The Journey

Psalm 67

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us,

Selah

that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!
Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.

Selah

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!
The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us.

God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear him!

Some of you may be wondering about this whole Brazil thing. I've heard, "You're not going.", "We can get you a job here.", "Can't you get a job around here?", "There's a lot of crime over there." and "We really didn't believe this was going to happen." Well, I'm glad that God is so much bigger than all of these comments.
One year ago, God really started working in my life. I am so passionate about teaching, missions, and people. I've been involved in local and national missions for three years. He began to tell me that this school year was going to be different. I didn't realize that He would call me internationally to Brasilia, Brazil! This is a dream that I've always thought impossible. With God, all things are possible!
As I served in Cuba-literally as the only American on the continent-I realized that I had such a heart for the nations and for students. Little to no contact with my family made me depend on God. Sometimes it was lonely, but those aren't the times that I remember. I remember the faces, eyes, and stories from each youth and their leaders. I loved serving God in this capacity. The view of international missions grew and grew. I began to explore options in serving overseas.
Serving in Brazil will be different. I realize that most countries are very different than Cuba. I also know that I will have many chances to impact students at the school and to work with other children in a seperate mission. As each mission differs, they each have one thing in common-glorifying Christ.
God is teaching me about patience, trust, and faith throughout this process. I pray daily for my team (in Brasilia), my students, the administration, and my local prayers and praises. I am so appreciative to the people that have been praying and to those who have committed to support me and give Christ to these students. That is my goal. To feed their minds and hearts with Christ. I thank God for the opportunity to be a vessel to Brazil. I know He does not need me, but He is allowing me to be used.

My prayer requests:

• My teammates that are awaiting visa's and praise for those who have just received them.
• The school, teachers, and students at Brasilia International School as they await the arrival of the teachers and pray for a new building.
• My best friend, Mary, as she serves as a missionary in Peru
• Praise for my supporters and prayer for future supporters.
• Continued patience with God's perfect timing and with the whole process. The long waiting period is not here, yet. I am only performing small tasks every couple of days and getting them back a few days of each other. It is my hope that next week, all of these will become one document in which I will entrust to someone at the Brazilian Consolate in Washington, D.C. in which timing will be at their discretion. Again God's perfect timing!