To the Caribbean and Back Part 2

I want you to take a close look at these two pictures and tell me what you see. At first glance, they might seem basically the same. Both have the same people in them, everyone is wearing the same smiles, and everyone looks the same. Aside from different clothing and a different location, there is nothing hugely different about these two pictures. But the truth is there is a difference, a rather astounding one. A difference that not everyone can spot but which makes a huge difference once you see it.

Now before you start doubting your childhood I Spy skills, I will tell you that the difference isn't actually visible in either picture. The only difference between the two pictures is the thoughts and attitudes of the people in them. The first picture was taken a few months before we all went to Trinidad and the second was taken the last day of the trip. In that time, everyone changed drastically, not in appearance but in mind and soul. Our trip to Trinidad changed all of us, hopefully for the better.

In all honesty, as I stepped onto our first plane in Green Bay three weeks ago, I thought that my life was ending. Up until the night before the Trinidad Team left, it hadn't hit me that we were leaving the US and going to another country to do missions work. Of course, I knew that this was the plan the entire time, but before that last night my mind just hadn't comprehended what we were doing. As soon as I realized this, though, I felt terrible. I began to panic and wondered if I would be up to the challenge. I was certain that I would hate the experience and that I would come home shell-shocked and absolutely drained. If you read my other blog you know that I have wanted to do missions work for a long time now. But three weeks ago I began to wonder if missions really was the right path for me. I was terrified that I would step off the plane into Trinidad and instantly know that missions wasn't for me. I had no idea what I would do if that happened. But there was nothing I could do about the trip at that point so I took a deep breath and resigned myself to my "horrible fate."

And I am happy to say that I survived. Not only did I survive, but I had perhaps the best experience of my life. Throughout the entire week, God began working on my heart; he removed all the negativity I got on the plane with, he opened my eyes to the endless possibilities for ministry in Trinidad, and he helped me realize that the world really is a big place with limitless adventures to go on.

In Trinidad, the team got the opportunity to try so many different things. We prepared food for the homeless and helped pass it out, we joined in worship with the Trini people during a three-night youth group that we helped to lead, and we were able to visit with and pray for a few people at a local hospital. With every new day and every new experience, my heart grew more and more attached to Trinidad. I felt a kindred spirit with the Trinidad team and the Trinis we worked with during the week. I had never felt more at home in a situation before. Even though I had had doubts, and even though I was afraid that missions wasn't right for me, God knew what he had planned for me. A passion for missions which had only been a tiny spark sprung to life as a blazing hot fire, igniting something within me. Over the course of our week in Trinidad, I learned so many things about myself and my team; we all grew to love each other and we all consider ourselves family now. I know now that none of this would have happened if I hadn't gone on the trip and I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to go.

So much happened over the course of one week. I have so many stories to tell and I wish I could fit them all into this blog post. But I think that if I tell one story at a time it will be more interesting. And it will give my readers something to look forward to. The world is a vast, open, wonderful place. I can't wait to tell you all about my adventures in it.


Photo Credit: Denise Wadzinski, Jeff Hollenbeck

And We're Off!

Bon Voyage, Everyone! 

As of 10:00 this morning, the nine other members of the missions team and I are airborne and headed to Trinidad!

While it won't be a straight shot (we have two layovers, one of which is very long), we will get there eventually. Once we land in Trinidad, we hope to get right to work, working hand in hand with our Trinidad counterparts, experiencing a new culture, and using the skills we developed when planning for this trip. The team is well oiled and ready to go and, while I haven't asked each of them, I'm pretty sure everyone on the team is just as excited about this trip as I am.

We're all hoping to get something out of this trip. Something more than a cheap souvenir, something that lasts longer than a week, a sense that we did good work. While I don't know how this trip is going to go, I do know that God is going to do some amazing work over the week. From the very beginning, I could feel God working on the team, I could hear him working in everyone's hearts, and I just know that, no matter how scared, nervous or shell-shocked the team gets, we're ready to do God's work.

Please consider praying for the Trinidad team as we embark on this great adventure. Pray that everyone can work together well, that we stay open to what God has planned, that God would speak through our words and actions, and that we leave a lasting impact on the people we meet. Yet let them not remember us, but rather what God did through us. Pray for open hearts and minds, willingness to repent and believe, and for God to work through one small group of fallible humans.


Photo Credit: Etsy

To the Caribbean and Back

By now, those of you who have been reading my blogs for a while know that I have a heart for missions and missionary work. I want to do missionary work when I graduate high school, I've always had an interest in faraway countries and the culture they have, and to me there is nothing more wonderful than hearing the stories of people who have been impacted by missions. It's so neat to see God's work being done in the real world on a day to day basis. The lives God's work changes turn into beautiful things, and there is no limit to how much glory God can get from those who go about his work faithfully.

