Mission Moment- Nicaragua 2011

I stood there motionless. I watched the people all around me. I didn’t want anybody to see the tears in my eyes. “Oh God use me! Show your mighty power through me,” I prayed to the Lord. “Give me an amazing opportunity to share with somebody!”
Discouraged and upset I prayed to the Lord. Standing there at the outer ring of people
awaiting the movie to start, I shared my heart with the Lord. My Mom and I had just finished a discouraging few hours of sharing. People were unresponsive. Some were even drunk. All the teams had just come back together and were sharing their incredible stories of the evening. I wanted to be one of those people.
As I stood there, I felt the Lord remind me that even if we didn’t see that many people saved, we planted seeds and we were obeying by sharing. I knew I needed to be content with the visits God had given me. After all, it wasn’t about me and how I felt. It was all about the Lord and His will. My thoughts and prayers were interrupted by my mother’s voice calling me. “Michelle! Come here!”
My Mom was calling me over to a group of young girls sitting on some steps. She was trying to speak to them, but was having no luck, because she couldn’t speak Spanish. As I walked toward
them, I was thinking I would just give them some stickers and say hi, because I could not speak Spanish either. Before I even really got to say anything, one of the translators named Oswaldo popped up beside me out of nowhere and said, “I translate for you!” He looked at the girls, quieted them and said, “I share Christ.”
I shared the good news of Jesus with all five of the young girls sitting on those steps and they all accepted Christ as their Savior! While Oswaldo got some personal information from the girls, I was overtaken by the fact that God had given me an opportunity to share that night with a whole group of girls and watch them get saved. I felt His Fatherly love toward me like never before. God took my discouragement and threw it out the window. God heard my plea and answered it in the sweetest way. I also felt so comfortable sharing because I teach ballet to the same age group of girls at my work. It was funny, because I wasn’t even looking for the opportunity even though I desired it so much. Funny how that worked out!
God did so many amazing things on the trip to Nicaragua that no words could truly express the magnitude of it all. I was partnered with my Mom all week and we saw God do incredible things. We also saw the sadness of people who were confused and blinded by their religion. We saw people who wouldn’t accept Christ. At times it feels like you’re on an emotional rollercoaster. In the end God is so good and so faithful. Our team saw about 800 people give their life to Christ. I am truly humbled and thankful for the opportunity I had to go. Thank you all who gave finically to me. And thanks be to God for his love. Though His love alone I was empowered to love the people of Nicaragua.

M-fuge 2011- New Orleans

My summer thus far has been crazy and busy but oh so FUN! Last week I went to M-fuge in New Orleans with my youth group from church. M-fuge is a camp put on by Lifeway. The "M" stands for missions. The camp is focused on doing mission work all over the city. In the evenings when we get back from our ministry sites there is a great service and night life. Pretty much you don't sleep all week but it is so worth it!!!

In our bible study time every morning we were encouraged to not be afraid and to obey God NOW!

We are so tight!

Jakie and I were in the same track group and we went door to door everyday. My track group represented a small church named Hope Church. We would walk around neighborhoods talking to people and inviting them to Hope Church. We also would see if anybody in the neighborhood had any needs that the church could help with like yard work and light bulb changes.

Tiffany, Taylor and I decided to have a photo shot. So fun!

I am always so happy to be able to go to camp with my little bro. Luke is so sweet and smart. He is always making me laugh.

One night at fuge was character night, so some of us girls from my youth group dressed up like M&M's. We had a blast!

~The Girls~

My track group

On our way home we stopped at Cafe Du Monde and let me tell you it was DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!! They are most famous for their Beignet. Beignets are like funnel cakes but better.

I am sad because that was my last M-fuge, but I have memories that will last a life time :)

I'm Wired!

This summer I had the amazing opportunity to be apart of a week of mission work in Dothan AL. called WIRED week! WIRED week is where local churches in the Dothan area come together and do mission work all over their community.

I had the pleasure to help with a children's ministry track that went to a girls home called Girls Inc. The girls there were so sweet. Some of them had really bad home lives and it was cool to see God use us to minister to them.

In the mornings we played with the girls. I mostly played on the playground with some of the younger ones. I showed them how to play Ninja and they LOVED it!!! In the afternoons we did a VBS program with them. There was about 150 girls at Girls Inc. and at times the girls overwhelmed us, but God is good and He allowed the girls to calm down long enough for us to teach our Bible lessons. By the end of the week we had about 20 girls make a profession of faith in Christ. It was amazing to watch!

My wonderful track group!

I also got to spend the whole week with my sister Jen. It was just like old times :)

Lauren was the best track leader ever!!!

Sweet friends!

All in all WIRED week was amazing and I am so trilled that God allowed me to be apart of the work He is doing in Dothan AL. I will never forget the smiling faces at Girls Inc.

I also loved the Bible studies in the mornings and the serves at night were great. I hope I get the chance to do WIRED again!