First meeting

Last week we had our first meeting for the trip. So exciting! There are about 50 people going (49!... ha ha that was for you Nate) which is awesome. They broke us up into small groups so that we can get to know a few people really well. My group is pretty much the bomb. Its all women (and Jenn's in my group, yay!) and we're all in different stages of life and we are all either teachers or stay at home moms and we are all passionate about kids. I had a great time meeting them and getting to know them and I'm so excited to get to know them even better. I think this trip is going to be an amazing bond for all of us. Part of our homework to do before the next meeting is to take a spiritual gifts inventory. I did that last week and my top scores were in Teaching (13), Miracles (12), Hospitality (12), Administration (11), Pastoring (10), and Service (10). My lowest were in Tongues and Interpretation of Tongues (a big fat 0 for both, not surprising). I haven't yet read through what they all mean, but if I find anything interesting, I'll be sure to let you know. Here is a link to a video about ORPHANetwork (who we are partnering with in Nicaragua).. (woo hoo I'm learning how to put links on my blog! ha ha)

My story

So here is my story leading up to why I am participating in this trip... In 2001 I started attending a Young Adults group in connection with Christ Church in Apple Valley. Being the quiet, laid back person that I am with people that I don't know well (and I stress with people that I don't know well...) I had a hard time connecting with people. That is until I met Tiffany. I don't really remember how I started hanging out with her, but I do remember the first time I really talked to her, we were on the same team for a game of Balderdash and we weren't very good. Anyway, Steph, who was one of the leaders of the group started a small group for just us girls. Tiff was a part of that group and so we eventually started hanging out. She was working at Baker's shoe store at the MOA at the time and she was friends with a guy at the Buckle named Matteo who was friends with another guy named Joey who was a good friend of mine (did you follow that?) Somehow Tiff and I figured out this connection and sort of bonded over it. See, Joey was trying to break out as a Christian rapper and he also started working at the Buckle so Tiff and I went to a few of his shows together and then out afterwords with Joey and his crew to hang out and whatever. Anyways, to make a long story shorter, Tiff and I ended up hanging out a lot and getting to know each other. I was a super uptight naive Christian and she was "wordly" in my small view, but she was just so darn lovable. She was so completely open and honest about her life and her struggles. When she sinned she would call me and confess to me and repent and then go do the same things over again which was super frustrating, but I still loved her for her honesty and her desire to be righteous. I knew that I could tell her anything because she would never judge me, and chances were that she had done the same thing. We ended up having a very deep, honest friendship. I saw her completely turn her life around and her journey was so amazing and I felt so blessed to be a part of it. God told her to do 3 things, and that was to get out of debt, be baptized and to go to Youth With a Mission in Denver. So she was baptized, she killed her debt and she went. She had such an amazing love for people that I always admired but never thought that I could ever have. She went on a mission trip to Ghana and I always was kind of like "yeah Tiff that's great for you, but I wouldn't ever do that. I don't love people enough." Being really honest, I felt abandoned when Tiff left for YWAM. Here I had this amazing close friend and God had bigger plans for her than to stay here. It was really hard to keep in touch with her there and so I didn't hear from her much and sort of lost touch and mourned our friendship for awhile. To make another long story shorter, on December 9, 2007 a young man walked into the dorms of YWAM where Tiff was working. Every story that I've heard is a little different so I'll just say that in the end he shot her and 3 other people. Tiff and one other young man were killed. Tiff had written on her Myspace that her mission was to love people. That she was going to "change the world by loving on people." This became her legacy.

Flash forward to February 2010, Eagle Brook Church began a message series called The Micah Project which was based on Micah 6:8 which says "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." This series was all about loving those who are less fortunate than us. Loving "the least of these". I gained a HUGE new understanding of Tiffany and of what it means to "change the world by loving on people". I realized that God put it in me to love people as well. I have such a burning desire to love and to care for and to help those who are hurting. Especially children. Because of that series I am starting school in May to get a degree in Human Services and I want to work with domestic abuse kids. In the middle of the series Eagle Brook advertised an informational meeting about missions trips. I sort of wanted to go, but then sort of didn't but then Nate and Jenn wanted to go so I decided to tag along with them. We ended up all feeling like Nicaragua was the place and we all applied together and were accepted. So I will be going to Nicaragua in June! I feel that this trip is going to stretch me and grow me, my heart will be broken and I'm going to learn so much about myself and also gain a better understanding of Tiffany. So that is how I got here. I will write more about the trip later, but this entry is already SUPER long so I will just leave it at this for now.