While all of the above is very dear to my heart, missions work is also in my blood. For as long as I can remember, my dad has been going on missions trips. I can still remember some of the stories he brought home of the exotic places he had seen and the people he'd met and I always knew, even before my heart fully turned to missions, that one day I would go on a missions trip with my dad and work alongside him.

That day has finally come! I'm about to embark on an amazing adventure! For the first time in my life, I will be leaving the country and visiting a new place to do missions work. In a little less than three weeks, nine others (pictured above) and I will be heading down south to the tiny island of Trinidad in the Caribbean. Trinidad is a small island just off the coast of Venezuela; it's shaped like a boot and is actually a very established country. Once we get there, we will be working alongside locals from the City of God Church, to reach out to the community around the church. We hope to minister to the homeless in the area and we might even take a trip to a local hospital to visit some sick children. But, more than that, we hope to work within the church we will be visiting.

City of God Church is a well-established church; it was founded many years ago by Pastor Ramdath Rampaul and started its life as lean in the middle of an open field. Over the years, through the devotion of its staff, faithful prayer, and aid from missionaries like my dad, the church has grown and is now a multi-story, multi-room building. The church has many programs, including an elementary school, but it doesn't have a youth group. While the teens at the church would love to start one, they don't know where to begin. So it is my team's hope and purpose when we get to Trinidad to help kickstart a youth group for the kids there. Over three nights we will be interacting with the Trinidad youth, worshiping with them, and teaching them. We will show them what an American-style youth group looks like so they can have something in mind when coming up with their own.

I can not express how excited I am about this trip! I can't wait to experience a new culture, meet new people, and worship alongside other believers that I've never met before. It is my hope that the trip will be rewarding for everyone involved. I pray that the rest of the Trinidad team and I will be profoundly impacted as we do God's work, and that we would come home changed and ready to evangelize in our daily lives. May we see the work God can do through us and put our whole hearts into it.

I pray for the youth of Trinidad that we will be interacting with. Let them hear a truth in our words, see the love of God through our actions, and may they not remember us after we leave; rather, let them remember what God did through us. I hope that everyone gets something out of this trip. No matter what they may feel going in - fear, excitement, confusion, or curiosity - let any feeling pale in comparison to what God will do over the week. May hearts be open, ears be ready to hear, and souls be ready to be changed. To God be the glory!

Please keep the entire team and the Trinidad youth in your prayers.

I will let all of you know how the trip went when I get back. :)

Big News!

I have a second blog now! I've been wanting to start a new blog for a long time, but I could never come up with a good enough topic that I was interested in. And then I realized, why don't I write about the mission that is nearest to my heart?

For a long time I've been interested in Japan. I love its culture, traditions, and even some of its foods. Not only that, but someday I would love to see Japan for myself.

I would love to do missions work in Japan someday, but until that time I would like to share my passion for the country with you on my new blog. Click here or click the picture link to the right to visit my new blog, To See Japan. 

Happy reading,
Your author


P.S I will continue to post on this blog as often as I have been doing.


Photo Credit: Vintage Goodness

A Truly Amazing Trip

I never expected my summer to go the way it did. I thought it would go as it always has, without much to show for my time off. I had a few plans but nothing special or amazing. Yet God used what I thought would be a boring summer to open my eyes. And he used one short week to change two lives.

Last year I took my cousin, who is almost my same age, to summer camp. I had been going to this camp for years before that and, even though I liked going, it was never that amazing. But I was excited to introduce my cousin to Lake Lundgren and I hoped that God would work in her life over the week. My prayers and those of my family were answered that summer; my cousin loved camp and didn't want to leave when the week ended. The best part of the whole thing was her decision to accept Jesus as her savior. It warmed my heart to see and I was so proud when she stood up to pray the prayer.

My cousin and me went back to camp this summer. We had planed it for months and she could hardly contain all her excitement. I was glad she wanted to go back and I looked forward to it too. But the week before we left I started having doubts; I was tired and had been sick. I knew that after a year of being a Christian, my cousin would have questions that I might not be able to answer and she would have baggage she still hadn't unloaded. I didn't feel ready to help her and if it had been up to me I would have skipped the whole week and stayed home. Thank God I didn't do that. The week was so much more powerful because of my reservations.

Even up to the very moment that we drove into camp, I was still feeling pensive. I didn't want the week to happen and the more I thought about it the more I regretted coming. But at the same time I felt guilty that I had even considered leaving my cousin in the lurch, I wanted to help her but I wished that her problems weren't so hard. I knew in my heart that I wasn't ready to help her. Over the previous year, my own faith had taken some very large hits. I felt that I wasn't trusting or loving enough of God, I couldn't feel his hand in anything I did, and I never felt close to him anymore. I didn't feel ready to be at camp and I had no desire to be challenged in my already weak faith. But then the week started.

