IPS 58 Harvest Party

It's been a long time since I last wrote, but life is flying by and God is doing some amazing things! A few months ago, a group from the college ministry I go to called Engage, went down to meet with the event coordinator about building a relationship with IPS #58. Going to this first meeting, I had no clue what God had in store for our group, but I trusted that He would use us. After praying a lot and meeting with the school several times Engage decided to do a Harvest Party for the school during there intercession in October. As ideas were thrown back and forth and plans were set in stone, the harvest party began to take form.

God grew me during the month of planning and working on the Harvest party with my fellow Engagers :) He showed me how faithful He truly is, He reinforced that when I rely on Him and put all my trust and strength in Him, He will always come through. When the day of the Harvest Party approached, there were so many emotions from so many different people. As the start grew closer excitement began to grow and when the event started and the students and their families began to come to the Harvest Party, God showed up. He showed up in the smiles of the kids, He showed up in the tough exteriors of adults melting away after an hour or so, He showed up by providing a cloudless day when the forecast was cloudy, He showed up in the relationships that were built that day, He showed up in every volunteer. God moved in mighty ways on October 15th at IPS 58. God provided every need. He made all things work together for our good. God is so faithful.

The relationships that were made, will last and will continue to grow. I believe wholeheartedly God has a plan, a plan that will not fail, and that will advance His kingdom throughout IPS 58 and to the surrounding schools. I cannot express how excited I am to see how God continues to move. When I remember the smiles, hear the stories, and think about the future, I can't help but shed a few tears of joy and give all the glory to only person it belongs to, JESUS. Our God is so good.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." - Romans 8:28

"And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19

summer 2011 and everything that came with it

What a whirlwind this summer has been. It seems like only yesterday Rachael and I were getting prepared to go to Haiti and now its August, and I will be returning to the Wu in a few short weeks. This summer has been great, it has been challenging, it has been exactly what God wanted it to be. Haiti was amazing, was it what I expected, not at all, but God is making so much good out of it. I went into Haiti thinking I knew how mission trips went and that this trip would be challenging but nothing I couldn't handle. I was so wrong, God broke me physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I was physically exhausted, got the flu while in Haiti, and it just wore me out. Emotionally, God was revealing my brokenness through the people of Haiti and the brokenness, yet they still had so much joy, and our types of brokenness were so different. Spiritually, I was questioning whether God was truly calling me into missions whether this was the path that God really wanted me to follow Him on because I was being challenged in so many ways. While we were in Haiti, Rachael and I had the opportunity to do things we both thought we would never have the opportunity to, we went to jails and brothels and prayed and talked to the men and women about Jesus, we went hut to hut and evangelized, we went to a voodoo village, we rode on a Haitian man's shoulders with skirts on to a rickety old sailboat, we were shown love from people that have nothing compared to us, we were humbled like we have never been humbled before.

One night I was having my quiet time, and I came across this passage:

"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast Spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. RESTORE to me the JOY of your SALVATION and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me." Psalm 51:10-12

I knew God had something to show me through this passage. I wasn't sure what, but through Haiti He was creating a pure heart in me, He wanted to restore the joy of my salvation and remind me to keep that joy, and how blessed I am to have my salvation. Haiti was challenging. I was broken in Haiti, but through Christ's love and compassion and mercy and grace He is renewing me more and more, day by day.

After Haiti (and our epic journey home), I went straight to be a counselor for the 7th and 8th graders at WRCC!!! I was so excited and knew God would give me the energy and strength to get through the week, but little did I know, God had a different plan for me. The morning of the first full day I woke up with a nasty case of pink eye which caused me to be quarantined from all the kids. This was not what I was expecting at all and couldn't understand why God had called me to go to camp and then allowed me to get pink eye, but I soon realized that my job this year at camp was to PRAY. To pray for the Holy Spirit to fall, to pray for the worship team, to pray for the other leaders, to pray for the students' hearts to be opened and for chains to be broken. It was a year of camp that honestly I would never give up, because God showed me how important prayer is, how prayer works. God moved in incredible ways through the students this year, chains were broken, lives were healed, and students became leaders. I am so very proud of all the students that are developing into awesome leaders.

