Prayer Request!

Joy* joined staff with me this summer and is about to report as International Campus Staff (ICS). She met her team here at the MidYear and will return with them to North Africa - Lord willing.

Two years ago, Joy, along with her STINT team, were kicked out of a Middle Eastern country half way through the year. Last year, she decided to STINT a second year in another Middle Eastern country. After MidYear 2012, when she landed in the airport, she was denied reentry and was forced to leave everything and move back to the States for the remainder of the year.

Tomorrow, Joy is flying back to this North African country. She is trusting God to be let in so she can ministry to the women in this country.

Would you please pray for Joy as she returns?

Please pray for peace and restful sleep tonight.
Please pray for a safe flight.
Please pray for angels to surround her as she walks through customs.
Please pray the security overlooks any records her name may pull up.
Please pray she safely gets all her belongings and gets home to her apartment.

I will keep you posted!

Break every chain

This morning, we sang this song. God gave me a cool imagery from this song in relation to what the STINTers are doing and how my ministry with Jesus Film Media plays into that. These missionaries are in challenging places dealing with cultural differences, language barriers and spiritual warfare. At the "front lines", they need armor to fight this spiritual battle - one of which can be the Jesus Film app!

Please pray for these teams as they get ready to head back for the second semester of the year.



There is power in the name of Jesus to break every chain
There is power in the name of Jesus to break every chain

All sufficient sacrifice
So freely given
Such a price
Bought our redemption
Heaven's gates swing wide

There's an army rising up, to break every chain
There's an army rising up, to break every chain


There is power in the name of Jesus to break every chain
There is power in the name of Jesus to break every chain

Journeys always have a story... A man from India, my own row of seats, quesadillas ... and wait, they have weapons?

Oh man. We've made it to Spain... and not short of stories.

Ready to connect with the STINTers!

 Flight #1:
In between Nifer and I, sat a man from India; Shareeth*. He was a friendly man and we chatted about traveling, photography and work. This eventually led to what we do, and where we were headed for the conference. We asked him what he grew up believing, being from India. Since then, Shareeth has changed his belief to the concept of "picking-and-choosing"parts of religions to make his faith. Once we landed, we showed him a clip from the JESUS Film in his native language. He said he had seen it before! We gave him our business cards and information on how to download the app and films. Please pray for Shareeth that God would use our interaction to draw him into a relationship with God.

Flight #2:
Fairly uneventful. The 8 hours seemed like a blink of an eye compared to our 13.5 hour flight from Tokyo, which was miserable.

Flight #3:
After a 5 hour layover in Amsterdam, we flew the hour flight to Paris. I had my own row of seats to lay down. It was glorious. It was during this flight that I realized the only real meal I had eaten in the last 36 hours was some quesadillas we got in Atlanta. With all the timezone changes, my body wasn't sure if it was hungry, time for bed or preparing for another flight.

Flight #4:
We had to literally speed-walk/run through the huge Paris airport to get to our connecting flight, scheduled for 8:40 pm. I was anxious and so ready to be at the Spain MidYear after traveling (7 flights) since Thursday morning. I laid my head against the window and rested, anticipating taking off soon. Only we didn't. I awoke to an uproar in the back of the plane - all in Spanish and French. We had no idea what was going on FOR 2 HOURS. Eventually 13 men stormed off the plane and the intercom came on, first in Spanish, with responses of groans and frustration from Spanish passengers. Then it came on in hard-to-understand English... something about weapons illegally on the plane without proper paperwork. They continued again in French. The guy sitting next to me from Czech Republic translated the bits and pieces we'd both missed from the English version. Apparently, the paperwork had either not been properly filled out or miss placed by the airline, and the men's luggage had to be taken off the plane.

After about another hour, the airline changed their mind. The 13 men filed back on the plan and their luggage was put back on. Shaking of exhaustion, I was frustrated, hungry and not feeling well. I just wanted to be in a bed sleeping.

We landed in Malaga, Spain 3 hours late. Praise the Lord all of our luggage made it and we successfully found our arranged ride and made it the hour drive to the hotel. Reunited with our dear friend on STINT, Lauren Hays, with hugs and laughter of relief, we all eventually fell asleep by 3 am. Which felt like 9 am in Thailand, or ... 9 pm in Orlando.

TONIGHT at 6 pm - 7 pm (12pm-1pm EST) Jesus Film Media will have a information table at the "Resource Fair" for STINTers. Please pray we made some good connections with teams and people can think of ways to incorporate the JFM app in their ministry this next semester.

Sorry this blog was sorta long - hopefully entertaining and informative. More to come soon!

Whirlwind... 3 continents in 3 days, so my body is unsure what time it is...

According to my laptop, it's 7:00 pm. In thirty minutes, I will be getting on yet another plane; there are four flights that stand in the way of  the eventual destination of Spain. Having just arrived home last night from Thailand - a little late, but safely with all bags PRAISE THE LORD - it feels like 7:00 am.