I can only thank God for what he did; it was beyond anything I could have imagined and it was so much better that what I expected. Over the week, both my cousin and I grew in our faith; we actively looked for God and I think we both found him. My cousin began to realize what living for God truly means; she took huge steps in her faith and I think she was impacted profoundly by God.

I found my footing again. God heard my cries for help and direction and answered in a mighty voice. I also realized what it means to be all-in for God. I suddenly found myself wanting to change things in my life. I wanted to study God and wanted to use his power in my everyday life. I had never felt so charged in my faith before and I suddenly didn't care how tired or how upset I was. I made the choice to throw myself all-in; I told myself, "The more you put into it, the more you'll get out." God changed my way of thinking for the better and I hope that now I will be more willing to listen for his direction.

The week ended too fast and, before I knew it, we were back home. My cousin had left and things were the way they had always been. But not entirely. I knew God had changed me; he'd changed my cousin. We were both headed in the right direction and knew where we were going. God truly does work in mysterious ways at times that we never expect or want. But our time, plans, and desires don't matter because God knows what's best and he will always be there.

The theme verse for the week was Danial 4:3 -
"How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and his dominion endures from generation to generation."


Photo Credit: Pinterest

Lake Lundgren Bible Camp Website 

Saved for a Purpose

Jesus came to earth to save his Father's creation: the world that he cared about and the people he loved so much that he was willing to die a horrible death that he didn't deserve. We can rejoice. We were lost and are now found, we were orphaned and have been given a family, we had a debt that we could never pay and Jesus paid it.

But this is not the end of our story; it is the very beginning. We have a job to do. Jesus called us to be a light to the world and a lifeline to the lost; we were saved for a purpose. In the world right now, there is estimated to be 6,500 unreached people groups, amounting to around two billon people who still need saving. They are living their lives either hopeless without redemption or having no idea of the terrible price that hangs over their heads.

Two billion people with problems and fear and no hope, and God loves them all. He knows their names, their faces, every hair or their heads, and he wants to welcome them into his loving arms. And so he is sending you to bring the good news of hope and redemption to the world; unto the nations we go with faith in God and love in our hearts.

"Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles." ~ Acts 22:21

Across the Ocean

Anna stared longingly after Albert as he climbed the gang plank. Albert was headed for South Africa. He planned to be a missionary doctor but that meant leaving his love. Tears stung both their eyes as the boat pulled away from the dock. Neither of them knew when they would see each other again.

In Africa, Albert worked long hours curing many people of injuries and sickness and sharing the Gospel as he worked. Years later, the tribes of South Africa were at war. Each side was well equipped. Albert was serving in a tent hospital on one side. The opposite side was making a charge to try and take the village.

Albert suddenly felt convicted to try to tell the Good News of Jesus to the approaching army. He ran into the middle the plain between the soldiers and the village and shouted, "Jesus died to save you. Accept him and he will be with you."

The army continued to run forward. Just as Albert was about to yell the message a second time, he saw Anna. She was standing between himself and the approaching soldiers. How had she gotten here? What was she doing? She was going to be killed! Questions raced through his mind as he ran to help her. She turned to him and then disappeared. It had been an apparition. Albert stood there, forlorn. He did not hear the men shouting, did not see the approaching army, did not see the shining blade flying through the air. The blade made its mark and Albert fell to the ground. He lay there a minute thinking of Anna, her smiling face. Then he closed his eyes and Albert was no more.

Anna got a message saying that Albert was dead. She was grief-stricken but made up her mind to go to Africa to see the grave. The boat trip was a long and sad one. Anna knew that no pleasure awaited her, only Albert's final resting place.

At the port in South Africa, she stepped off the boat and walked bravely down the road.Once she was settled in a room, she asked where the cemetery was. When she got there, it was eerily quiet. Suddenly in the comer of the cemetery, Anna heard crying. A young warrior was sitting in front of a gravestone. It was Albert's grave. The boy had been brought to Christ through Albert. Anna smiled. Albert's death had not been in vain.


Photo Credit: Jason

Change the World

You may not think you are very important, just a small person in a world of people with different ideas. We need to bond together as the family of the living God, clasp hands, hold together, help change the world for the better. We will bring hundreds of people to Jesus. As we link arms with new believers, the chain of people will get longer and longer. We will encircle the earth a hundred times and more to change the world.









Photo Credit: Alice Popkorn

Sword Point

Hundreds of people have been put to death by the point of a sword. You cringe at the idea and say, "If that's what happens to a missionary, then I'll stay here." You want to be Godly but hate the idea of going out to help people in foreign countries because it could mean death. They need your help, even a box of food and a Bible would be helpful. Your life is but a small period of time in which to live; use it wisely for God and stand at the point of the sword




Photo Credit: Brian