India

This past summer I had the opportunity to go to Mombasa, Kenya on a mission trip. To spend two weeks working at an AIDS orphanage, helping at feeding centers & schools, and just loving on kids was a dream come true for me! Mom and I went with a couple of really good friends, and our time in Mombasa was incredible! God has put Africa on my heart in a big way, ever since I was little, and so to be able to go and spend time there, see how people live, help in a small way, and experience a little bit of their culture in Kenya was amazing. I loved every second of it. My dream has always been to someday have an orphanage and I’ve kind of known for a long time that missions (specifically in Africa) is something that I wanted to end up doing.
But while we were there, God spoke to my heart in huge ways and totally confirmed that for me. I knew what he has called me to….I guess I just wasn’t really on the same page concerning timing. When I thought about my life and the part that missions played in it, I always kind of put things in order. You know; start and finish school, get married, have some kids, get “settled” before I thought about missions.

After getting home from Africa, those next few weeks were really tough. I’m not really sure exactly what happened, but I found myself in a place I didn’t want to be. I wasn’t really doing anything “bad”, but I also wasn’t doing anything good. I had become complacent in my walk with Jesus. I felt like I was waking up in the morning, doing what I had to do to get through my day, going to bed, and then doing it all over again. I felt I had no purpose. I had become lazy, and self-centered with my time. I was looking at the world around me, and using my age as an excuse. Through some really hard, but also really good conversations with Mom, I began to realize some things, and God started to challenge me in ways I didn’t expect. I started to rethink the whole idea of missions, and His plan for my life. I started to realize that it’s not my decision to make. When I accepted Christ my life became His. It’s no longer mine. Therefore my plans and my future are also His, not mine. I was challenged to really start praying about what He has for me. For my life specifically. I was challenged to not base my decisions on what is necessarily “normal” or what society expects of me, but base them solely on God’s plan. I started praying about what that looked like in my life.

A short time later Mom met Mel Murray, and had a conversation with her about how their family is moving to India. Mel told her that they were looking for someone to go with them for a while to help in the process of getting settled. My name came up and Mom said she would tell me about it. Well, mom told me and I agreed to pray about it…not having any idea it was actually going to turn in to anything. (if I would have known, I probably would have been a little more hesitant to pray about it ) After about a month or two I started to realize that maybe this is what God has next for me. It wasn’t some huge big sign, or elaborate dream, but I felt His peace in an amazing way. It just felt right. I decided to move forward with the idea, and just trust that if it’s not God’s plan, He will simply shut the door. After saying yes, He only confirmed it for me. I know this is His will and desire for my life right now, therefore it has become my desire as well.

I am moving to Rajpur, India with the Murray family the first week of June for a year. They are partnering with some Kham Tibetan refugees there to help with community development and share the love of Christ. I’m so unbelievably excited! Dave and Mel have two little boys, Micah-4, and Levi-3. I’m going to be helping with the boys and just doing kind of whatever needs to be done. It’s hard to know exactly what I’ll be doing until we get there, but I know there are a couple schools (one for the blind), and an orphanage where I am hoping to be able to serve, very close to where we’ll be living. I can’t wait to get there and see what “normal life” will be like. I’m so excited for this amazing opportunity to learn and grow this next year. I know God is going to stretch and grow me a lot. My desire is to take advantage of what God’s got for me in India and use this time to grow, learn, push myself, and deepen my relationship with Him. My desire is to simply bring Him Glory. I know this is going to be a crazy adventure and at times really hard. I think I’m going to be challenged a lot. I’m sure at times I’m not going to like that. I don’t think it will be easy, but I know that through my weakness He is made strong. I also know that He is my rock and my protection. I’m going to be totally fine. The reality of the whole situation has started to hit me, as our leaving time gets closer and closer-a year is kind of a long time. I’m going to miss people like CRAZY…I don’t know how I’m going to leave my family for that long! But I also know, that I have an incredible support system.

I would love if you would consider committing to pray for me. Prayer is powerful, and the foundation for any lasting impact through our service there. Here are some specific requests you can pray for:

*Unity among myself, the Murray family, and those we work with. I am so excited to continue to get to know this sweet family better. They are awesome! Please pray against any conflict that may arise. I know that things may be a little tough for their boys as they go through this transition of moving, plus having someone else sort of join the family for a while. Please pray for understanding for their little hearts.
*That I would be bold, and open to learning everything that God has in store to teach me during this time. It is easy for me to stay in my “comfort zone” and hold myself back because I am intimidated or shy. Please pray that I would push myself to grow, learn, lead, and spread the love of Jesus with boldness.
*That I would take advantage of every opportunity that God brings my way.
*That God would make clear where He would like for me to serve outside of my service to the Murray family.