances that they have overcome or still live in, and seeing the way God is right there with them this verse became the meditation of my heart. My hope. God is our stronghold no matter what we face.

Near the end of the summer, the girls on my team went with Felicia the fulltime missionary to do hospital visits. There were three residents that were in the hospital and we wanted to show them that we loved and cared for them. It was clear to see how AIDS is so stigmatized. The hospitals have separate wards for the patients. You enter the room and there are rows of beds, nothing separating the patients. As we walked down the isle passing sick individuals we found our friend Dalvin lying in bed with tubes in his nose, hands tied down. We weren’t sure if he’d remember us, because he suffered from memory loss a lot. But as we approached him, his eyes got so big and we knew that he remembered.

We brought him a care package, some photos of him with students, and a book. I held his hand and told him that we had been praying for him. Felicia turned to me and said, “Do you want to lead him?”  I knew what she meant, but I felt nervous… She wanted me to lead him to Christ, to make sure he knew who Jesus was.

But I agreed and slowly started asking Dalvin questions about Jesus. If he trusted him, if he knew Him and how much Jesus loves him. That Jesus died for him. How nothing we ever do could change the way God loves us. Dalvin couldn’t speak to respond but we began to sing “Jesus Loves Me” and he tightened his grip on my hand. Something touched me in my heart and tears began rolling down my cheeks. I can’t know for sure what was going on in Dalvin’s heart and soul, but I have faith that he loves Jesus just as much as I do.

We went into the women’s section of the ward and visited a resident that had been in the hospital for over two years. Her name was Barbara and she was so happy to see us even though she only knew Felicia out of the 6 of us that were there. Felicia bent down so she was face to face with Barbara and said, “Barbara, I just wanted you to know that you are not forgotten. We love you and miss you.”  I believe that was the moment I discovered that the reason why the people of All Saints camp were not forgotten was because someone was there to remind them how much they are loved by God.

Tim and Felicia, the fulltime missionaries there had left their normal, comfortable lives in the states to love those who felt unlovable. They listened to the call of God and went with obedience. When they first arrived at the camp about 6 years ago, the people there were being physically abused, left to sit in their unchanged diapers, leadership was corrupt and still is… the conditions were unlivable.  Tim and Felicia saw a desperate need and felt God calling them. They chose to love people that had been shunned by their families. They chose to serve these people each day.  And the result was people who are holding on tightly to the promises of God, despite their circumstances. Now they bring in groups of missionaries year round that show Christ’s love and work on improving the camp, while at the same time the residents of All Saints now minister to the many missionaries that come each year.

God took something broken and is continuing to shed His light through it and turn it into something beautiful.

I think a lot of times we sit and wonder why people are suffering in the world, and a lot of times we ask God why he’s not doing anything about it..why he’s forgetting his people. Yet, we are the very ones that are called to go..

Paul writes about his obedience to God in order to make the gospel known in Acts 20:24.

He says “But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”

He’s saying here that his life means nothing in comparison to the calling he received from God to reach the lost, the poor in spirit, the hungry, the forgotten. He doesn’t care about his own life, as long as he is finishing the course in which God has sent him on. He’s living life with an eternal perspective.

This verse reminds makes me think of Tim and Felicia, the many missionaries out in the world sacrificing their comfort and safety to spread the gospel…but it also makes me think of the church family I grew up in right here. The small acts of kindness and love, the unseen hours that are spent serving each other, the generosity and quickness to give what you have to help a neighbor, the many things that are being done to make sure that no one feels forgotten by God. I think about all of you that have been a living example of this verse to me my whole life.

I almost allowed my fear of being uncomfortable keep me from an incredible summer of seeing God do amazing things at All Saints camp…all because I wanted air conditioning and sleep. God revealed His glory to me in huge ways and it was worth so much more than the little day-to-day annoyances, inconveniences, and selfish desires.  one of it is comparable to Christ’s glory that will be revealed when we follow Him.

I want to close with Paul’s words again.  “But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”

Sea Lice and Dissatisfaction

Hello, everyone! Today I am speaking from a heart of pure satisfaction in my dissatisfaction. That may seem contradictory, but please stick with me and allow me to expound.

On Friday, we all went on our usual free day with the students after a long and draining week of work at the camp. After our first stop at the straw market, we all ventured to the beach with souvenirs in hand. We arrived at our normal beach spot and immediately jumped in the ocean seeking relief from the overwhelming heat. Things were running smoothly until I started to feel a little itchy. I tried to ignore the feeling and enjoy my time with the students. Soon I felt a little bit more itchy, and it became increasingly more irritating. Finally I said something about the itching and everyone around me said they felt it too! I couldn't bear it any longer and I left the water and immediately changed out of my swimsuit.

