I'm leaving again!

I am leaving tomorrow morning for a mission trip with my youth group to Tunica, Mississippi!

I just wanted to let you guys know, since I won't be posting for another week!

But when I get back.. be prepared for some awesome posts.. :D

<3

My Secret Skill of...

Rapping! 

My nephew has been visiting this past week. And a couple nights ago we got creative and made this rap video, similar to the one I made with my niece a while back (which you can find HERE!). Clearly it's a growing skill I have. ;)

To say the least, I used to work at Panera Bread, which I did for about a year and a half and here is a little bit of my experience with it... and some gangster mixed in. :P

Back from Ecuador!

So, I actually got back on Monday. I've just been either too busy/tired/lazy to post. ;)

ECUADOR WAS AMAZING, to say the least.

I think through the trip God really proved to me that He is there, with me, always.

It wasn't so much the ministering as it was the evenings the group spent together.

Every evening all the 8 teams (400 of us) would gather back together for worship, a time of sharing personal experiences from the day, as well as a message. Every single message related to something I have been thinking about in the past couple months.

I made some incredible friendships in the two weeks I was gone. Some I think even deeper than those that I have spent months and many hours building up at home. I miss my galfriends quite a bit!

One thing I learned was that the connection of Christ is a very powerful and overwhelming foundation for any friendship. I never knew any of these people before, and I may never know if I'll see any of them again (besides Heaven) yet they were some of the most powerful and heart stirring friendships. It was simply the fellowship of two believers that drew us so close together so quickly.

I was able to pour out my heart to others and vise versa simply because we shared the love of Christ. We skipped past the more shallow beginning parts of a friendship rapidly and instantly began sharing our hearts, even the parts we so desperately wanted to hide. Nothing compares to the love of Christ shared between two believers. It's amazing!

All in all, Ecuador was amazing. The children there are so sweet, adorable and far more kind than those in the U.S. (it's true)! I believe the count for those who declared salvation was around 500-600 Ecuadorians. That's not a for sure number, of course, but I do know many were saved... may God's name be glorified!

Some things that happened to me while I was there:

-Got "I" surgery

-Got a blood tranfusion

-Ate PBJ everyday for lunch  (that totals around 20 pbj sandwiches in a week... I think I'm set for life)!

-Got to barter at a market

-I got married!

-I got to stand on the Northern & Southern Hemispheres of the Earth! (The Equator for you simpletons).

-I got to meet Britt Nicole (woop woop!)

And many other wonderful things. :D

I really want to blog about other things though and so I will be occasionally posting about the things I listed above to give more detail rather than making an uber long post about all of it at once. This way I can do my normal blogging and mix in my Ecuador experience. :D

Until my next post, enjoy some pics!

ECUADOR

My Miami Roomies :)
Me, Emily, Carolyn, Bailey, Caroline, Crystal
In Quito I had Bailey and Crystal.

YEAH, TEAM 2 REPRESENT!

Crazy hair night :D

All of the 'Cats' :D We would do our thumbs up like cat paws.. it was so silly looking. :)

Carolyn and I on 4th of July :D

A little sweetie she was :)

Right after the 'King Cat' slaps 'Jesus'

Pretty much the coolest people ever... I love these girls! :D

Team 2 at the Equator... With the boys being silly... ;) I miss them all so much!

My Last Post for Now

Hey guys!

So I arrived in Quito, Ecuador last night around 6:30pm (CST). It is so pretty here! It's kind of strange though, sometimes it feels as if I am just in another city, not an entire other country. It's definitely an interesting place, and people are different. The Ecuadorians sure are sweet though!

A lot of flights got messed up, sadly, so a lot of people aren't even here yet, and won't be arriving for another few hours at least. But God has His way and His reasons!

Since so much of our team was missing, we couldn't do the drama today. Instead we went to a park, played with the children, talked to people, and some really cool stuff happened. One woman was lead to Christ, and fortunately, one of our team mates had a bunch of NT's with her, so she gave the woman one. After that she was reading it, and even showing it to others! It was so wonderful!
The children here are so adorable and sweet. It's definitely difficult some times though, considering I know next to nothing in Spanish. But it is fun, and a learning experience all around!

I can't believe my first week is almost already gone! It's been so crazy and amazing all at the same time.
God is definitely at work though!

Sadly, I will no longer be blogging after this, since internet here is $4 for a 30 minute session. All in all, it's not that expensive and I technically could pay, but I would rather not, and save my money for more important things. I will miss sharing, perhaps near the end of the trip I will get on once more, seeing what money I still have left.

Please keep me, our team, the people of Ecuador, and the trip in general in your prayers. We need it so greatly!

Since I will no longer be blogging, I will leave it up to http://www.neverthesameec.com/ to keep you updated of what we're doing, my team, etc. So check it out, go to Team 2, and you can keep up with us there. :)

Lots of love from Ecuador <3