TWO Months away!

Hello one and all!

I meant to get this out sooner, and I’m sorry for not doing so! I’ll try to keep it quick and concise and yet informative. We are down to less than two months away from leaving for Belize! Some things have shifted around and our team is back to having 10 members.  We will be joined by a new member of the JFC missions team, Genelle Jackamore.  Our past couple of meetings have been a little more relaxed.  In July we met up for a casual BBQ and got to hang out and share stories and testimonies.  That meeting was by far my favorite so far.  I felt like I really got to know everyone then and it left me feeling more connected to them, and even more excited to go to Belize with them, spend time with them, and continue to get to know all of them! Our meeting in August, we started discussing more plans for the trip, as well as organizing our Drive in Movie fundraiser event (thank you to all of you who came out for it! It was a great night!) Our next two meetings we will continue to go over itinerary, packing, supplies, and all those kinds of fun things. 

            I also have some great news…. I am fully funded!!! Thank you to each of you for your support! It has been such a blessing to partner with you and see God work!

            Next I have a request for you: I would really appreciate if you would partner with me and my team in prayer.  We have recently found out that we will be visiting some dark places with strong forces that we know will try to attack us, break us apart, and tear us down.  I would love to know that my team and I will be covered by prayers from you for our entire 10 day trip.  From working at LOL, to all of the various villages we will be visiting and teaching at, I would love to know that we are covered from a home base, and not just going into this battle with our own prayers.  Would you be willing to join me? And commit to pray for us while we are gone?

Thank you for reading and for joining me on this journey J I love you all!

God bless

Dawn

The Countdown Continues

     Hello all! I just wanted to start by thanking all of you for your continued support, you guys are all amazing and I am so blessed to be a part of your lives.
     So, the most exciting news, which I somehow forgot to put in my last blog, was that we have plane tickets! YAY! It makes it feel so much more official and real knowing that we have the tickets bought and waiting for us.  The second update is that our team is now down to 9 people instead of 10.  This is a sad and a joyful thing, sad because we are losing our team member Jessica, joyful because the reason she can't come is because they just found out she is pregnant with their second child.  So exited for them, but also sad because I know how badly she wanted to be on this trip. 
     Our last few meetings we have started talking a little more in depth about what we will be doing while we are down there.  One of the most exciting this is that we will be getting to spend a full day in a village doing a sports camp kinda day with the kids there.  We will also get to do something similar for the kids at LOL, putting on a Fun Day, followed by a Fall Festival.  We spend the last meeting bouncing around a lot of ideas of games, crafts, and just general activities that we could do with the kiddos.  If you have any ideas of things feel free to let me know! We are still looking for more things, specifically something like a Home Depot kid's project, but other ideas are welcome too!
     We spend the last half of the meeting continuing to get to know each other more.  I finally am starting to feel like I know all of them, and am getting more and more comfortable with them.  I realized that after our meetings I always go home in such a good mood and full of joy. I can't wait to see what God has in store for all of us! I also can't wait to see how He is going to use and grow each of us during this trip, and even just our time together before the trip.  I think He definitely has something special planned for our team :)
     So now for the financial update, I have been incredibly blessed, and was way over my last monthy goal, and so now all I need by next month is $305.  After that, I only need $800 more and I will be fully funded! Crazy right?!? It's all happened so fast.  I know I am supposed to go on this trip, and the slow but steady inflow that God has provided has just proven that fact in my mind even more.  If you'd like to help let me know, there are online options or physical options, all of which can be tax deductible. 
     I still think this trip is going to change me, in what ways? That I don't know, but God keeps bringing up things that point to a revelation coming. I just pray that for every revelation I have, there is also someone in Belize that God will use us to impact as well.  I long to leave, four months still seems to far away.  But all in His timing, right?

Thank you for coming alongside me and supporting me in what ever way you can! I appreciate it, and I appreciate YOU! Much love and be blessed!
Dawn

The Team and Updates

Hey guys!

Hope you are all doing well! Just thought I'd give you guys a quick update on everything going on with my upcoming Belize trip. We have had two team meetings so far, and each one just makes me even more excited and expectant.  Instead of having 12 team members like we originally thought, our leaders, Bruce and Taylor, closed the trip with 8 of us being accepted, so with our leaders we will have a team of 10.  Bruce says that each time he has taken a team there has been some sort of theme that has united them, and this trip he is calling the Young Adult Team, with him being our oldest member, Taylor being the youngest, and the rest of us interspersed between them.  I am thrilled to say that of the 10 of us, I am related to three of them haha, both my brother and my sister-in-law were accepted as part of the team, as well as my awesome cousin Heather.  From there we will be joined by Rachel: our resident EMT and a co-leader, another sibling pair: Dan and Susanne Cooper, and our last team member Jessica, who is a chef and a mother.  Our first team meeting was a kind of meet and greet and a chance for us to get to interact a little bit with each other.  Bruce and Taylor believe that each of us is supposed to be on this trip and this team, and is crucial to the trip, and after meeting them I couldn’t agree more.  Each month I look forward to our meeting, and I can’t wait to keep getting to know them all more!!!

