Hello friends and family! It has been a while since I have last given an update, but I am so excited to let you know about what I have been up to and learned this last week during training camp! This past week, I have been in Gainesville, Georgia and I have learned so much about what I will be doing this next year and I have been getting to know the 17 other women that I will be spending the next year with! I also wanted to give a quick thank you to everyone that has decided to partner with me so far in prayer and financial support! Because of everyone’s generous support, I am 85 percent funded for this mission’s work, and only have about $2400 left to fundraise!

This last week has been challenging and encouraging all in one. While getting to meet one another, we slept in crazy situations, climbed a mountain, and learned from really great speakers. We found out our small teams that we will be living with for the first part of next year and I am excited to have Cassady, Jackie, Sarah-Katherine, Addie, and Kendell on my team for these next four months (pictured in the circular photo below)! We have also found out that the first country we will be serving in this next year is Costa Rica! More details will come when I figure out where exactly I will be serving and the organization that I will be partnering with next month.

There were so many examples this week of the way that God was working in our group, our teams, and our hearts. But one story that I wanted to share explains the pure joy that our group felt after this challenging week: After experiencing crazy sleeping scenarios, food that we have never heard of (notice the small dish of crickets in the photo below) and a growing closeness within this new community, we met on the back patio for one of the sweetest moments of the week. We all took communion and officially signed onto the commitment of a year living together and serving communities around the world. As each person decided to commit to saying YES to what God is calling us into, we all shed a few tears, took a piece of bread and juice and celebrated the community that we were stepping into. After this emotional moment of stepping into His work… we danced! Playing worship music on the back patio and dancing around in the joy of what the Lord is going to do in our lives in the next year! This is what the Kingdom looks like here on Earth- pure joy and celebration of the way that the Holy Spirit moves in us and encourages us. Dancing and praying and celebrating the goodness of our God!

“Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.” Psalm 143:10