A bunch of students went to the showers near the beach and there was a long line of people experiencing the same problem. Come to find out, we had all been attacked by sea lice. Sea lice are larva from jelly fish that you can't see. They get caught under your swimsuit and chemicals are released when you itch them. They can live on your body and swimsuit for up to a week or two, so it's really important not to itch (this I found out after I had already itched a lot...oops!) Yes... gross.

Saturday morning I woke up to more itching on my stomach and back. In my groggy state I kept itching until I finally got out of bed. I looked at my stomach and realized I had hundreds of welts that were red and swollen all over my stomach and back that looked like hives. It was burning and itching and I didn't have any idea what it was. I soon got chills and goose-bumps all over my body. I had a fever and felt nauseated. I could barely keep breakfast down and ended up having to go to my room to get sick before the last group had even left. I guess I had an allergic reaction or something... others had the stings but no one's body reacted quite like mine. That day I was in bed from noon until about 9am the next morning.

It's 3 days later and my body is still itching. There are times when I just want to crawl out of my own skin. Every time I do a vinegar or rubbing alcohol treatment on the stings I feel like screaming.. yet, I know that I am healing. I know that at some point the itching will stop, my skin will heal, and I'll be in a better place than I was before I was even infected with sea lice. I know that I will have learned something new, grown somehow, or will feel more grateful than before, because I believe there is a reason for every battle we face. I know this seems simplistic, but let me connect the dots.

Isn't that life? We are all sick with something. It may be physical, maybe it's spiritual, maybe it's mental or emotional.. We are all waiting. Waiting for healing. Waiting to be in a better place somewhere in the future.  Hoping that it's today, but impatiently wondering if that day will ever come. We are dissatisfied with the difficulties that God has allowed. We get downright angry with Him. We are squirming in our skin and maybe even screaming through the pain that is supposedly helping us heal. What if the healing never comes in this life? Will you be satisfied with the life God has given you?

Becoming the person God wants us to be takes a lot of refining fire. Endless refining fire. But he never promised us an easy life to begin with. He promised us a life that would be filled with suffering and pain. But that's the least of what he promised...he promised us an eternal future in Heavenly glory through His son! He promised us a future so beautiful that anything we could imagine or dream up on our own could never compare.

Maybe today you are hurting from something small like I am. Maybe today you are hurting from something so big that nothing that anyone could do or say could ever stifle the pain you are experiencing. But let me tell you this. He is working in your waiting. He is sanctifying you.

Maybe it's right here in the pain in which we should be most satisfied. Satisfied in our dissatisfaction, knowing that through this, we are promised healing and restoration that is eternal. What will you do while you wait?

"You now rejoice in this hope, even if it’s necessary for you to be distressed for a short time by various trials. This is necessary so that your faith may be found genuine. (Your faith is more valuable than gold, which will be destroyed even though it is itself tested by fire.) Your genuine faith will result in praise, glory, and honor for you when Jesus Christ is revealed." - 1 Peter 1:6-7 

'You Ain't That Great, Mon'

My sixth week in the Bahamas is starting, and each week that I'm here I fall deeper in love with the community that we are serving at the All Saints Camp.  The people that live here have such interesting stories to tell, each a unique journey to where they are now. Many of them love Jesus with all their heart and never cease praising Him each day. I came here to share my own faith in hopes that it would strengthen others'. Little did I know that the people of All Saints would show me the true face of God, giving me an unwavering trust in Him and His plans. 

God uses them to speak to me in so many ways. I don't even know where to begin in sharing the experience of All Saints with you. I guess I'll just share a couple specific stories that reveal just how special it is to be a small part of this place.

Liquid Sunshine

During our first week of trips it rained a lot. Tropical rain storms come and go frequently, but that week they happened every day and lasted for hours. I was getting a little bit frustrated because I didn't understand why God would bring a bunch of people here to do construction work if He was just going to let it rain. I could tell that people weren't happy about the situation and I was feeling a little stressed. 

I decided to walk down the hill to talk to Brother Vince. Vince is blind, but you would never be able to tell by the joy he has and the smile on his face. I believe Vince sees so much more than we do with our sight, though. He sees your heart, and oh how he loves to sing and praise our King! The first time I met him he asked me, "what are we?" I wasn't sure what he meant and said, "friends?" He scolded me and said, "we ain't friends, Emily! You are my sista in Christ." Amen, Vince. 

