Summer 2015!

Hello friends!

I know that many of you have kept up with my travels and the various trips I have the joy of leading with my job. I wanted to give an overview of my 2015 summer trip season! At the end of June, I will be mailing out newsletters of my June trips; and at the beginning of August, I will be mailing out newsletters of my July trips. If you would like to be added to my newsletter, please let me know! In the meantime, enjoy!

Ecuador: June 11-17

• Our team is leaving this Thursday morning. We are going with a group of 22 from The Village Church Flower Mound highschool group. There are graduating seniors on this trip that I've known since they were in 5th or 6th grade. It's a huge joy for me to be able to co-lead this trip and watch those students share the love of Christ. Since going to Ecuador in March, I have kept in close touch with many sweet friends I met there. I truly cannot wait to hug them and catch up, face to face! Technology is a blessing when there's a country divide, but nothing beats human to human contact. I am so looking forward to it!
• Please be in prayer for us over the next week. Pray the Lord would receive all the glory. Pray He would save men and women, boys and girls. Pray these students would be bold in proclaiming His hope and walk in obedience to the call He's placed on them to be His representatives to the lost. Pray for those on NEXT staff (Ron, Jake, myself, and one of our interns, Eli). Thank you so much!

Costa Rica: June 20-26

• I have a quick turn around between these two trips. Pray I will rest well, get lots of sleep, and be physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually ready to hit the ground running quickly after!
• This trip we are taking 30 from the Stonebriar Community Church youth choir, 10 from Faith Christian School, and 3 staff from Golf Fellowship. I'm so excited about the groups going and seeing how the Lord meshes us together to be voices of His truth. Pray, first and foremost, for God to be glorified! Pray for salvation for Costa Ricans, for bold testimonies for our students, and for rest and strength for NEXT Staff (Wes, Shawn, myself, and one of our interns, Hanna).

Romania: July 6-15

• Just as with Ecuador, I can't wait to see my sweet friends from Romania that I met on my trip last May. It's been over a year, and I couldn't be more excited to see them!  I'm so happy because I've been given a break out of our schedule to spend time with a young woman I got to share Jesus with last May. I get to meet her family, continue sharing the love of Christ with her, and just be able to talk, face to face. She will also be joining our team on the field, which is such an awesome opportunity.
• This trip will be made up of 13 from FBC N. Augusta, SC, 7 individuals from the Dallas area, and our staff (Wes, Jenn, myself, and one of our interns, Hanna). Pray as you pray for other trips- for God's glory and renown, for the Lord to break through the darkness with His marvelous light! Pray for rest for participants also- this is a trip with long flights and long days. Pray for the strength of the Lord to persevere!

Kenya: July 20-30

• I love that my summer is ending on this trip. I've always dreamed of going to Africa; and going as a voice of the gospel of truth. We will be working with an unreached people group who are primarily Muslim. Pray even now against the workers of darkness. Pray for dreams and visions from the Lord to come to these men and women, so that when we share with them, there is fertile soil! Pray the Lord would do a mighty work on the coast of Kenya!
• This trip is made up of 13 college/adult participants all over Texas (the majority in the DFW area), and NEXT Staff (Ron, myself, and one of our interns, Eli). I have friends on this trip myself, so I cannot wait to spend the week ministering alongside them. Pray God would be glorified mightily! And just like with Romania, pray for rest with long flights, crazy travel days, and exhausting schedules! Pray He would mightily use us!

We fly back from Kenya the early evening of the 30th, and I go home and I catch a 6am flight the next morning to be in a dear friends' wedding in Georgia. Please pray against sickness for me. When I'm exhausted, my body breaks down. I want to fully enjoy that weekend of celebrating their love and standing up to support my friend, without the distractions of sickness or weariness. Pray I'm able to tap into the inner child and have a crazy amount of fun, affection, energy :)

Thank you, everyone, for your love, care, support, encouragement, and prayers on my behalf. I know that you are not only praying for me, but are praying for the hundreds we will be sharing Jesus with this summer. Your prayers are being used by the Lord- and not one of them is wasted. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. I'm truly humbled to minister alongside you and grateful for the various roles you've each played, and continue to play, in my life.

Have a joy-filled summer! If you have any specific prayer needs throughout the summer, please reach out. I'll have spotty WiFi in each location, but will be able to check in occasionally! Please know that I love you!

I have been crucified with Christ. It is not longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Galatians 2:20

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith- that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Philippians 3:7-10