The What

This will be my first international mission trip so am excited to share this experience with anyone and everyone who is interested in being a part of it with me! God stepped in and saved me from myself about 5 years ago. I am so ecstatic to have this opportunity to love on others and share the amazing news that I took to heart just a short time ago.

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The Ask

God has opened the door for me to go on a short-term mission trip to Ethiopia with e3 Partners Ministry and Watermark Community Church this summer, 2018. We will partner with Ethiopian Christians as we do children’s VBS & men’s & women’s outreach. Ultimately, the purpose of the trip is to build relationships & share Christ with Ethiopians who have never heard the name of Jesus & help fulfill e3's Ethiopia vision of planting churches within the unreached people of the Arsi Oromo.

Your help is needed! This is a team-project, and you are needed on my team! First, I need your prayers for the spiritual battles ahead. Second, your help is needed to help cover part of the cost of this trip.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out. I have provided my contact information below. You can also find out more about the mission of e3 Partners at www.e3partners.org

You are very important to me. Thank you for praying for being part of my team!

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The How

I grew up in the church, hearing about God but having no clear understanding of who Jesus was. My relationships growing up were marked by physical abuse and emotional instability. I don’t remember feeling loved by others and always believed I was never deserving enough for their love. I did everything in my power to earn other’s approval and respect but always thought I was falling short. This looked like manipulating situations and relationships and trying my best to control all circumstances in hopes that I could convince people to like me. Trying to fill this void in my heart, I lived in a world of pornography, alcohol and selfish gain for much of my high school and college career. I fully believed that if I did enough good things to balance out my reckless behavior, I might have a shot at heaven.

2013 was a year that I think was one of my lowest moments in life. I was very depressed, lonely and self-medicating myself with anything I thought could numb the pain away. I was invited to Watermark Community Church and my life was forever changed. I was introduced to Ephesians 2:8-9 which talks about being saved by grace and not through my own works. After processing that verse and several others with some very faithful men, the light bulb clicked. I felt like I had found something that I had been missing for so many years and it was right in front of me the entire time. I realized I could not do it on my own and fully submitted and surrendered to God's will. My life has changed so much from those darker days.

To hear that God was a good Father and that He loved me was overwhelming. I had never experienced unconditional love before and I was so excited to be a part of that. Once I committed my life to Christ, I never looked back. I wanted to learn as much as I could, be involved with as much as I could and just build a relationship with the creator of all creators. There was so much freedom in not having to worry about performing or needing others approval that it opened so many doors for me step through that I had been just walking by for years.

Since I accepted Christ into my life and fully understood that it was Christ’s work on the cross that saved me, not my own, I have felt a heart-change and freedom like never before. The weight of my sin has been lifted, and the void in my heart had been filled. I now know true joy and a true, everlasting love in my Heavenly Father. My entire life and motivations are completely different because of his work through me. I am no longer a slave to pornography or alcohol. My selfish desires and manipulative controlling attitude have been pushed aside to make room for authentic kindness, servitude, generosity, love, forgiveness and so much more. I did not know what it was like to truly live for a greater purpose and knowing that now has restored my soul and given me a hope I did not know was possible to experience. God is so good.

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