This summer God has challenged me in many ways that I have never been challenged, He has shown me things and taught me lessons that I needed to learn. I know that trying to do missions with my own power is not possible, I know I am called to be a missionary, to love the unloved, to sacrifice and to die to my desires, but I can't do any of that without God at the head of it all. I am so excited for how God continues to stretch and challenge me and am looking forward to this school year. The last things I wanted to share with you all is the goals I am working on now, that God has called me to work on, so here they are. Please keep me in your prayers as I follow Christ through this year, attempting to live these goals out, complete these tasks He is calling me to, and discern where I am suppose to go on my internship to. Sorry if this is all scattered but here is the list of everything else.

Goals to live out:
-- be immersed in scripture instead of entertainment.
-- observing the sabbath instead of being productive.
--fasting for simplicity instead of consuming.
--choosing embodiment instead of being divided.
--postured by prayer instead of power.

tasks:
-- collect school supplies for IPS #58
-- blankets for st. martin
-- love the unloved with all that I am.

internship:
-- praying about India and Africa, internship = 3 weeks :)

Love you all, thanks for reading :)

Family

Family, at first glance my family consists of my mom and dad, sister and brother. They are all fantastic and I love them all so much and wouldn't trade them for anything. They have loved me despite my flaws, they know me better than almost any humans on the earth, and they are apart of me. Now at first glance most of you would think that's it, pretty normal family, but the truth is my family is a lot bigger than that. I have family members in a little indian village in Panama, where I spent a week with my youth group building two houses for the glory of God, but while there we not only built houses, we built lifelong friendships with our friends, our family in Panama, although we don't see them much, they are still very dear to my heart and I think and pray for them often. My family also extends to inner city Marion, where people that are sick, broken, lost, and often forgotten are living in some conditions we wouldn't believe are possible in the United States, but if you open your eyes and step into reality, it becomes evident that this brokenness is all around us and right in front of us. Each of these people in inner city Marion, are apart of my family, when they hurt, I hurt, when they cry, I often cry, when they smile, it makes me smile for days. They will always be apart of my family.

But thats not where my family ends, a huge apart of my family is right here in Noblesville, IN. My youth pastor,Justin Fluhr, through high school always said throughout my years of being in the youth group, he wants us to be a family, he always said WE ARE A FAMILY. And about a week ago, our youth group family stepped together in Jesus name and did something that I will never forget and humbled me and my sister. My sister and I felt called by God to go on a mission trip this summer, and after praying for weeks, we felt led to go to Haiti. After finding the organization we were going with and seeing the price for each of us, it seemed daunting, but we both knew God was calling us and knew if we were suppose to go, God would bring the funds in. The cost for each of us was $1800 dollars. As we continued to pray the funds began to come in and we saw generosity from people that we never expected to see, but God is always good and faithful. The organization wanted the money in a month before the trip, which for us would be May 20th. As we came into the final week before the money was due we still owed quite a bit as we chipped little bits off through the week, it didn't seem like we were going to make it, but we still trusted that God would provide.

The night before the money was due, the 19th, we still owed around $700 dollars, and we honestly had no clue where the money was coming from. I was secretly stressing, but I still had peace that God would provide in some way. I got off work, and then went on a bike ride to blow off some of the stress, and to talk to Jesus, I went to a Bible study at my god parents house, and thought the night was just a normal night, but little did I know that the Spirit was stirring hearts not far away. Towards the end of the Bible study, I got a text message from a dear friend asking where I was, and what I was doing, and then had a phone call from another friend. Not thinking much of the text messages and phone call, I left the Bible study and prayed all my way home for God to do a miracle if it was His will for us to go to Haiti on this mission trip. I arrived at home and was sitting in the kitchen talking with my mom, and then heard a knock on our front door. It was 9 something at night so I was just expecting a neighbor to be at the door, yet when I opened the door a group from the youth group was at my front door, a little scared, I opened the door and went outside.

