Hi Again Friends and Family! I, once again, am heading out to Cambridge England in just
under 24 hours. For those of you
who followed my journey to England last year, you know that I completely fell
in love with the Cambridge area as well as with the people there. Upon completion of my DTS (Discipleship
Training School) with YWAM (Youth With A Mission), I felt that I was not
supposed to return to a full two year commitment serving as staff there. But when I was asked to consider coming
back to Cambridge for just the fall to assist with a YWAM Gathering, I jumped
on board! Well, to be completely
honest, I panicked.
You see last year when I decided to go to England, I knew
right away, with 100% certainty that Cambridge is where God wanted me. This year however, I was confused. I did not know where it was God wanted
me. I so wanted to go to England,
but something was not quite right.
I love England, and I love Cambridge, and I love all the people
there! But, I had to check in and
see what my intentions were for going to Cambridge, and find out what it was
that was holding me back.
I laid out all of my options in front of me, talked to a lot
of people I trusted about it, and prayed about it for quite some time, and
then, I finally felt peace about my decision to head on back to England. I believe that, even though this
process was a really stressful and at times (felt like) a very lonely couple of
months, God was teaching me something through it. What that lesson is, I do not know yet, but I believe it is
something He is still teaching me.
As many of you may already know, when God is teaching us something, or
guiding us through parts of our lives, it is not always the most fun of times. In fact, at times, it may even be very
painful, very tiring, and very difficult.
But the amazing thing about our God, is that He wants the best for us,
and it is only Him that truly knows what the best is. So, being refined and directed by God, is really the best
thing for us, even if we do not see it at that time. (And yes, I do know that
that last statement is an overused one, but well, it is a True statement. It is a statement that I do believe, as
well as a statement that I believe is important to remind ourselves of time and
time again as we are going through life.)
So, back to me heading back to England. I came to the conclusion that I am to
head back to England for the next two and a half months. I am very excited to return to the
Country and the people that I fell in love with. While in England, I will be helping to plan a large YWAM
gathering that will be held in Cambridge England. Our base in Cambridge will be doing all the planning and
organizing of the event which includes finding lodging, transportation, and
food and dining for all of the people coming to the event. In addition, we will be needing to plan
out the week’s events, and make sure all the communication and advertising for
the week are taken care of. I LOVE
planning and organizing, and if this is a way that I am able to serve Jesus,
then sign me up!
From what I understand, the YWAM gatherings have speakers
for the week that teach on whatever the “theme” or lesson for the week is. Last year, I believe we focused a lot
on Evangelism! It was an amazing,
tiring, and stretching week, that really helped me to focus on what a life of
Evangelism really is as opposed to just having “times of Evangelism”. Being able to serve the Church (the
body of Christ) in this way is a dream come true for me. There are so many different amazing
aspects to leading a life of missions, and being able to do what I love, while
serving the God I love is truly the best way to live life! (In my opinion at
least)
In addition to planning the Gathering, I will also be helping
out where I can in serving the YWAM Cambridge base. When I was considering fulfilling a 2 year commitment, I
would have been serving in an administrative role, so I may be filling that
role for the time, or I may be helping out with the DTS (Discipleship Training
School). I could potentially even
do a little of both. I am excited
to see where these next two months take me and to find out what it is exactly
that my role will look like once I am there!
Why am I telling you all of this? Well, I am asking that you prayerfully consider supporting
me through this next phase in my life.
I am in need of both financial support, and/or prayer support. Any support you are able to give is
much appreciated! I will have a
lot of financial needs including the cost of airfare to get to and from
England, the cost of my housing and food while in England, transportation
costs, as well as other necessity expenses such as medications and other
maintenance costs. The total cost
for which I am fundraising (not including my ongoing expenses that I need to
maintain while I am not in America like insurance, phone bills, my Compassion
Child, and so on) will probably total around $3,500. With that being said, any little bit helps. Even if you are not able to give
financially, your gift of time in prayer specifically praying for: the funds to
come in, good health for myself and my team, and for my relationship with God;
that I will continue to turn to and trust in Him through this amazing, scary,
crazy, stretching experience I have coming up. Finally, and most importantly, for the people I will be
meeting both in and around Cambridge.
If you desire to give financially, donations may be sent to Grace Community Church, 327 E. Broad Street, Souderton, PA 18964. In order for your donation to be tax deductible, checks should be written out to Grace Community Church with Cambridge, England in the memo line. Grace will know that the donation is for my YWAM account. (If my name is written on the memo line, the donation will not be tax deductible.) If you feel more comfortable having my name associated with the donation, add a separate note with my name on it in the envelope. Grace will keep my donations together until they are sent in to YWAM. Thank you in advance for your consideration and prayers.
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