the beginning of a new adventure

     I watched sleepily as yet another van pulled out and took its passengers to a new set of adventures. Another set of goodbyes had been said and the all too common sadness of knowing that good friends were gone for a time. I walked back to the room to collapse into my bed until the next goodbye.

    Wednesday and Thursday were tough. Five of the eight DTS teams left those two days meaning most of my school is now gone. The worst part was that each goodbye lasted about an hour and for someone who hates goodbyes to begin with it was quite the traumatizing experience. (okay that may be slightly dramatic but you get the idea.) For three days we hung around the very empty base, wishing we were on airplanes instead of a tropical paradise. It didn't help that on Thursday we went through a refugee style line to pick up all the food we would have to eat for the next three days. That paper sack full of food didn't quite make it to Sunday. :) 

     On the bright side, those last few days were an awesome time of refocusing for me. The last three months have not just changed my life but also have changed me. Lecture phase was an incredible time of just focusing on God and receiving from Him. One of the biggest revelations for me was just the grace of God. Not just in receiving salvation but receiving anything from God starts with undeniable grace. I used to struggle so much with knowing God, with loving the infinite being that somehow said He loved me as an individual. To be honest it just doesn't make sense. What I soon came to realize is that to love God I had to receive God's love. Kinda of a weird paradox but it honestly does take God's love to love God. The brilliant thing about God's love is that there is no end, you can keep diving farther and farther into the grandness of its never-ending depth. 

     It's such an amazing thing to not just feel but know the love of God. That love has the power to change people, to change nations, to change everything we know. It's a love that isn't based on feeling or knowledge but is based on the truth of reality. God is love. boom. So much wonder and power in that simple phrase. How often I went through life without a realization that the God of the universe loved me without reservation and with more love than I could ever handle. 

     Three months isn't a long period of time but in those three months I came to know some incredible people. People who were not satisfied with the Sunday morning Christianity but want the radical, wild, Christianity that permeates every moment of ever day. These people inspired me by the hunger and desire they had to seek God. I watched and grew with them as we dug deeper into this infinite God. I can't thank the people of this PhotogenX community enough for the impact they have had on my life. God has used them all to change my life. I saw what walking with God looked like by watching these incredible individuals walk with Him every day. I will never forget this community of people and the incredible journey we took these three months. 

     It was an incredible blessing to be here in Hawaii receiving for the last three months. A blessing that I owe so much of to all of you at home. Your prayers and support have helped make these past few months life changing. You have a share in the inheritance of everything God does through me because of your incredible generosity. Thank you. I am so blessed to know all of you. 

     I couldn't finish this wrap-up blog without thanking the number one person that deserves all the glory and praise for what has happened these last few months. God has walked step for step with me. The faithfulness of God has a whole new meaning to me now, it isn't just in the physical that God is faithful, it is in every emotion, every thought, every expression that God shows His faithfulness to us. I don't know what these next three months are going to hold for me. I can count on challenges and opportunities; on joy and pain; on times of fruit and times of desert; and in a God who will always love me no matter how much a mess up or struggle. A God who will be faithful through every step I take. A God who simply desires to be with His kids.
      So here I am on my way to Egypt for three months. There are no words to describe the excitement and anticipation I have for these next three months. Just to give an idea of what we will be doing there, for the first week we will work with various ministries to see which one God is calling us to work with. Ministries like: working in Garbage City, ministering in refugee camps, working with the poor, encouraging the Christians there, etc. So many amazing opportunities and options for us! God is going to do amazing things! I would really appreciate prayers as my team leaps into this adventure! Some things you can pray for are:
1. That in every situation we would seek to bring God glory first.
2. That our team would be based off of love and unity
3. That we would be as wise as serpents and as gentle as doves as we work in this Muslim nation.
4.  That we would find the right ministry to work with and our team would be unified in that decision.
5. That we would base our time there off of seeking God's will for our time there and not our own desires of what we want to do there.
6. That we would be bold and willing to be stretched. Always remembering that we are not doing this for ourselves but for God and the people of Egypt
7. That our photography would give a voice to the voiceless to Egypt