            Personally, I am starting to think this trip is going to be bigger than I imagined.  I can already tell that God is shaping me and changing me for this trip, and that big things are going to be happening between now and then, and of course during the trip.  To be honest… I find this rather terrifying.  I know I’m going to be pushed to my limit, challenged, and molded, none of which can be easy.  I think some of my spiritual gifts will be brought to the forefront, and that I will have to lean on God to find a new strength.  I have been told that I will be a warrior and a fighter for God. Which sounds awesome, but when we fight for God we deal with powers we can’t imagine, and that’s what I find so intimidating.  So prayers for strength, courage, discipline, and peace would be greatly appreciated. 

            As far as finances go, I’m doing good for April and am right where I need to be, but I do need about $500 more by the middle of May, if you feel like you’d like to support me please let me know and I can give you the information to do so. 

I am so thankful for all of you, and the support and love you have showed me! Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I’ll do my best to keep you posted J God bless!

Dawn

New Adventures

Hey everyone!
I know it's been a while since I've posted, but I thought I'd update you all on my next big adventure.

A few of you know that I tried to spend a few weeks down in Belize this past summer.  I was trying to do some volunteer work with a ministry my church works with down there.  The ministry is called Laugh Out Loud Ministries, or LOL Ministries, which is an orphanage.  It's run by Jervis and Melissa Fisher. I had been in contact with Melissa when trying to go down there and was really looking forward to meeting her and Jervis and helping with their orphanage. Their orphanage is a little different from what you would consider a normal orphanage.  The children there may not necessarily be orphans, and instead may be abandoned or come from a situation where they are not able to live at home.  This really drew me to them, but as I tried to settle my plans for going down nothing was working out, or coming together. I was disappointed but didn't see any solution and called off the trip.

Now I understand that God had something else in mind. I recently heard about a trip that JFC, my church, was planning down to Belize.  I almost immediately felt drawn to going, and was feeling like I was supposed to go.  I went to the information meeting a few Sunday's ago and was blown away.  The more I listened to the leaders Bruce and Taylor the more I believed I was supposed to go.  After the meeting I talked to Bruce for a few minutes, and after setting up the required interview he spontaneously asked me what I thought I would bring to the trip. This lead to an in-depth discussion about why I want to go to Belize, my missions history, and several other things, it was kinda a pre-interview interview haha.  From there he highly encouraged me to get my application in as soon as possible saying I sounded like a perfect fit for the trip. 

I spent the beginning of last week scrambling to finish my application and get it turned it, but hadn't even finished it by Thursday.  I got a text from Bruce about midday on Thursday, asking how the application was going.  He also had texted me to let me know that he and Taylor had been praying, and that even though I didn't have my application in they believed I was supposed to be on the trip and so they were giving me a spot.  (What I failed to mention earlier is that they are only allowing 12 people to go on this trip) I feel so incredibly blessed to be given this opportunity, and to have a spot on the trip. After getting Bruce's text I teared up and just got incredibly overwhelmed.  I really believe I am supposed to go on this trip, and to have that confirmed by the leaders of the trip, and to be given a spot on the team is almost more than I can ask for.  I just feel so incredibly blessed!

The trip is going to be October 23rd through November 1st. We will be working with LOL during the days and then doing various ministry services in the nearby villages during the evenings, at least that is the plan right now, this may change depending on what the needs are when we get down there.  The only bad thing about this is... I will be missing school, 10 days of school. 

So my first prayer request would be that God would start working on my teacher's hearts now and thaty they would be understanding and not penalize me for the trip.  I would also like to ask for prayers for my bother and sister-in-law who are also applying to go, and that they would get accepted and also be able to join me in this adventure.  My last prayer request would be for funds of course.  As with any missions trip I will be getting most of my funding from supporters.  Please pray that I would trust and have faith that I will get the funding I need for this trip. 

Thank you all for reading, and joining with me on this new crazy adventure! I can't wait to see what God is going to do with all of it! God bless you all!

Dawn