We left on Friday morning for the Beloved Ebel- Abonga. Ive wanted to go all summer. It was planned that I would go to Cameroon... til I got sick. Still I had peace about staying back because I knew that God must have had a better plan for me.

We had plans to go and stay in a village and do a clinic on Friday, then stay overnight until Saturday. For whatever reason we weren't able to go, and at the last minute plans changed for us to go to Ebel- abonga. Ebel is the village that we got to stay at for four days, and dug a foundation for a church. We left early and stopped to get bean sandwiches, which are basically amazing.

We got there early afternoon, and walked up to see the work that we had done at the church last year. When we had left last year, the property was bare dirt, and the foundation looked great. When we got back there on Friday, the first thing we see is weeds and manioc plants. No foundation. It made me laugh if anything, even though it was pretty frustrating. The reason that no work had been done in over a year was because there wasnt enough money for building materials at the time.

We went back and told people in the village that we were going to be playing the Jesus film that night. Most people seemed interested, others were too drunk to care. We ate hot dogs over a fire and by that time they had already started to film. While the film was playing, I just walked off and talked with God for a while. I'm so thankful that He brought me back there. When I was there over a year ago, I thought that I would never be back. To top it off, last year when we were in the village, we went to go play the Jesus film, only to find that the projector bulb was broken, so it seemed like a failure. How amazing is it that He brought us back to Ebel, to see the film be played in the village for the first time? Not only that, but about ten people prayed to receive Jesus after the film was over. I now understood why He let me get sick to stay from Cameroon. He's a pretty cool redeemer of situations.

After the film we all went to sleep outside under mosquito nets. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that a three day party was going on right across the street... all night long. Funny thing is that I slept through it all. Not everyone else was so lucky.

We got up early and packed up our camp, then went and drove to the church property. I was thinking that the work was going to take forever, and that we were going to have to re dig all the trenches. We took machetes and cleaned up all of the vines that were everywhere and covering everything. Surprisingly we were done in about an hour and a half. No need to re dig the trenches again. Not only that, yet work on the foundation will begin this week. Once again God shows Hes the best at redeeming.

So. I cant believe that this summer is just about over. I have about three days left. Yesterdays church service at Nzeng Ayong really makes me sad to leave. The people have such a love and passion for God that you dont have to speak their language, you can just feel the Spirit moving in them. This summer went too fast. Im going to miss the people that we got to work alongside, like Pastor Jacob, Mama Janine, Pastor John Mark and the list goes on. Ill miss the kids at the Hope House : Mboumba, Moussounda, Christopher, and lastly Emmanuella who is going to break my heart when I have to say goodbye. I'll miss living in the community of young adults who want nothing more than to see Christ glorified through their lives. They have become my brothers and sisters. Ill miss Tim and Meredith who put up with the craziness for a whole summer.

Dont get me wrong, I can't wait to see you all. Im just torn. Once again, ill fall back on the Redeemer who knows every detail, and always has our best interest in mind. Hes pretty Good at taking care of things like this.

Love you all.

I shouldnt be able to write this blog entry. I should be over half way to Cameroon.

I started feeling sick in my stomach on Thursday night, which I'm still dealing with. Between Friday morning and last night I had a hard time staying hydrated and was really weak. I was in bed asleep almost all day yesterday. I slept from 9 last night until about 1:45 this afternoon, with a 3 hour window of being awake. I still feel like I could sleep. I should have left around 6 this morning but I decided to stay because I dont think I could have made the 14 hour ride feeling this way.

Its ok though. I have peace about staying and I know that God must have a reason for me to stay back home.

We had a team come in from Wisconsin on Thursday night. Their Job while they are there is to put a roof on the church at Okolasee, which it actually where we first started working at the beginning of the summer. Right now the church meets under a mango tree. So ill be able to work with them this week. SO. Just please pray that I still am able to get over this stomach problem.

I cant believe that I have less than 2 weeks here. This summer went faster than any other.

I love Bongolo.

I got to go on rounds with a nurse at the hospital on Friday. I watched another nurse clean and dress an amputees wound. The woman had Diabetes and so the amputated a little below the hip. Down the hall was a man with tuberculosis who didnt have money to pay for food. He wasnt gaining any weight and needed food with more protein. The Nurse I was with was able to get the equivalent of $20 for him and his family for the week.
I could see myself working in a place like Bongolo Hospital.
I wish we could have stayed longer. It was an awesome time.

SO. I just found out last night that I will be going to Cameroon on Saturday with a local church. Its the first missions trip from the national church, with about 8 from the church going and 4 of us interns. some will be working on building a church, and others will get to run medical clinics. Only problem is that its a 14 hour drive. I hate long car rides. I better get some Dramamine. Just pray for safety for our trip and wisdom for the driver. Also for health. Dont worry Dad, its a safe place.

