Changing Focus

I know it’s been a long time since my last post, but I realized that I need to get back in the habit of blogging to keep my friends and family updated throughout the year. This means I will be changing the focus of this blog (which was previously just about a bunch of random things that happened in my life) to what God is doing through my journey of ministry in the Dominican Republic with Campus Crusade for Christ.

If you haven’t heard much about my ministry, you can read more about it here. God began to lead me towards doing a year long missions trip to the DR last November at Crossroads conference where Campus Crusade staff members showed us options for ministry post graduation and what living out our faith outside of college would look like. There, I heard some students share what happened when they went on the first summer project to the DR and was inspired by how God is moving in the hearts of students in Santo Domingo. In the four weeks they were there, they saw 60 people come to know Christ! The soil is ready to be tilled. Meanwhile, I was looking into teaching abroad—in a Spanish speaking country, which I was really passionate about—and considered teaching math at a missionary kids school in Spain. I began to wonder, “I hope I am able to disciple some of my students and be a part of their spiritual lives…” That’s when I realized that my passion lied more in sharing the Good News than in sharing the quadratic equation :)

So currently on my journey, I am in the process of raising support—yes, I have to raise my entire year’s worth of funding before I can go—and am in Colorado for the leaders’ training. So far, raising support has really challenged me to learn how to articulate the vision for this ministry and to be bold in asking others to support me financially. And God has been faithful! Not only by providing me with donors towards my financial goals, but with encouraging conversations with potential partners as I am sharing this ministry. My favorite story so far is while one of my dear family friends was over at our house for game night, she became distracted and shared with me how God was speaking to her heart to trust him with her finances. She also said that God had been laying on her heart a very specific—and large—amount that seemed crazy! But in her obedience, she gave and prayed over my ministry and the team that would be coming with me. On top of that, she has been working towards gathering some of her contacts together for a night where they can come together creatively and hear about my ministry, which leads to more opportunities to gain partners! It was just really cool picture of what a “ministry partner” looks like, and that they truly are for me and are a huge part of God’s work.

Like I said, I’m currently in Fort Collins, Colorado and it’s my first time in Colorado ever! It’s gorgeous. We had a BBQ by these mountains and a reservoir which was beautiful and are going to get more outdoors experiences later this week! Yay for nature!