That rainy day I walked down the hill and started talking to him about the rain and how we couldn't work. A couple of the girls from my team were with me and he started telling us how rain here in the Bahamas is called liquid sunshine and he pretty much forbid us from saying 'rain.' He proceeded to lead us in a bunch of different worship songs. We all sat under his porch, praising Jesus, and singing our hearts out. In the midst of our song the rain let up and sunshine began to beam through the dark clouds. 

I exclaimed to Vince, "The rain stopped and the sun is shining!" He replied to me, "Why are you so surprised? When the praises go up, the blessings come down." Here I was getting stressed out and cranky about rain because it was getting in the way of 'our' work. All Vince ever does is praise God, rain or shine, with sight and without. What a testiment to how we are supposed to respond to the things life throws at us. His perspective is inspiring and I felt so blessed to have gotten a small taste of it. 

I realized that 'our work' doesn't always align with God's work and the lessons he taught through the rain were so much more important than anything we could have accomplished. 

You Ain't That Great, Mon

Another resident, Robert, doesn't get too close with any of our team or students, but I have been obnoxious enough to him that I feel that we've made a pretty special bond. I always walk up to him and ask him a million questions. He likes to hide out, but I always find him and pester him. At first I truly think I annoyed him, but now he waits for my arrival every day. He also says 'mon' as in 'man' at the end of everything he says so I say it back to him. Yeah, Mon! Robert and I have good laughs and tell stories to each other, but we've never gotten too deep about faith. I wasn't entirely sure if he is even a believer or not. 

Oneweek I had some moments of doubt in myself. I didn't think I had the ability to lead because I kept messing up in little ways. That day I had lost some keys and it really frazzled me. I was telling myself that if I couldn't even keep track of a key, how could I lead a bunch of people on site? After the keys were found I wandered down the path to find comfort in my friend, Robert. He asked me what was wrong and I told him that I am a failure, I lose keys, I'm unorganized, and that I'm not equipped for this job. He said one of the most profound things that I've ever been told, "you ain't that great, mon. Only Jesus is."  It was like God spoke directly into my heart at that moment and humbled me right back to my human self. Of course I'm going to lose keys and be inadequate, Jesus was the only perfect leader and I will never be. Tears filled my eyes and I thanked him for speaking truth to me. Needless to say, Robert loves Jesus too. 

There's so many stories like this that I could tell, and I will try to remember to share, but if you can at all or ever in your life..come to this camp. Meet these people. They are remarkable. It's even more than the profound conversations; it's the small moments that you can see God everywhere...In Paulette's hugs, in Patrick's laugh as he says "Amen! Amen!" no matter what you say to him, in Delvin's sassy looks when you can't give him another sandwich for lunch, in miss Lillian's comittment to feeding her pigeons 3 times a day, in Garvin's smile that erupts when you walk into his room, in the way Miss Smith shakes her head at you with a confused look on her face, in the way Perry whispers to me every day not to forget to sneak him some potato chips...the list goes on. I will never be able to describe how special it is to be here.

God is so good and I will forever be greatful for this experience! 

Site Update and Prayer Requests

Hello, loved ones!

Sorry that it's been about a month since my last post, but things got really busy here to say the least. So far we've had four weeks of missions at All Saints and each one has been an incredible experience! Students from South Carolina, Illinois, Texas, Florida, Michigan, and Indiana have come to share the love of Christ and grow more into his likeness. Each week I learn something new and am in complete awe of God's divine nature and sovereignty. This week we have an individual from West Virginia and a small group from California. I look forward to the new lessons that will be learned!

All Saints Camp has captured my heart and each morning I look forward to getting to the camp to join my newly formed family in Christ. Even on the most tiring days when I feel exhausted, something remarkable happens... a conversation that I needed to hear, an event that lifts my spirits, or simply a smile that reminds me why I'm here. Life is so full when you're at the center of God's will. Praise Jesus!

My team is absolutely wonderful as well. I know I've said it before but I love them with all of my heart. Each one of them is so gifted in different ways and it's so special when you see what God meant when he created us to be the full body of Christ. I am continually amazed at how each one of us comes together each day with unique strengths, equally important to each other, to serve and love others. I am beyond blessed by the Christ-centered hearts and selflessness that my team exudes.