They handed me a box. I opened it. And in it was the rest of the money for Haiti. I felt: Joy, peace, love, humbled, excitement, comfort, encouragement, support. They had raise over $650 dollars within 10 minutes at Bible study that night for my sister and I to go on this journey to Haiti for God. So you see, my family it also extends to this whole youth group. when me and my sister were at a point where we needed help, they lifted us up, when stirred by God to help us. They helped us carry our burden, they loved us unconditionally, they supported us, and glorified God. God is good, God is faithful, God is always true. Family isn't just the people you live in a house with, they are the people you encounter everyday, they are the people you do life with. I am forever grateful for the family God has given me, for the love, support, peace, comfort God has used them to instill in my life. To all of you in my family, I love you and so thankful for you. And Justin you were right, WE ARE A FAMILY. And always will be.

December 4th, Passion, and Engage

God has been calling me to and doing some amazing things in my life since I last blogged. I have blogged many times about my family at St. Martins and about the impact they have had on my life, which is impossible to completely portray in words. God called me to do something for them, while at the same time ensuring that none of the glory went to me. It wasn't about the people seeing me doing this for them, it was all about them feeling and seeing God through the actions of the event and the people who helped out with it. As I began praying for the event, I knew what I was called to do, it was to collect 100 coloring books and 100 boxes of crayons, but God completely blew it out of my expectations and into what He wanted it to be. By the end of collecting everything, God had brought in over 300 books and coloring books, over 200 boxes of crayons, and over 30 toys. He also called another friend, Abby Floyd, to use her passion and talent for photography to show His love to these people who are often forgotten. Needless to say, everything fell into place perfectly. The volunteers, the desserts, the presents, the photography, God was in control and He moved on that day in inner city Marion. The smiles from the people who come in and are usually quiet and solemn, the giggles from the children that were heard throughout St. Martin Community Center, and the love that each and every volunteer showed the people made every hour of sleep that was lost, every tear cried, and prayer prayed so worth it. I know God was present that day, I know He touched lives, and I know He will continue to move in this place that God has called me to. I am forever changed by the people of St.Martin and know God still has things in store for the people there and for my calling there. Thank you again to everyone who helped out at this event, without you it wouldn't have been possible, whether that was wrapping presents, signing people in, taking pictures, handing out desserts, handing out presents, handing out candy canes, I truly believe that you furthered God's kingdom that day.

Next up was the Passion Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. My dear friends Audrey and Corey went to this 4 day long conference, not really knowing what to expect, except that God was going to do something big in our lives and through the other lives attending the conference.


Being challenged with every worship session, with every sermon, with every family time session that we encountered, God moved in each of our lives. He set me free from past hurts, he healed my heart of a hurt that had been with me for years. And He set me on fire to carry His name with all that I am. The conference was awesome, but Jesus, Jesus was amazing, outstanding, wonderful, life changing, He left me awestruck and falling more and more in love with Him. At the end of the conference over 20,000 young adults, left Atlanta, Georgia, and returned to our homes. Each of us were forever changed and we all are still Carrying His Name with all that we are.


To wrap up this blog, I'm going to talk about a new ministry that got started. I know I have and many others have been praying for a young adults ministry to get started at White River Christian Church, well after two years of praying and talking to people in the church. God answered our prayers. We have been diving into God's word weekly, growing closer together and becoming a family. We aren't about staying a clique family though, we are here to spread the Gospel and to reach out to the lost, broken, sick, and forgotten. God is doing amazing things so far with each person involved in the group and I can't wait to see where He leads us as we follow Him with everything we are, as we continue to wrestle with God and as He continues to stretch us and grow us. I love each and every person that is involved in Engage so far and can't wait to see who else God brings to the family. Until next time, God bless.