Thailand is a beautiful country and their culture is very hospitable. Our time there was great and we connected with teams serving in various cities in East Asia. I'll write more later as we are just about to board the plane.

It would be wonderful if you would be praying again for safety in our travels, making all our connections, health and connecting with teams. I'm looking forward to this trip as I have some very dear friends on some of these teams!!

Thank you for your prayers and I'll update soon!

Support! Road Trip! Orlando!

Sunday night, I got an email, confirming their partnership with me as I've joined staff with Jesus Film, which helped me reach my initial goal! Praise the Lord! I've been working on this for about 6 months now and have been praying to finish by early January. Is God's timing perfect or what?!

The timing of this is crazy, as my car was packed, ready to head to Orlando Monday morning.

My sister, Gracie and I started the drive down to Florida, stopping in Atlanta (after about 12 hours) for the night with some life-long friends, the Clines. Mrs. Cline is the definition of hospitality in my book. After a home cooked meal, there were even candies waiting for us on our pillows in the guest room. It was a good visit - a home away from home.

This morning, after some good conversation with Mrs. Cline, we continued on our adventure. After another 8 hours of driving (including checking five gas stations at one stop just to find smoothie drinks), we pulled into my new living accommodations. Ruth, my new roommate was so helpful in aiding Gracie and me unload my car. Due to timing and such, I actually won't be officially moving in until February. For the next week or so, I'll be staying with friends and hopping around various places until I leave for my trip, which extends until the end of the month.

THEN, the 1st of February, I can start the real "unpacking" process.

So for now, if you feel led to, would you pray for a few things?

1. Just the overall transition back to Orlando. I have many friends to see again, and start getting connected to my new neighborhood. Also, missing my family - family is forever, but I still miss them.
2. For my trips coming up - adjusting to time changes, safety in traveling, health, and connecting and sharing the Jesus Film Media app with STINTers who will be working first hand with people in other countries.
3. That the rest of my support would continue to come in. Many have pledged amounts, but what is most helpful is when they sign up :) And if people still feel called to join my team, that they would do so!
4. My "First Day of Work" is next Monday, January 14th. I'm excited to see what I can start working on!

More to come soon...

Enjoying Christmas and Preparing for Upcoming Transitions

So it's been a little while since I've blogged. Mainly because life has been so busy, full and preparing for transitioning to Orlando!

Christmas was good to see family, buy presents for people (I love gifts! Giving and receiving) and snow! It's been a while since I've experienced a "White Christmas". It was different this year as many cousins are now married with kids and live far away.

New Years was so fun (I also completed my 2012 picture a day album on Facebook)! It was my first time spending New Years Eve in Grand Rapids. The four years of college (2006-2009) were spent at Indy Christmas Conference as a student with Campus Crusade.  2010 was spent overseas while on STINT and last year in 2011, I rang in the New Year again at the Indy Christmas Conference, this time as an intern.

New Years 2010 - Interlaken, Switzerland

I was able to introduce my boyfriend, JP, to many close friends from Grand Valley (though several were also out of town), go snowboarding and show him around Grand Rapids. It's a great city with much to offer. Eventually, we headed back to Northville and spent some time with my family, watching movies, sledding, exchanging Christmas presents and sharing good conversation.

After he headed back to Chicago, I started the packing process for Orlando. And it's quite a process! I've decided against installing a trailer hitch to my little Mazda3, to instead ship a few boxes to my new place in Orlando. I'm really not bringing much, as my new housing is furnished and I am borrowing a bed and dresser for a while. All my other belongings just won't fit in my car :)

Packing up my clothing was kind of exhausting.

I LEAVE EARLY MONDAY MORNING, January 7th and begin the trek to Orlando. My sister, Gracie - who recently graduated from Central Michigan University, will be helping me make the drive! Our goal is to be in Orlando at least by Wednesday, with some stops on the way.

For the first week, I will be staying with friends, as my new roommate's current roommate doesn't leave till AFTER I head out for MidYear Conferences. Logistics of moving my things into my room will be tricky, but I am thankful for helpful friends to make the move happen.

It really won't be until February 1st that I really get to start settling in to my new abode. BUT I would still love getting mail! I feel like that always helps make the new location seem more like home. I will be sending out my new address in an email very soon.

As early January brings fresh and new beginnings, I thought I'd share some New Years Resolutions or Goals.

1. Floss my teeth - I think this has been a resolution for the last 6 years... one I've yet to accomplish.

2. Stretch each night before going to bed. It helps the body relax and be more flexible!

3. No pop. Not that I drank much anyways, but water is always the best choice.

4. Read at least one chapter of the Bible a day and take time to meditate on it. It's the active WORD of God. I totally take it and my freedom to own a copy of it, for granted.

5. Just try to smile more often. 

Happy New Year!