Tim and Felicia, the full-time missionaries here, and their kids Shadow and Richelle are absolute GIFTS to our team. It's like having a mom and dad down here to lift us up in prayer, comfort us, guide us and support us in our ministry. I honestly don't know what we would do without them. They have such willing hearts filled with pure obedience to God. They have been here for 5 years full-time and it's so cool to see why God has them here each day. One resident told me last week that Felicia is her angel sent from God. I couldn't agree with that more. It's encouraging to know that though we are here to help the camp now for a short time, when we leave the residents are in good hands.

As far as prayer requests, I have many! So please join me in prayer to keep this summer as glorifying to God as it can be. Here they are:

• Good health for EVERYONE! I wasn't feeling well last night (feverish and chills). I know it was a result of being run down and over tired, but I started to panic because the landlord Dr. Kas told me there was a confirmed case of Chikungunya (spelling?) in the Bahamas. It's a flu that is transmitted through mosquitos and it's all over the Caribbean right now.  Please pray that no one here (staff, students, or residents) gets infected with it because it causes severe sickness for a couple weeks. I know my church prayed for me this morning and I definitely felt it! I feel a lot better today. The power of prayer I tell ya!
• Energy! We are now entering into the back half of our summer. This is the point where our exhaustion starts to catch up with us, patience wears thin, sickness creeps in, and we start to lose grip on why we are here. Please pray for supernatural energy to continue to serve whole-heartedly. We only have a few more weeks of trips left, and we don't want to waste any time being too tired to serve! 
• Unity. As I said before, this team I'm serving with down here is incredible, but this is only a result of God's grace and strength. We can always use continuous prayers for unity and love for one another. Without His strength our flesh will fail. 
• Logistics for the upcoming week. On Tuesday we get to take the residents on an outing. They never get out of the camp so this is really exciting! However, we've been having trouble getting ahold of the handicapped van service. Please pray we do so that no residents get left out of this incredible opportunity to have a day out on the island! 

Thank you so much for being the spiritual support in this journey! I not only appreciate your prayers but absolutely NEED them. 

Love you all! 

"My flesh and heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and portion forever." Psalm 73:26

The Bahamian Lifestyle

Our week of preparation is almost over and students are arriving on Sunday to begin our summer filled with life-changing mission trips! This week has been really educational for my whole team in a wide range of things. Not everything has been easy to transition into, but I am so thankful for having this opportunity to serve here on this beautiful island! 

I'm officially a professional at driving on the left side of the road. As brotha Vince, a resident at All Saints Camp, informed me, "drive in the left or die on the right." I've also become familiar with roundabouts instead of stop lights. Bahamian driving is less than timid. Each excursion is an intense experience of aggressive winding, weaving, honking, and getting cut-off. Two short honks means 'thank you,' one long honk means 'you're an idiot,' and NO ONE signals left or right. You can imagine a roundabout with no one signaling toward which way they are going to go...terrifying! Sorry if this worried you, Mom. I promise I'm getting really good at it. :) 

I've learned to share my bathroom with lizards, tree frogs, cockroaches, and wasps. Did you know that cockroaches can even get into the refrigerator? We are taking it all in as part of the experience. Afterall, they are God's creatures too. 

Grocery shopping here is outrageously expensive. To all my fellow interns serving in the States: do NOT take Sam's Club for granted! I purchased a $7.00 bag of chips this week just to give you an example. Prices are expected to raise by 30-40% by next year this time creating an even greater gap between the wealthy and poor. 

My team is also learning things the hard way. One particular lesson took place the first night we arrived in the Bahamas. Somehow we managed to lock our apartment key in the apartment and didn't realize it until everyone had dropped us off for the night with no cell phones, no wifi, and no form of communication with anyone. The international phones I was given were inside of the apartment and we felt stranded. It quickly escalated into a pretty stressful situation. Immediately the guys on the team were getting their tools out and trying to unhinge the door. Our the girls got into a circle and prayed over the situation. After about an hour the rusty metal on the hinges broke loose and we got the door opened. It was so cool to see how everyone worked together to get through the stress, but more importantly it was cool to see how God completely showed us that we can do nothing on our own. We need Him!

Last but not least, we've been learning a ton about the camp and what an incredible blessing it is to be here this summer. We've spent a few days at the All Saints camp already, talking with each resident, serving them lunch, and hearing their stories. I can already feel myself falling deeply in love with the camp. Huge tranformation is about to take place!

There is still so much we have to learn, but I can't stress enough that through the exhaustion and difficulties I a have overflowing joy that comes from God alone. Please pray for us as our first group of students come on Sunday! God is going to do some amazing work in all of our hearts.

