I'm here!

Well it has been an absolutely crazy ride, but I’m finally here!  After the flight from London two of the mission team members were waiting for me at the airport, ready to take me to the typical Italian welcome dinner of pizza and gelato.  My apartment is awesome, my roommate seems great, and now it’s time to begin life and Rome!  Even Google greeted me in Italian upon this first login.  Four months ago when I received this opportunity to serve college students in Italy as part of a church planting team, it was hard to imagine actually getting to this point. 

Praise the Lord for the pieces of confirmation He graced me with all summer long, for remembering His character and faithfulness has kept me going through all the doubts, fears, and uncertainties leading up to today.  Between being denied on my first attempt at a visa, worrying about enough financial support coming in to simply get started in Rome, trying to get everything together to move, struggling through saying goodbye to so many people I love, exhaustion from combating spiritual attacks, and wondering if I’m truly the person who will be made competent to do this job, it has been an emotional rollercoaster. Whenever the voice of the Holy Spirit was too soft for me to hear myself, God graced me with affirmation on this path to Rome by words of reassurance through others.  Specific moments of clarity are still very vivid in my mind:

-There was the service at Watkinsville First Baptist where Pastor Carlos talked about our need as a church to pray for workers for the harvest, for people to be so moved and filled with the urgency of sharing the gospel now they have no choice but to go.  I remember crying the whole last part of his message, knowing he was talking about me as the Spirit moved to erase doubts I was already having only two weeks after committing.  A few of my girlfriends surrounded me with prayer after the service, and we all just sat there crying long after chairs were cleared and people were gone (I imagine then the boys around us were completely clueless as to why there was a mess of sobbing girls).

-Two specific moments from Superwow camp this summer, the first being when I was driving back to camp with my new crutches and really annoyed with God.  When I was asking why, He simply told me “you need to learn to receive grace.”  Well, He was right (as always), and the whole first week at camp I was broken of self-sufficiency, as I had to rely on others for help.  Three weeks later on our last night in Jekyll together, the staff blew me away with an envelope of almost $1,800 they had collected for my trip.  While I was worried about not actively raising support because I was at camp, God completely took control and literally dropped money in my hands. 

-The college ministry worship service and my commissioning at WFBC, when I was completely enveloped by a crowd of prayer warriors so great I could not even see who was beyond the first few rows.  At that moment I felt the Lord’s love and peace in a special way like never before, and knew I was not going to make this move alone.  Our God is not confined to time or space, and only mere distance will be separating me from that part of His family, my Athens family. 

           

There are far more I could share, all tales of God’s goodness in meeting me where I was, with beautiful members of His body who have truly loved and encouraged me on this journey. Thank the Lord I am blessed with some absolutely amazing people in my life.  I have been blown away by the love and support of family and friends who have stood alongside me over the last few months, and who I know will be lifting me up in prayer and encouraging me while I’m away from home.  Whenever the voice of the Holy Spirit was too soft for me to hear myself, God graced me with words of reassurance through others.  Despite doubts, fears, crazy emotions, and anxieties, I am finally here!

My job description for this year really is perfect. It ties together my first commitment to the call to missions at a winter youth retreat in 7^th grade, the attachment to Italy after a spring break trip in 10^th, the compassion for the people after studying in Rome a semester my 2^nd year, the desire to serve in ministry from recent months, relational and organizational skills I have acquired through internships with a youth group for a summer and SWAT Ministries last school year, group teaching experience I received from Superwow, and even my training for a business degree in Economics.  When I go over the list anew, I’m reminded of how detailed our God is and how we are uniquely and wonderfully made (Ps. 139:14).  I will be teaching English classes and business seminars, arranging social activities, doing administration work, critiquing resumes, and meeting students at the university and inviting them to our facility.  All of these things are simply means to make relationships with college students, so I may be the broken vessel for the Lord to shine through and reveal His love to them in a new way. 

I assure you not all posts will be this long, but consider this the background; the prelude for all that will come this year. I am excited about the things I don’t even know are coming, for after all, God always goes above and beyond our wildest hopes and dreams (1 Co. 2:9).  To Him be all the glory, and to us the honor of giving it all back to Him (Is. 43:7).   

            Countdown to Rome= complete!