Hi everybody! It’s been a long time since I have written a blog, honestly I wasn’t sure what to write about. I didn’t have any inspiration about something I felt people needed to hear, but I do have some MAJOR updates so I thought I would walk y’all through that. I switched routes! I will now be leaving in January going to South Africa, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ethiopia, Nepal, South Asia, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
The weeks leading up to the switch of routes were tough. I was faced with the uncertainty of the world around us which made switching sound like a better option, but I didn’t want to make any choice based on my own knowledge. I can’t know all of the ways my steps are ordered or people that I’m meant to make an impact on, so I wanted to make sure that I was only switching if it was a directive from God and that I wouldn’t somehow “mess up” what He had set for me.
Then I realized that was me making a bigger deal of it in my mind than it was.
Sometimes I can be an overthinker though there were clear signs that I was supposed to switch. I was called to the race, not to a specific route or time. God really took me through a few weeks of truly understanding what it meant to trust in Him. I got in touch with some people who were amazing advisors to me and were praying with and for me. I realized that He is faithful in every situation and has never let me down. If I was meant to switch, He would still orchestrate my steps so that I could impact those I was meant to impact.
“Remember that Jesus slept in the storm. If He can have peace in that
situation then we can have peace trusting Him. “
That is when I looked into what this new route will have us doing in terms of mission work.
The description for Thailand talks about how the country is deeply involved in sex trafficking and sex tourism. Helping victims of sex trafficking, educating the children in these countries about what is not normal, and getting people free from trafficking is something that has weighed heavily on my heart for a while. In fact, I did my senior capstone project in college on it. This would give me the opportunity to step into some of that work, as well as hopefully pray with the traffickers, help them see that they too are loved and bought with a price and can have a heart change.
Some amazing opportunities came into my life that I would not have the chance to experience if I had stuck to the original plan (such as exploring Colorado with my fam as seen in the below picture.)
The Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado
Ultimately, I hope this blog is a reminder to calm down and get good people in your life to advise you. The things in your life that seem like life and death to you, are not surprising to God nor is He stressing about them like you. Remember that Jesus slept in the storm. If He can have peace in that situation then we can have peace trusting Him.
Sittin on a mountaintop in CO
Thank you for reading! If you would like to help me reach these countries, the new total I need to fundraise is $17,800. My personal goal would be to raise $5,000 by the end of September and I would love to have you as a partner pushing the gospel and God’s goodness forward with me.
If you would like more updates on my trip you can subscribe to the blog! I would love to start blogging about other revelations I’ve had and things of that nature that give value to the readers too, so if you have any topics you think I should write about let me know!
Wow, you’ve been on quite the journey learning to trust God in the COVID storm of continually changing plans! So glad you got to see the sand dunes and explore some of Colorado!