Wow, wow, wow!!! As I got off the plane, as I walked into the ACMC conference and as myself and all the other missionaries that attended were asked to stand up, while we were applauded; I felt like I was in a dream. All weekend it has felt surreal. It is so neat to know that God has fulfilled my dreams and that I am a missionary in Canada. There have been times today were I have felt like pinching myself because it does not seem real that I have been flown down to go to a conference to equip me for my future and for what the Lord has in store for me.   

My organization leaders have been so amazing at supporting me and I feel so blessed to have been asked to come down to Boston with them and go to this amazing conference that has taught me so much in two days. I could never thank Bill and Barb enough for what they have done for me and for the way that they want to equip me to help me to reach out to others.

The ACMC conference was held at Park Street Church. The speakers I heard this weekend were phenomenal! I enjoyed each one of them and they all made me learn something new. I went to plenary sessions and heard people like Tom Telford, Gordon Hugenberger and Paul Borthwick speak on “Global Challenges for the Global Church”, “Global Challenges for the Local Church” and “Essentials of an Effective Missions Church”. I also went to many different workshops on how to prepare for short term mission trips, how we can encourage others to go and how to make the short term mission trips have a lasting impact. They all were just so interesting and as the different speakers were talking I know God was working on my heart and He was planting so many things in me that I want to be able to do. 

Ever since teen camp I have had the desire to share with some people what God has done in other peoples lives. In missionaries who are well known but who many youth don’t know because they are just not talked about as much anymore. I have wanted people to see how these people gave up their comforts and sacrificed their lives to go tell others about Christ.  After this weekend and hearing everything I did I have more of a desire to do this. I am not sure how I will do it but I want to be able to have an open invitation to showing people different documentaries of all the amazing people that have worked all around the world to spread the good news. I want others to learn from these people’s lives and I want them to have the desire to serve God wherever He is calling them. Whether they do that in their own city or go to a different country.

One thing this conference really did to me personally was it made me realize that I do not need to be afraid of going and serving God in another country. I know that I am not supposed to have a spirit of fear and I know that Isaiah 41:10 says, “So do not fear for I am with you.” But I really started to be scared of the unknown. I have always been so excited in wanting to go and serve God in Africa however after teen mission camp my feelings started to change. Maybe it was because I wrote my excitement in a previous blog and Satan didn’t like it. 

I have only shared this with my fiancé Travis and my mentor Tracy, but…I started having an attack on me that I felt scared to go to Africa in the spring. There were many different personal reasons and I kind of started replacing my excitement to go with all these worries and fears. I couldn’t really understand it and I knew it was from the devil and so I kept praying against it. I told Travis and Tracy that I needed to focus on reaching out to unsaved people and to watch videos and I prayed to God to just give me the peace I needed. Friday night I was really able to have that peace. I was able to grasp that “If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord.” Romans 14:8 I saw later in my own Bible that I have that verse highlighted but somehow I had forgotten the truth of that verse and had let the devil cloud my thoughts. I realize now I really need to trust in God. He will take care of me and my life is in His hands. I remember my sister who worked in Afghanistan for two years used to say, “If God calls me home at the hands of the Taliban then so be it.” I always wondered how she could say that and why she didn’t have fear and yet now I get it. After this weekend I feel a complete peace and I am not worried about the future. I know where I am going when I die and so I should not fear going to work for God in another country. That is definitely a lie from the enemy and I need to focus on Biblical truth.

“Guide me, o thou great Jehovah,

Pilgrim through this barren land.

I am weak, but thou art mighty;

Hold me with thy powerful hand.

Bread of heaven, bread of heaven,

Feed me till I want no more;

Feed me till I want no more.”

 This was a song we sang this weekend that was another little reminder to me that God holds me in his hands.

This weekend another thing that really stood out to me was the flag of Mozambique. This has been a country that for some reason has stood out to me and at one time I wondered if I was supposed to go there. When I went to the conference I saw many flags hanging around the main sanctuary. I saw the flag of China, Cameroon, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and then I saw the flag of Mozambique for the first time. It shocked me when I saw this. There are machine guns on this flag. One of the speakers even commented on it too. I do not know if I ever will get to that country, and I do not know the reason why for years now it has stood out to me but one thing I realized this weekend is that I do know that I can start praying for this country.  

A couple of months ago I asked my sister to look into leadership conferences in the states. I knew great ones were held there and I was interested in going to one where I would learn more to help my ministry. I wasn’t sure how it would be possible for me to attend one but I prayed to God that the doors would open up.

Then all of a sudden a couple of weeks ago I got an email from Barb and Bill asking me if I was interested in going to Boston to a missions conference. They said if I went they would pay for all my expenses. I could not believe it and told them right away I was very interested. So now my ticket has been booked to fly down from November 6th to 8th. I am so extremely excited and it is for sure an answer to prayer. I know this conference is going to teach me so much and it is going to be great!

Someone came up to me a couple years ago and said “God is going to pour showers of blessings on you.” That has always stayed in my head and I see now in time how this is coming true.

Since I was a little kid I have always had a desire to go to Africa. I can’t really remember the first time that I was drawn to that country but I always wished that my parents would adopt a baby from an orphanage over there. Though I was young I knew there was a need there and I knew that there were lots of little babies who were left abandoned in orphanages.

In 2006 I was able to go on a mission’s trip to Ukraine and work in an abandoned baby hospital. When I came back from this trip I remember saying to my friends, “I want to go to Africa for my next mission trip.” Back then I would have never imagined being where I am now. Soon after I joined “Into All the World” they asked me if I would be open to helping them lead a group to Zanzibar, Tanzania.

Two weeks ago I spent a week in Fenelon Falls were I was a leader at Teen Mission Camp. There were 9 youth who came together to learn different lessons they can apply when they go to Africa. Some of the lessons they learnt were how to lead someone to Christ, cross cultural differences, public speaking and how to give your testimony. They also learnt a lot about story telling and learnt how to use puppets and objects to tell a story from the Bible. The youth all went away from the week learning skills they can now use while we are in Africa but that they can also use at their own churches. It was amazing for me to meet these youth. They all came so open to learn more and you could tell their hearts were on fire for God. At campfires they shared their testimonies and shared what God had done in their lives and though some have not had the easiest life they are now at a place where they want Jesus more then anything. They know that Christ is their true Father who will never leave them.

It was also great to work with Bill and Barb . It was fun being able to talk to them and get to know them more. They are both so sweet and so calm about everything and I really am enjoying having them as leaders. It is neat to learn more about them and their ministry and hear all the ways that God has worked in their lives.

One of the highlights from camp for me was watching documentaries and movies at night and learning about different missionaries lives. These people had a desire to be a missionary but they were told they would never get anywhere without education. These people really had to rely on God and they did end up being missionaries who did amazing things for God. Their stories fascinated me and encouraged me all at the same time. Their lives made me want to press on to do all I can for God’s kingdom.

I feel blessed to have been able to be a part of Teen Mission Camp and to have spent time with such amazing people. I was able to learn some Swahili songs and learn more about Africa and this makes me extremely excited for the future and makes me so thankful to God for fulfilling my desire to go and do work for Him in Africa.