Love you guys

Smells like BBQ in here...

We left at 6 AM and got here just before 6 PM yesterday. We only had one flat tire and it wasn't as bad of a trip as I remember. We got in and ate at Barak Obama cafe. Haha I love Bongolo.

This morning we went to put screen on the materinity ward windows, but one of the nurse missionaries knew that a few of us wanted to be able to see all that the doctors and nurses do, so I took the opportunity. After they put us in scrubs, another girl and I, went on rounds with the surgeons, which was lead by Dave Thompson, who is an awesome guy and was the one who started the Hospital. We saw a man who had been hit by a car and other injuries like that. After an hour or so we were able to go watch a surgery in the OR. The first surgery was an umbilical hernia on a woman. That surgery took only about a half hour, then we waited around as they prepped another woman for surgery.

We watched them give her an epidural, which was the only thing that really bothered me. It was about a four inch needle going onto her spine. That was nasty. We watched them remove two cysts from her ovaries, which was also awesome to see. In both surgeries we were able to stand right there next to the table. I was close enough to smell it. Simply awesome.

This afternoon a few of us went down to the river down below the hospital. One of my few fears is being in water that I cant see in that's over my head. I had to get over it quick.
It was so awesome. I wish I could had taken my camera to get pictures of swimming in a river in the middle of a rain forest. All I could think about at the time was the movie Anaconda. Is that sad?

So. Not sure was is going on tomorrow, except that I hope to be able to shadow a nurse or something in the hospital.

Days like today make me just want to worship. Its so awesome to see Gods plans unravel.

Isaiah 55:8

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD.

So, just keep praying that as my time here is winding to a close, that God will keep revealing Himself and His plan all the more.

Miss you all

This week was good.

So. I leave for Bongolo Hospital in the morning. Ill be back Saturday night. I still havnt packed yet.

Not really sure all that we will be doing. I know that we will be working on the nursing school, and I hope to possibly go with some of the nurses in the hospital.

Mmmm not much has changed here. work at cftac is basically done. I also have a chance to go to Cameroon next week, to work with a local church that is sending the first short term team in the country.

I think ill be able to update this sometime this week.
Miss you guys

Mmmmmm so Ive been told that I need to update this thing. I dont really have any earth shattering news, yet I have been loving whats going on here.

Ive been working at CFTAC, digging a trench for a water line, which was around 200 feet deep by 18 inches deep. The water line will be going to a guest house on the CMA's property so that the site can bring in revenue.

The Hope House kids are great.
The Clinic is awesome.
Everything is the same.

Except that God is always showing Himself to me, I am needing His direction more and more and needing to run to Him.

I realized today that this is exactly one month until I leave. Im excited to see friends and family, yet I feel like I could stay here and just keep working. Its exciting to see where God has me next and where it will be. Its hard to trust that He will reveal His plan for my future, yet He is Good. So Ill wait

Anyway, like I said, not much is new. Love and miss you guys.

^{Psalm 33:13-15
13}The LORD looks from heaven;
He sees all the sons of men;
¹⁴From His dwelling place He looks out
On all the inhabitants of the earth,
¹⁵He who fashions the hearts of them all,
He who understands all their works.

I'm starting to like the taste of powdered milk.
Antelope kinda tastes like Limburger cheese.
I ate manioc the other day and didn't mind it.
Always, I mean always, wear sunscreen.
Don't let the mosquito net touch your skin at night. They can bite through.

Interesting...

This week went so fast. We went to the clinic where they are planning on having a rehab center one day. We cleaned that out. We went another day to CFTAC and almost finished digging a huge hole for a septic tank. There was also a mobile clinic or two this week. Other than that I dont remember much of this week haha.

Yesterday we needed a day to rest and spent it on the sweetest beach Ive ever been on, called Santa Clara.Today we spent the first few hours at Nzeng Ayong, an alliance church. It was nice, yet all in french and two and a half hours long.

A friend of mine from last summer, Lionel, stopped in for a while this afternoon. Its funny how just a few day we spent with him last summer made an impact on him. He showed me a video he made from pics of that trip. You can tell that he really loved when we were here last.

Recently I noticed that I have gotten comfortable here. My desire to do my devotions isnt what it should be. I feel like I have been attacked in small ways such as that. I had a cold last week, a possible ear infection this week, and now have moved to being comfortable with not meeting intimately with God everyday. Its interesting how Satan works.

