Fundraising

I have been waiting for a few weeks to hear back from Vando, (the gentleman who runs the orphanage in Cambodia) but still have gotten no response. I think it's time to start some fundraising. There are a lot of people from my church going on missions trips this summer. I'm amazed how God continues to open doors for His people to serve Him. Within the last two days I have been informed that two of my closest friends just got accepted to a six-week U.S. based missions trip (Operation Barnabas). They will be going around the United States sharing the love of Christ and His saving gospel message. On-top of that, two girls from my church are also going on OB, another one is going to Mongolia and a group of fifteen (including myself) will be going to Cambodia (and there are probably others that I am unaware of). All that to say, there will be a lot of financial support needed to go on so many trips. Right now I don't know how long I will be in Cambodia. It could be for about a week and half and it could be all the way up to two months. No matter how long I'm gone, I will have to raise a pretty large amount of money. I would like to work to raise some of the money instead of asking others for all of it. If any of you have work that I could do, I would be more than happy to do just about anything. I have experience babysitting, cleaning, lifting heavy things and I am willing to give whatever you need done a try. More than money, I really need prayer. I know that I can't go unless it's through His power. Please continue to pray for me as I seek God's will.

Lots and lots of prayers

I firmly believe that God planned my entire life before I was born, and yet somehow He listens to my prayers and to the prayers of others on my behalf. I have studied a fair amount of Scripture and Theology and the more I think I know, the more God shows me how little I really do know. God is so much greater than I could ever begin to understand. Somehow He chose to reveal a small portion of Himself to me and that alone is enough to make me surrender my entire life to Him. I know that He listens to my prayers, and to those who pray for me. So I ask that you would pray for the next few months of my life. There is now a possibility that I could be spending two months instead of one in Cambodia. Please pray that I will continue to seek what God's will is and that I would be completely obedient to that. Also pray that God will, out of His immeasurable abundance of riches, provide the finances necessary for the trip. For those of you who don't know, I currently want to be a missionary and I believe that is what God is calling me towards. God has instilled in me the desire to see lost souls saved. I want to be wiling and able to be a tool that God uses is the salvation of those whom He chose beforehand. I understand that I cannot, no matter what I do, ever save someone. I also understand that I am not even able to preach about Christ without His help. More importantly though, I know that God can and WILL save. He can use someone completely unworthy to complete His purposes. It is my prayer that He would allow me to serve Him fully and that through me, He would save lost souls. These next few months could determine how I spend most of my summer. I am so thankful that God is in control. I don't know what this summer will hold, but I do know that God holds this summer. Thank you for spending the time to read all of this and thank you so much more for the prayers that you have and will pray for me.

February means...

It's officially February. This means that if God wants me to spend a month in Cambodia this year I have about five months and eighteen days
1. To let God prepare my heart to be open to His calling.
2. To continue to pray and see if it really is God's will for me to go.
3. To raise as much money as I need to go.
If God wants me to go He WILL prepare the way. God cares about what's going to happen with my future.
"[29] Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. [30] But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. [31] Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows." -Matthew 10:29-31
God doesn't just know when a sparrow dies, He plans every individual sparrow's death. In the same way, if God wants me to go He will not just know that I am going, He will actually plan the path I take to get there. He is completely in control of my future. I don't say this just to give me an excuse to not seek God, or to just believe that He will make the funds appear from nowhere. I say this because it is such a wondrous thought to know that my summer is in the hands of the Almighty God of the Universe! Although with myself I know that there is no way I could spiritually prepare for what God wants, I know that with His strength and power I can do anything. As of now I believe God wants me to go to Cambodia in July instead of August, but if He doesn't want me to, I wont. I find this so important and worth repeating because it gives me a reason to not be afraid. A reason to trust that He has a plan and to know that that trust is not misplaced. I know that He is in control, I know He will be glorified by the outcome, and I pray that I would be His willing servant, to stay or go as soon as He tells me.
Please continue to pray that whatever happens in my life will be met with thanksgiving and rejoicing.

Background

God has blessed me with many missions opportunities in the past and I trust and pray He will continue to open doors for me. Late last year I asked God to give me an opportunity to go somewhere internationally. Like He almost always so graciously does, He has opened a door already. God planned a trip for a group of fifteen people from our church to go to Cambodia. I have been invited to go to help teach some youths in Cambodia how to do Speechless (something I will be sure to talk a lot more about at a later time). This trip got me really excited and also really thinking (along with lots and lots of prayer). I thought (and still think) God wanted me to not just go somewhere for a week, but to give more time to serving Him. I decided that I was going to talk to some of the missions team's leaders and see if it would somehow be possible for me to go early and serve in Cambodia for longer than just a week. I decided to pray a little bit and didn't really try to talk to anyone. A few weeks later one of my friends asked for prayer, he was thinking about going to Cambodia for two months and staying with a man named Vando who runs an orphanage in Cambodia. Since we are pretty good friends, I asked him what he thought of me going with him. Eventually he said he thought it would be awesome and so we sent an email to Vando asking if we could come and help out at the orphanage along with a bunch of other random stuff. For example, exploring the country, learning the language, helping with a few random things at the orphanage and then meet up with the team and do speechless. He still hasn't answered that email and that basically brings us to where I am right now. The motto for our family and my life for the past few months has been "praying and waiting". That's exactly where I am at this point in time. Although it's uncomfortable because I'm human and love being in control, it really is a great place to be in because it forces dependence on Him. We still don't know if we will be going early, but I would ask anyone who reads this to pray for me as I seek to do God's will. Also that He would open the exact doors He wants (like He always does) and that I wouldn't try to pry open any doors He chooses to close.