Dear friends and family,
It's hard to believe that in a few short hours I'll be landing in Manila! The closer I get to my trip, the more I realize how much I need to depend on God spiritually, emotionally, and physically. I'm so incredibly excited to see what He's doing and to serve and love children whom He knows by name and whom He loves unconditionally!
I've attached my itinerary for prayer purposes. I'll be mostly working with children in various ministries in orphanages, schools, and camps. It'll be my first time flying alone, so I ask that you keep me in your prayers.
July 1 – Arrive in Manila (12 hr flight to Taipei, 2 hr flight to Manila)
July 2 – Shalom Birthing Clinic and a feeding in the slums at Tondo
Sunday, July 3 - Attend CWC (church)
July 4-6 – Redemptio Christian School
July
7-9 – Home of Joy Orphange
July 10 –
Attend CCF Alabang (church)
July 11 – Orphanage in the Valley
July 12-13 – Camp New Beginnings, a camp for street girls
July 14 – Back to
Seattle
Prayer requests:
- Please pray for the various children and individuals I may come in contact with, whether through the ministries I'll visit or just on the plane and throughout my travels. It is my desire that others see the joy of knowing Christ through my words and actions, and that maybe God will give me an opportunity to share about my trip during my flights!
- Please pray for the various ministries I'll be visiting and the amazing missionaries, pastors, and workers who serve the Lord so faithfully. Pray that He will use these men and women as lights in their community and that His blessings, provisions, and strength will be poured out upon them. Pray that their ministries will be effective and that He will continue to sustain them as they work for His glory. Pray especially for the Nichols family and for Redemptio as the school continues to expand in the Floodway community!
- Please pray for me spiritually. In the last few weeks, the Lord has really been revealing the idols of my heart and drawing me to Him. In addition, I've been struggling a lot with hormonal mood swings and a lot of emotional ups and downs, and I know God has been using that to teach me to cry out to Him for strength and endurance.
I know I won't ever feel spiritually ready for this trip and in a lot of ways, I feel inadequate to face the journey ahead. I feel like I struggle so much in my own life with sin and other issues that I don't feel worthy or capable of representing Christ or sharing about Him.
However, I also know that the Lord uses those who are imperfect and weak and broken in order that His glory and His goodness might shine all the more brighter. This verse from 2 Corinthians 4 comes to mind:
"For
God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts
to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of
Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show
that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us."
I know my jar is broken and I continually fail my Father every day, but I know He can use my weak and trembling heart to show others how wonderful and good and gracious He is. It's okay that I'm not perfect because I am a living example of how He can take broken people and transform their hearts.
Please pray that the Lord would use me and strengthen my relationship with Him, teach me true humility and joy, and give me a servant's heart. I want more than anything to be a blessing to others and to cause others to see how wonderful God is.
To conclude, while I was in the middle of devotions the other day, I came across 2 Thessalonians 1, and I ask that you'd pray for me using this verse.
To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy
of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of
faith by his power, so that
the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him,
according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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