Big Smiles

I HAVE MY PLANE TICKET!!!!

I am so beyond excited!! :) Thank you sooo much for your prayers, love, encouraging emails, hosting me, eating dessert with me, and listening to my powerpoint. Each gift has been such a surprise and blessing to me. I love reading my support statements and being amazed over and over again at the people who've chosen to invest in me and in this ministry at Black Forest Academy. How can I say thank you?

Well, I realized I can’t. It’s very humbling to know that there is nothing I can do to say thank you to each one of you in a way that “repays” in any way. It’s humbling to know that it’s JESUS who will repay you… I pray that you feel my joy and God’s joy as He continues to take me step by step closer to Germany. Thank you for being part of this ministry.

I leave on August 8^th from Dayton, OH and arrive on August 9^th in Basel, Switzerland. And I get to fly from Chicago to London with another TeachBeyond missionary, so that will be fun! :)

I'll also be gone to Nicaragua from July 27-August 2 to visit my boyfriend and his family. I am so grateful that I don’t need to worry about support or buying my plane ticket while I’m in Nicaragua. Please pray for a relaxing time, and good mental and emotional preparation for Germany.

And…once again… THANK YOU!! Whether you gave financially, prayed, encouraged, or read my blog…Thank you! The journey is just starting. I can’t wait to see what God is up to!

*Note: Not only do I have the 90% support needed to buy my plane ticket, but I think I am nearing or have possibly reached 100% of my support for my two year ministry in Germany. This is not the official word from TeachBeyond, but from my Excel spreadsheet. :) It actually isn’t bad to be over-supported (something I never imagined), because things do happen. So if God puts it on your heart to support me, I’m not gonna say no (haha!). Stay tuned for the official word on my support level! :)

One Month Away

Exactly one month from TODAY I hope to be getting on an airplane to fly to Germany! :) It seems so close, and yet there is so much to do to prepare. Please pray for me! Here are some things to pray/be aware of as you think of me.

1. I have 80% of my support! :) I am so thankful by God's blessing and provision in this journey of support raising. I only need $350/month more!!

To reach full support I need:
3 1/2 people at $100/month,
7 people at $50/month,
14 people at $25/month, or
17 people at $20/month.

What's crucial right now is that I can get the next 10% (which is $175/month) really soon so that I can buy my plane ticket. If you've been thinking about supporting me, I would absolutely love it. :) Here is the link to fill out the form and mail to TeachBeyond at PO Box 6248/Bloomingdale, IL 60108.

Thank you SO much to everyone who's already joined my support team through prayer and financial gifts/commitments. I really am so thankful for each of you. God has been giving me gentle assurance that He really does want me in Germany, and so I don't know why I'm so surprised every time someone supports me, but I continue to be amazed. Thank you so much.

2. I need to find a new home for my beloved "Walter." Please let me know if you would like to take a '96 Pontiac Bonneville home. :)

Hannah (L) an RA and Johanna (R) a music teacher

3. I spent June 23-29 in Wheaton, IL attending TeachBeyond's orientation. It was so fun to meet other people headed all around the world to serve Jesus by serving kids through education. The best part was meeting other women also headed to BFA! It's so good to know that I already have friends at BFA now. We got to meet previous RAs and dorm parents and learn from their successes and mistakes.

Honestly, the biggest take away from the week is that it's ME that's going to be doing most of the learning and growing... not the students! Even though I want to serve them, I have a feeling that God is taking me to Germany to teach me to trust Him more and to refine me. I learned that the RA job may look a little more like a maid than a mentor. I know God will teach me a lot about being a servant and releasing control and independence. I'm going to learn so much. So, it's hard to ask for support so that God can work on me, but... that's the reality, I guess! :)

We had a lot of fun, too! We had deep dish Chicago style pizza one night...

I love these ladies so much already!!

Hanna (Spanish teacher), Larisa (RA), and Julie (Health teacher)

Yummy!!!

We also learned that 50-70% of missionary kids end up in some sort of ministry when they grow up. The week made me even more excited to serve the precious kids at BFA because I know that they will be influential on the world some day.

4. I am going to Nicaragua the last week of July to see my boyfriend's family. It's the last chance that we'll have to visit for a very long time, so we just decided to go! :)

5. So that means I have just three weeks left (plus a few days) to pack, shop, and finish raising raising support before Germany.

Please pray for me!! Thank you so much.