Well well well its been a while! Thank you to all who have supported and stayed in touch! God has been blowing my mind lately in ways I never expected. I’ll try to keep this short!
So the last blog post was in 2019, and as we all know, our lives changed dramatically in 2020. God closed the door for me to move full time to the Philippines do to housing situations then ultimately the pandemic. Since then I studied Behavioral Health at Grand Canyon University, I spent time in Brazil serving at a YWAM base, and did a short term missions trip to Bali Indonesia to put on a “caring for the soul” conference for staff of a non-profit who work to get women out of sex trafficking. I also moved back to Hawaii to take a Foundations for Counseling Ministries course and was offered a full time staffing position with the Counseling Department for the University of the Nations that I will pick up in the beginning of September. Though the world shut down, the last few years, I have been awaken to so much. I also was able to visit the Philippines after the pandemic last October! And then again with my dad 2 months ago! With that said, I am headed to the Philippines again!!! This last trip with my dad was very powerful and clear that God was making things happen that we have been praying for years to see come through. My flexibility with the offer in Hawaii opened up my schedule to go back to the Philippines for the next 2 months. I will be splitting my time between Panay (where CJMI is based and where the Ati are) and Manila (the capital). CJMI has recently made connection and friendship with a few doctors and business people in Manila who want to put on a medical clinic in the province where we work. So I will be continuing my friendships while connecting different NGO’s and people to create a better support for the work we do. I am so excited for this opportunity. I have wanted to move to the Philippines since I was a child and have often gotten impatient with God. When the pandemic hit the world, I felt I lost a dream. I was so close to moving and yet that possibility vanished so quickly. But now looking back, I am in disbelief at what God has done. To teach me so much and show me parts of myself I had no idea I had. To prepare me for here and now. And yet in many ways, I still feel underqualified or over my head. Yet not one time God has left me hanging. Not one time has he put me in a room or meeting where He was not with me navigating my step and speech. I have grown more and more into myself in ways I am thankful for. So with that said, I am on a layover with the next flight booked to the Philippines! I will spend a few days in Manila connecting with some of our friends and partners. I am also hoping to connect with a few team members from YWAM Philippines to just touch base and see what God may be doing. Then I will fly to the province on Panay and spend time with the Ati people. On the ground, in their homes, day to day life. With the main focus of language learning, furthering relationships, and mending things that have been broken through lack of communication and disagreements. I will be connecting with the young college students we sponsor, meeting with the teachers of the preschool on our property, and be helping plan and prepare for a medical clinic that our Manila connections will be putting on in the province. As well as preparing for a small team that my parents will be bringing mid way through July. I have much to do but so excited to get on the ground! My heart feels alive in that country and I know God is with me! Thank you for your prayers and support for what God is doing in the Philippines!
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