God has shown me so many things this month. One month ago, I came into this trip excited. I had no idea that I would be changed and share intimate things with people I didn’t know before. God taught me that He is always in control and that I don’t have to leave the country in order to serve Him and His kingdom. Sometimes in our lives we think we know better than God or try to go against Him. But that NEVER works. He knows everything about us and knows what we are going to do. Isaiah 41:10 says, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will...

I went into this mission trip not believing that VBS was true ministry work. I didn’t favor it because I never felt like I was making a difference. I didn’t consider it a “mature” ministry service, but busy work.  This week, that totally changed. I started to see the diffeence and rhe meaning. I connected with two sisters. I started to see their interest and joy in learning bible verses, and I saw them grow by the day. I knew that it was going to be a hard goodbye on our last day. They would beg every day for me to stay with them and they wished I would...

After our earliest morning yet (4am wake up time!), we set out on a misty Pennsylvania morning to complete the last long drive of our US road trip! We arrived safe and sound at the New Life Baptist Church in Nashville around 6 this evening. The team is excited to attend church here in the morning, and look forward to the ministry opportunities that await us this week! Good night, y’all!  

While we were in Chicago, we had multiple opportunities to work and build relationships with people in the homeless community at Pacific Garden Mission. Here, Launa and Kassidy share about conversations that really impacted them. “Jack” and “Mike” are men we met during our work there. Their names have been changed to protect their privacy. His name was Jack. Jack was nearly lame. People had beaten up his legs, and he is now barely able to walk even with a walker. He shared his dreams of California and the movie industry with me, but ended each dream with “…but...

I’ve always had a heart to do missions. I’ve always loved kids and serving others. I never realized until this trip that being a “missionary” doesn’t happen when you hop in a plane to a third world country, or in this case, jumping in a van to road trip across the US with 18 of your new best friends. No. “Missionary” isn’t a title, it’s a lifestyle. We are not made to only be on missions in crazy, unknown places, but in our small towns, large cities, and communities that we call home. Missions isn’t only VBS at your church or...

Today we did a thing called “ATL”—Ask The Lord—which is when, instead of a predetermined ministry activity, you pray and ask God to show you what he would like you to do. We started by praying and asking God to show us things that would direct our afternoon. Sometimes people see colors, sometimes images, or sometimes a certain word comes to mind. When we prayed today, different people saw different things, including a red truck, a boat, a can of Red Bull, the colors orange, red, and blue, and an old man in a cap. After we prayed, we started walking around town. The first...