THE TRIP

MY STORY

Hello friends.

I would like to start off about sharing a bit of my story. I grew up in a Christian home. Every Sunday attending service and going to Sunday school to learn about the bible. As a kid I knew that having a faith or believing what a important thing about life. Throughout the years as I grew up I began to know who God was and how He sent His one and only son to die on the cross for my sins so I may be saved and be in right relationship with Him. Not because of my works but because of His grace I was saved. So around the age of 11 yrs old I decided to make Jesus my Lord and savior and I received the gift of eternal life. But during the next years I didn't know how to walk in relationship with Christ and to truly live out my faith. Throughout the rest of my years I continued to walk in sin. I thought that life could be found in what the world could offer, I believed the lie that if I was to truly give up everything and follow Christ I would lose everything. Thankfully the Lord had a plan for me. Around the time covid-19 and us having to be in quarantine I was hitting rock bottom and didn't know what was going on in my life or I was questioning God why were this things happening to me? So many thing ran through my mind but something came up and I knew God was good and faithful. After a night of drinking and partying I decided to wake up for Sunday service at a church I was attending with my family. During the sermon I felt the Lord's presence come. I began to cry and ask the Lord to save me from myself. Ever since then I have gained everything the Lord promises in Him that the world couldn't ever give me. I made the decision to live my life out to glorify Christ and proclaim the gospel.

THE WHY

The story about me going on this trip has honestly been something that ever since I became a follower of Christ it was something that I knew the Lord had placed on my heart from the start. The day I heard about this trip was pretty random. I didn't know that this trip was being planned. So once I heard about it at the The Porch (Watermark's Young Adults Ministry) I felt like it was the Lord calling me for a opportunity to grow in my faith and relationship with Him and so for the rest of the night I kept thinking about it. After The Porch had ended they had a meeting across the hall and so I decided to go check it out. During the meeting I started to feel a lot of anxiety, fear and worry but I knew that was just my flesh and me wanting to stay comfortable in my walk with the Lord. I had to make a decision; do I pass up on a opportunity to grow and know God more? Or do I take a step of faith and watch how amazing God is? Once the meeting was over I took the flyer and went home I prayed over it and asked God, "if this is your will for me then I'll be obedient and do the application." After a couple of days later I got a email to start the interview process. Until the day of the interview I told my family, community group, friends and mentor to speak into this decision and asking them for prayer. I'm incredibly thankful the ones who encourage me and faithfully continued in prayer with me day by day for God to open this door. After the interview I left in the Lord's hands and a couple of days later I got accepted for the 2022 Ethiopia trip! So that's a quick story about how I'm now preparing for this trip.