The very first night of this trip, it was like God handed me Psalm 33. Then during training our speaker, Jason Ostander, spoke on finding out orientation in God alone, and used Psalm 33. So far this has been the scripture I have had to run to time and time again throughout this trip, and will continue to need it. Read it for yourself. Its good.

Tomorrow night we're invited to someones house for 'porkypig,' which is porky pine. This will be interesting...

First of all...Dad: Happy Fathers Day. Thanks for all that you do/ have done for me. Thanks for all of the time that you invested in me. I cant even begin to list all of the time and money that you must have spent just so that we could do things together. You are by far one of the biggest influences in my life and the reason for the man that I have become. Love you.



This week went well. I am feeling better after feeling sick in the stomach and a head cold....thanks for the prayers.

We did a Medical clinic yesterday in a village about 20 minutes away. Before every clinic someone gives a testimony, this time it was my turn. After, there is always the plan of salvation explained. I saw maybe 10 of the 30 or so people who showed up pray for salvation, which is pretty amazing. Things like this are the reason why I came here. As Ive said before, the Gabonese are very receptive to the gospel, much more than people in the states.

But it made me wonder later how many of them actually understood what they were praying for, and if they knew what they were repeating, how many of them actually believed it? I Know that God can save anyone, but it still is in the back of my mind. Maybe thoughts like this are actually doubting of Gods power?

Today I sat through a 4 1/2 hour church service. I think it was all of the Alliance churches of Libreville together in one stadium. There were like 800- 1,000 people there. The Hope house kids were there and some of them sat with us, which gave us something to do. I almost forgot...we all got pulled up to front to dance. 15 dancing white people in an African service is a scary sight.

We have have Tim and some of our interns leaving for Bongolo for a week and a half. This means that we will be here alone because Meredith is in the states for 3 weeks. This will be interesting.

mmmm thats it. Thanks for praying.

let me clean up the spilled milk...

I love African children.

We went to the Hope house on monday and just decided to hang out with the kids for a while before we start to get into scheduled things with them. As soon as I walked up to the house a little boy named Moussoumba, who is about 6 years old, came up and wanted me to carry him in because he was "Fatigue," (french for tired). I carried him in and a 10 year old Nigerian boy named Christofer came and gave me a hug. We watched and helped as the kids were drawing on paper whatever they wanted. Most of them could draw better than I have ever been able to.

After a few hours I started to wonder how their parents do it. There are 25 or so of these kids in the house. After a few hours of crying, fights and puking, I was ready to go....But they were so much fun. They always find things to do and occupy their time with. I saw a 3 years old trying to make a meal of manioc in the back yard with a butter knife and a piece of wood as her chopping block haha. They just need love and attention, which is something im glad to give them.

Tuesday I went to the medical clinic. I get to help fill out prescriptions, which is something I would have to go to school for forever at home. The people come in, see a doctor and then come and get medication that we give them in the Pharmacy. I enjoyed that a lot and hope to be there a lot this summer. This is also on the same property that I hope to help get a rehab center working.

I dont think I ever mentioned that I along with another girl are in charge of meals. On Saturday Meredith leaves, Tuesday the girl that is also in charge of meals leaves, so I will be in charge of meals for 12 people for a while. I hope they dont mind cereal.

So. What has God been showing me? That I need to be seeking Him and running after Him more than ever. I need His direction leading me to the next steps more than I have ever needed. Also that I have been not doing the best job in loving people. Pray for me in those areas.

Also pray for my health and safety. I haven't been feeling good the past 2 days.

Ill try to update again soon and more often. The internet is slow with so many people in the house.

Dad: Sorry I couldn't make it to the convention this year. Love you.

Oh man. I dont think I can make another trip to Bongolo. 1. We were about 2 hours into the trip when our battery caught a box on fire in the back of the van. 2. one more hour left on the trip and a front tire blew out. 3. we were driving back from dinner and our van got stuck going up the driveway, taking an hour to get unstuck. But... we got there.

The reason that we were at the Hospital was for a prayer retreat, and to seek which ministry God is leading us to this summer. I feel like I want to do so much. Ill be doing the Hope House, the medical clinic and also would like to help start a physical rehab center. I'm really hoping to see that get running.

While at the Hospital we got to get a tour. We saw things that broke my heart for the people. An HIV positive mother and son, a mother watching her baby slowly die of kidney failure, a big line of people needing optical care etc. Yet it was awesome to see christian doctors and nurses treating those needing Christ. While we were there we got to watch a surgery on a gangrene leg. The man had an infected foot, went to the witch doctor who put it in boiling water which made it get more infected. they were trying to save the leg and were planning on doing a skin graft the next day.

We got to go caving while we were there. It was pretty sweet. I thought for a while we were going to be lost. A few times we had to crawl on our hands and knees in mud.

