Jesus said...

The countdown is on. Well, it's been on, but it's down to days now. 3 days, 21 hours, 38 minutes to be pretty exact. Or, 

• 337,080 seconds
• 5618 minutes
• 93 hours (rounded down)

Until I leave for Wisconsin and land in Atlanta, GA to meet my teammates for the next four days. From there we will fly out of GA for Managua, Nicaragua on January 16th and make our way northwest to Chinandega, the city we will be staying and serving in and around. 

Our ministry will be mostly working with the youth in surrounding villages through bible studies, teaching english (hopefully learning spanish) and sports and art activities. I love kids and I knew before hand that we would be specifically going there to work with kids and that's big reason why I chose this trip. Kids are just so amazing in what they understand and can grasp and their own individual thoughts and perspective on life. And being loved and nurtured as a kid is just so important so I can't wait to get there on love on them. Some of them will be orphans and others will come from all sorts of family lives, just like here. Everyone has a story, but every one of their stories will fit into God's plan and I can't wait to share that with them. 

Other ministry opportunities include, but are not limited to, assisting in Vision Nicaragua's http://visionnicaragua.org/  medical facility and construction projects. The full details will be decided as a team when we arrive. We will also have the opportunity to be led by God as he shows us needs that may have been previously unknown - something that I thought we also awesome and really important. We won't be going there with no plan, but we don't need to stick to just our plan. God's plan is more important and I can't wait to see it.  

I'm incredibly excited. Thank you to everyone for your prayers and support and love and encouragement. I can't wait to really see how stupendous (my incredible and supportive boyfriend would be excited about the use of this word ;) ) this is really going to be. So many of you have shared your own experiences and I love to hear them, so I can't wait to see what my own will look like...but I'm sure far more amazing than what I can imagine, because that is just how God works and is...more amazing than we can imagine. His power, wisdom, and understanding is just so great!

It is he who made the earth by his power,
who established the world by his wisdom,
and by his understanding stretched out the heavens. - Jeremiah 10:12 

Last night I stood before Calvary Baptist Church and became and member and testified to Jesus Christ as my Savior and was baptized. It was a wonderful service. Thank you to all for the warm welcome and for all of those that God used in my life to lead me to Him. Thank you for sharing your own testimonies and His love and your time with me. My life is so much better and I am so blessed to have you in my life and my family. I hope to be a blessing to all of you as I serve you and beside you. :) Keep being beautiful and bold lights for others as you live your life for Christ! 

¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” - Matthew 28:18-20  (emphasis added)

I will try to keep posting blogs here, otherwise I will definitely be posting on my team blog at nicaragua.adventures.org. To be linked directly to my posts, you'll find my name on the left hand side. And most pictures will be on Face Book. You can also email me directly, I'd love to hear from you. We will be provided wifi on our campus. I can't wait to share all that God is doing in this part of the world.

Prayer requests:

- Safety flying on Friday and Monday

- That all goes well when meeting my teammates in GA

Praise:

- My trip was fully funded on time!! Thank you :)
- The peace God has given me about leaving home to live with complete strangers so that I can "go" ..it's really a big deal