Another door opens

Oh my gosh. The school year is winding down rapidly. 16 days until Team Kenya takes flight. Most of my schoolwork for the semester must be turned in before then. That means I'm in the last two stressful weeks of school. I hope I don't blink for too long and miss my graduation! I've realized that in my rush to get stuff done (i.e. youth group, homework, stuff for Kenya) I have neglected to realize that I am almost done with college, for ever. In spare moments I have been trying to reflect back on some of the meaningful things that I have been taught over the last four years. There is so much to reflect on, so much to rejoice in, so much to put behind me. Most importantly, there is so much to look forward to. Kenya is so close, graduation is so close. This weekend I am flying up to Benicia, Ca. I have interviewed with a church there and will be visiting the church and then giving them a decision! This is where I have to stop writing and reread that last sentence over and over and try to really soak it in. I just can't believe that I am graduating and going to be going out and doing full time ministry. It has always seemed like a far off distant dream. Yet, here I am getting ready to hit "the real world" and go do some ministry. I just hope that I can find contentment in what God calls me to and live my life as a reflection of Jesus.

Team Kenya Retreat

So, today we had a mini-retreat for Team Kenya. It really was an awesome time. We went to the household of one of the team members and were extremely blessed by her family! Fun games, lots of laughs, great food, some face paint, amazing magic tricks, and some genuine team bonding. I continue to get more and more excited for the trip. While on the retreat I had a brief moment where the reality hit me. I am going back to Africa. It is humorous to me because I used to have this bizarre attitude towards missions in Africa. I remember when I started college thinking to myself, "I'm not going to be one of those Christians that goes to Africa to do missions." I really just thought it was the "trendy" thing to do and was, therefor, not going to "be like that." Out of seemingly no where God placed in me a huge desire to go to Africa and serve, which manifested in my trip to South Africa last May through July. To be honest, now there is still a large part of me that just wants to be in Africa. God's path in my life is crazy, and I never seem to be able to figure out his next move. I just know that my appetite for another trip to Africa is growing.

There was something about today that really got me. My team members family hosts international students regularly and they currently have a Chinese woman living with them. We were told some of her story, and I was simply floored. She was a member of the underground church in China. The government had become aware of her involvement with the church and had contacted her family warning them to have her stop before she would be punished. She is here in America to flee from the persecution that threatens her in her home country. Wait. That kind of stuff isn't real. Persecution is something we just talk about, but we don't actually stand in the same room with someone who has lived it. To think, I complain about having to go to chapel three times a week. Uh oh, conviction. Is it possible that the comfortability we as Christians in the states can live our lives in makes us dull to the reality of our faith? "Love your enemy as yourself..." the closest thing that I have as an enemy is a quacky neighbor who leaves mean notes on our door. My government hasn't called my mom to tell her to make me stop being a Christian on penalty of imprisonment or worse! My Christian faith becomes more my routine then my relationship to a God who is so worthy to be praised that I should be willing to risk everything to worship Him. Would I stay faithful in persecution? Could I stay faithful?

1st post in six months! Wahooo!

Clearly, I am an excellent blogger. I would like to blame my lack of blog updates on my zealous commitment to my schoolwork, if only that were true. I mean I am a senior. This means that: I rarely go to class, If I go to class I space out most the time, I do all my homework last minute, I play lots of Call of Duty with the roommates. (Mom, don't take this too literal, it is more of an elaborate way of illustrating the point that I have "senioritus"--my grades are fine.)

In all reality, It's been a busy six months. Because I highly doubt that anyone reads long blogs, I'll be brief...

I have been working as the Intern for High School Ministry at Glenkirk Church in Glendora, CA. I was helping cover the high school ministry for an interim period while we as a church were waiting for our new high school director, Lisette, to move from her come in Canada to Glendora (turns out that this process takes many months). I taught youth group and Sunday school classes each week. God really stretched me during this time and the lessons have ben numerous. Lisette is here now after a long wait and it's super fun to help her transition into her new position. I am learning lots of things about ministry through that process, the things that are overlooked in my classes.

I am going to Kenya! If you haven't heard, I am co-leading a team of 15 ministry students to Nyeri, Kenya this April. We have been working hard to raise over $25,000 to afford airplane tickets and supplies for our trip. It was frustrating at times, exhausting at others, but overall I just PRAISE God! When our team returned from our Christmas vacation in the beginning of January we only had $4,000...that means God has provided over $20,000 in about two months which I think is pretty phenomenal. Now we are preparing for the ministry that we will be doing while in Kenya. I know that this will entail a whole lot of soccer, which is awesome because I am super good at Soccer! Yeah right... I just learned tonight that I'll also be speaking during our night programming, which is really exciting. I already have tons of ideas going through my head as I ask God what he wants to teach the young people of Kenya.

Well, I'll stop there for now. More to come soon...hopefully.