Love you all and miss you! 

My team eating dinner that our prayer warriors served us Friday before we left for the Bahamas:

We are lifting Paula, our designated prayer warrior for the Bahamas team. 

Landing in Nassau! 

Getting into our apartment night one. 

Reloading fresh water...have to get use to this. We can't drink the tap water here. 

Flowers like this around. Rachelle decided I needed one in my hair. 

This is Rachelle, Tim and Felicia's (fulltime missionaries here) daughter. She's so sweet! 

Ambassadors for Christ

"Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." -2 Corinthians 5:20-21

This blog post marks the end of training week and the beginning of the incredible adventure of serving in the Bahamas. I am feeling so many emotions now...excited for the work God will do, uncertain of a lot of logistical things, humbled by the work The Lord is already doing on my team, and overwhelmed at the calling that God has placed on roughly 110 college aged students that are about to lead over 6,000 students in 13 different sites through Next Step Ministries in the next two months. What a blessing it is to witness so many Christ-followers passionate about serving God with their summers!

So let's start with my team...LOVE THEM! After meeting them, spending time getting to know them personally and through team meetings, it is so clear how God has given us passions and strengths that compliment each other. Out of the 13 teams that were there, the Bahamas team won the week-long competition that was organized by fulltime staff. Through a series of obstacles and games we ended up winning the 1st place $500 prize to use on our community how ever we would like! I pray that my team fights to stand firm in their faith and love like Christ just as hard as they did to win this competition this week! 

Here is just a quick recap of what training week looked like. All of us packed into four huge condos at the Kalahari Resort in the Wisconsin Dells on Monday, the 26th. We started our first big room training session that evening. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday we attended big room sessions with everyone, practice programming for worship teams from each site, break out sessions for individual positions, and team time. All of this started at 8am and ending around 10:30pm. Needless to say, I am already lacking sleep but SO energized by the excitement that surrounds me in my teammates and other summer staff teams. 

Today we had one last big room session and a worship time. Then we packed up our luggage and traveled to Madison to take team photos, attend a dinner that our prayer warriors put on for us, and finally got commissioned by the staff through communion and annointing. (Cool side note: each site has a couple members from a Madison church assigned to specifically pray for that site for the summer called prayer warriors.) The commissioning service was so Spirit filled and I could feel God encouraging each one of us in the calling He placed on our hearts.  

We are ambassadors, meaning that we are the hands and feet of Christ. Our only purpose this summer is to show God's love and all other anxieties, fears, and uncertainty will wash away. Please pray that all of us serving on summer staff would remain centered in this truth every moment of every day.

I'm about to get a couple hours of sleep before waking up at 3:30 a.m. to leave for the airport. Our first flight is around 6:00 a.m. and we should be arriving in the Bahamas around 2:30 p.m. (1:30 p.m. for all of my midwesterners). Can't wait for my next post to be written in the Bahamas!!

God bless you all! 

The Power of Prayer

Hello, loved ones! 

Training starts Monday and I am excited to get my summer started!  I have been in contact with my teammates this past week and can't wait to work with each one of them!

Now comes the time where all of you become crucial! My team's success this summer relies upon our dependence on The Lord for strength, wisdom, energy, and humility. This isn't always an easy task, and we all understand that it will be a challenging summer. This is why the prayer warriors (YOU) in our lives are so important! 

I asked my teammates what special prayer requests they had going into the summer. My hope is that you would pray for each one of these requests and that The Lord would be continuously working in each one of our hearts. Missions are not possible with out the spiritual support that our friends and family offer us, so thank you from the bottom of my heart for lifting us up!

"Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it." - John 14:13-14 

Requests:

-Positivity, especially when days are long and tiring.

-Trust that God will take care of our friends and family back home and comfort for any homesickness we may have.

-That we would remain humble in serving God and always direct compliments and praise back to the One that deserves it. 

-That the new community development position on our team would be Spirit led and that God would do some amazing work through it!

-Strength and wisdom to lead the hundreds of students and leaders coming to work at the All Saints camp. 

-Relationships to be Christ-centered and loving between our team, the students and leaders coming, the full-time missionaries and the community. 

-God's strength through difficult times and flexibility to adapt to whatever may be thrown at us. 

-God's energy to be provided, espcially at our weakest moments. 

-That each one of us would remain Christ-centered in all the work we are doing. 

-Cultural sensitivity. That we would remember that we are no better than those we are serving. 

-Safety and hydration in the heat! 

Amen.