Sometimes I feel very abnormal (although I hear that's normal with missionary kids). 

I was born and raised by Bible translators in a northern village in the Philippines but I didn't surrender my life to Christ until 5th grade while reading a Christian book addressed to parents. At this point my understanding of God really centered around that He was close to the broken hearted and he saved those who were crushed in spirit.

Then while living in arguably…

Here in Colorado at PDX and getting really excited for September when we'll launch!

So recently the Benkadi team took a little vacation to Burkina Faso, just like last year. Our first stop was at the Nazinga wildlife park. There we saw elephants, warthogs, and lots of antelope. Even though it was my second time, I was still amazed at just how huge elephants are, especially when you're looking at them without a fence separating you!

From there our team split up, most of the group went back south to Banfora to swim at the waterfalls, while a few of us went…

I have this moment of shame in my past. I was 17, and I worked in a Safeway grocery story. I don't know why but I LOVED my job. Looking back I think it was because of all the praise I received. I made it my goal to work harder than any other bag boy in the store. I would run as I collected carts; I tried to be…

These last two months, my life has just been all over the place. Every week it seems like I'm in a new place or with new people, and definitely doing something very different from the week before. But at least things aren't getting boring. I can't think of a way to describe what my last two months, I've just been doing lots of different little things.



So right after spending Christmas in Korhogo, I headed down to Bouake and met up with the whole Journey Corps team so that we could…

Do you remember Bugs bunny? One of Bugs' arch enemies was good old Yosemite Sam. The typical episode consisted of Yosemite trying to get Bugs and failing over and over again. Finally, he would give up. I remember one episode Yosemite Sam is blown up, got smashed, and pounded and finally he decides to join Bugs Bunny's…

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”…

Right now I need you Jesus. Even in saying that I think I diagnose what is wrong with my heart. I am not saying that I don't need Jesus. Hang with me for a minute. What I am saying is that I don't always believe what God has already done. God says in His word that I already have Jesus' help. God says I already have His Spirit living in me. If I come bumbling to God every day begging Him to give me some extra grace, then I fail to believe that I already have it. I believe, help my unbelief…

I often ask myself why I can't do the things I know I should do. I often ask myself why I haven't had the boldness to jump into what I know he wants for me.

Have you ever woken up with these thoughts?

Jesus I need your strength for today. I cannot move. I cannot act. I cannot live in strength. I am weak. I am lonely. I am unwise. I am not a leader. I can't act wisely. I have no vision. I can't move ahead. Who am I? Do I add value to anything?

I…

I am going to write, what might seem like, a counter-productive blog. You see; one of our goals here in Journey Corps is to see God send workers into the harvest field of the world (Matt. 9:37-38). We encourage people to set aside their current lives to go and bring the gospel to people who haven't heard it. The question is why would I write a blog entitled, "why you should NOT be a missionary?" The answer lays in our motives and in our misunderstandings about what a missionary is.

My…

So this Christmas I was really lucky to go back to Korhogo and spend the week with my host family. It was actually my first time celebrating Christmas here because last year I had parasites! It had been two months since I had been able to see my friends and family there and it was soooo good to be back!

One of the best things parts of coming back was seeing my little brother Enoch who can talk now! He greeted me with a huge smile and a hug and was going around to everyone…

Sometimes when God calls it’s ‘fuzzy.’ You sense He is leading but you have no idea where you will land. If you sense Him calling you, trust His kindness and wisdom. He loves you and He knows what He is doing. If He is calling, He will give you the grace to meet any obstacle which might lie in the path ahead. - Mary Lederleitner

So how do I summarize the last month? I'm not sure, I've been busier than I've ever been here and I'm trying to remember the highlights.

Orientation for the Journey Corps 2012 team is almost over! There's only one week left before they move in with their host families! During this time, I've been doing lots of translating, as I wrote about before. I guess you could say translating seminars from French to English is my main job, along with just kind of taking care of things…

I arrived back in Cote d'Ivoire earlier this week.  My time in Benin was short but it felt long in light of the dwindling days before my departure for the US.  The month I spent in Benin was a good time to reconnect with friends, and I was kept busy working much as I did before; putting my hands into whatever gooey grease substance I could find.  I was thrilled to again fix their small bulldozer, work with it a week, break it, and then fix it again.  The time was busy for my boss, balancing…

So I'll be honest, I'm not sure where to start this blog. I just looked at my calender to see how long it has been since the new team got here, and it's been a month. Seriously??? I don't believe it! Where the heck did the last four weeks go? So far we've done seminars on culture and the stress and shock that can come with living in a new one, current sicknesses and diseases, and hygiene/day-to-day life in an Ivorian home.

Again, I can't believe how fast this month has gone,…

Well the Journey Corps Fall 2012 team has arrived and we just finished week two of orientation! These two weeks have been a blur of new faces, new names, explaining culture, translating, talking, talking, and more talking. So much has changed now with a whole new group but I'm so excited to see what changes are to come during their next 11 weeks of orientation.

I'm not really sure what to tell you guys that will be of any interest to you but I would like to say thank you to…

The youth camp last week created a unique mix of emotions. There was the shared excitement of participating in the conference, not as a separate participant, but alongside other youth from my host church. But solidarity brings repercussions; like a six o'clock whistle to wake up to and an enforced prolongation of bedtime until after twenty-three o'clock. However in the…

Last week was a marathon of a week. As I had mentioned before it was the National J-AEBECI Camp. In other words, summer camp for all the youth of our church association. There were so many times during the week when I had flashbacks of summer camp at Hume Lake, but also many things that were totally opposite.

First off, youth camp here doesn't mean 11- 18 year olds like it would it the States. There were campers from around 19 to their late twenties. So transitioning from…

Where has the month of August gone? I kind of freaked out this morning when I searched for the date in my devotional book and really realized that it's already the 26th.

August has been a month of preparation. Steph and I have been spending lots of time around our dorm arranging and cleaning things, preparing rooms, and tying up loose ends. And somehow we managed not to get sick of each other after spending the majority of our time always together.

Although…

One Year.



Yeah, it's been that long. Can you believe it? I can't.

I still remember waiting for my flight at the San Jose Airport and thinking, "Is this really happening?" It definitely didn't feel real at the time, and to be honest I'm not sure if it feels real now. It doesn't feel like I've been gone that long. Or does it? I don't know.

When it comes to talking about the fact that I've been here for a year, I don't have anything to say other than…