SA team from CU

Good morning everyone!

Please keep the CU team in prayer. Applications are due tomorrow, and as of now only three people have applied. Please pray that students will follow through with their interest. More so, pray that God will bring the right people to apply for the trip. Pray that His will is done with this team and that He forms it in a way that brings glory to His name. Pray that we're able to come together as a team quickly. Pray that I have wisdom in leading this team; pray that Kimberly and I continue to bound and learn how to best work together. Pray for wisdom as we continue to work with Vox.

AHHHHHHHH! MY GOD CONTINUES TO BLOW MY MIND!!!

Eish! It's been a crazy semester in which God continues to blow my mind!

God's been teaching me a ton lately about daily surrendering my will to His and the importance of ensuring that every moment of my life revolves around Him. Not surprisingly, the more that I seek God, the more He shows up. What a mighty God we serve!

Plans for the South Africa trip in May from CU are coming along swimmingly. Currently we're working on an itinerary and putting a team together. We'll be in SA May 14-29.

Two amazing things that God's been doing in my life regarding the trip. The first is bringing Kimberly to the team. Kimberly is an RD at CU and will be serving as the faculty member on the trip. She is absolutely amazing! Already we've found several similarities between us, so it looks like we're going to make a great team. She has an incredible heart for people! I'm so thankful that God has put her in this team. :)

So, I've been working on getting a team from CU to go to SA pretty much since I stepped foot on CU's campus three years ago. The fact that it's finally becoming a reality is a both exciting and a bit surreal. This past Wednesday, CU had an event that told of all of the missions trips that are available this year. The shear number of trips going is outstanding! As part of this event, I had an opportunity to share a bit about the SA trip. Being a bit preoccupied by a thousand other things going on, I didn't have much time to prepare what I was going to say. As I awaited my turn, I prayed, "God, I could speak on this for hours; yet I have absolutely no idea what to say just now. I need words, LORD. Speak through me." I went up still now knowing what to say, and ended up mumbling on about how excited I was about the opportunity to share my passion for SA and its people with my classmates.

So, here's the exciting part. After the event, students had an opportunity to sign up for trips that they were interested in. Between this sign up and other events, there have been OVER FIFTY PEOPLE WHO HAVE SHOWN INTEREST IN GOING! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! This is absolutely amazing! I am excited beyond words! Our God is so good!

Sadly, I haven't had a ton of contact with Nikki and Reagan, so I don't know a ton of what's going on in their lives and with Cynergy. I know that Cynergy is continuing to expand, which is awesome! The NexGen program is up and running, which is also exciting but stressful. The kids work out of Nikki and Reagan's home, which is quite stressful on the family as well as the couple as there's no seperation between home and work. Also, it's been hard having strangers in such intimate space, and they've had some stuff stolen from the house. There's been some personal stuff going on with them as well. Pray for them, please.

I got to catch up with Laura a bit yesterday, which was incredible needed! I just love her so much! Tehe. It was refreshing to be able to sit down with someone who gets it; someone who understands what I've seen and experienced and how hard it is to adjust back to life in the States again. It was a sweet time of catching up on one another's lives and being completely real.


Praise the LORD!:
~For His mercy, favor, and grace
~For constantly teaching and growing me
~For His truth
~For His provision
~For His wisdom
~For leading and guiding my every step
~For His incredible plan
~For the opportunities that He's given me
~For hope
~For Kimberly
~For the servant additude that is sweeping over my campus
~For His patience
~For Nikki and Reagan
~For Laura
~For His beauty and love

Please pray:
~For Laura and I as we continue to adjust back to life in the States
~For Nikki. Pray that God strengthens and encourages her daily. Pray that He gives her and Reagan wisdom in balancing work and family. Pray that their children are encouraged and overwhelmed with Christ's love.
~For my relationship with Kimberly. Pray that He blesses this and enables us to become an unstoppable time.
~That God provides a male faculty member to join the team as well
~For wisdom as we choose team members. As I said, we've had 50 people show interest in the team. Of this, we can only take 8. Interviews are gonna be tough. Please pray that we have wisdom. Pray that those who cannot go this time will not be discouraged.
~That God continues to shower us with His mercy, favor, and grace
~That God gives me wisdom as I try to balance all of my responsibilities. Pray that I have the wisdom to take time to focus on Him and that I take time for myself so I don't burn out.
~For the team. Pray that God binds us together in a way that no one can seperate. Pray that the team grasps my teaching about SA culture and history and that I have wisdom as I teach them.
~That God continues to humble me. Pray that He softens my heart and helps me relate to people that haven't shared my experiences rather than judge them. Pray that He removes the judgemental and critical spirit that I've seemed to pick up.
~Pray for wisdom in relations with Vox.