The ride home was a killer. We left at 630 and got home at 530. The roads are so messed up.

Anyway. Tomorrow I'm going to the Hope House. It'll fun to hang out with the kids again.

These past few days have been tiring yet really good. We did the traveling medical clinic one day, were at the hope house twice, saw a baptism, and help clear the land for a church that is being built.


The kids at the hope house are so fun. If you dont know what it is, it's a house that holds about 20 kids which have been abandoned. They range from a couple months old, up to 18 years old. We went there to do some concrete work for a new building, yet ended up playing with the kids for the most part. We got go there twice thus week.

We went and did the traveling medical clinic in a local village for half of the day. Its where they go to a village, people pay about 10 bucks for a consultation and meds. There are nurses to talk to, as well as a portion that deal just with optical. I got to help work in the Pharmacy part of it, which is something that I would never be allowed to do at home. I really enjoyed seeing the people coming in who really needed medical help and being able to watch them get it. We really take for granted the ability to go to the doctor and get simple medicine at home.

We went to a baptism at the beach on Saturday night. Here in Africa the baptism of a new believer is a extremely joyous occasion with singing and dancing. Its not only is a symbol of being united with Christ, but is joyous for the fact that they are no longer under the oppression of the devil and are free of the darkness. It was so cool to see the pastors and the people being totally not serious and just celebrating.

yesterday we went to the church that we helped cleat land for, yet met down the road under a mango tree. It wouldnt be an african church service with loud singing and dancing...would it? by the end everyone was in a big circle worshiping and dancing haha.

Tommorow we are leaving at 6 in the morning (1 am tuesday morning) for Bongolo Hospital, which is a 12 hour drive, mostly on dirt road. Bongolo is on the other end of the country, and not very far from Congo. We will be shown around the hospital because we will be working there later this summer, but this will mostly be a prayer retreat. We will get to be with some of the missionaries that work at the hospital also. Its going to be a really good trip. I hope to be able to get to work there in the medical part of the Hospital later this summer. I cant wait.
The trip will be until saturday night. I wont have internet until that time. So keep us in your prayer with safety for travel and health. There will also be plenty of bugs where we will be.....
Dont worry though. This is where God brought me.

(Terri I tried to upload pics of the hope house the other day but there is too slow of a connection. hopefully I can do it sometime this summer!)

Ah I love it here. All of the interns and I have been able to bond alot over the past week and a half. I feel like we hit the ground running though. We went to the Hope house yesterday so that we could pour footers for a building. Tomorrow were going back to finish. This morning we went up to a plot of land that a church is being built on, and cleared the land with machetes. My arms are raw from chopping the brush haha.

We went and played soccer at the bible college and CMA center, with a group of kids and adults. Tomorrow we are going to do the traveling medical clinic, which I am really excited for.

One thing that God is showing me is that I need to learn to pay attention more to the people that are right in front of me, then love them. I so often start working at a job, then nothing else matters.

Alright. Im so tired. Im looking forward to going to the bongolo hospital next week for training there. Ill try to update soon.

Oh yeah..alot of times I cant get on the internet. So thats why I cant get on

were all settled and getting used to everything here. This is crazy. Sorry for not updating as much as i should be. Sometimes the internet doesnt work.

the trip went well, except for the fact that I was told at five in the morning that my flight was canceled. I called and woke up a few people and within 45 minutes I was running to the gate. I was fully expecting to not make it on the flight and need to fly by myself on the next.

Im so excited to get connected in the different ministries this summer. Today Tim took all of us interns and showed us the many differn't ministries, such as the mobile medical clinics home base, and the CMA headquarters for Gabon, which is right down the street from their house. We saw a few other medical facilities as well. We get to go to the hope house tommorow, which is a home that houses about 20-25 children. Next week we get to go to the Bongolo Hospital, which is a 12 hour drive on crazy roads. Its an orientation to show us what we will be able to do there the rest of the summer.

Im so tired. Ill try and update again soon.

WERE HERE! Ill try to update and post pics soon, I'm just so tired. this is crazy

thanks for all of your prayers. I almost didnt make it because I was told at 5 yesterday morning that my whole flight was canceled.

This week has been an amazing way to prepare me for the trip. Altogether there were around 40 students who were leaving for the whole summer or up to a year, going on missions trip all over the world. We had small sessions with amazing speakers, such as Ron Walborn (Alliance Theological Seminary) and Jason Ostrander. Ron spoke on the Holy Spirit, and his role in our lives. Jason spoke on Disorientation, and finding our orientation in Jesus alone. I cant say enough Good about the speakers and their messages.

I had two thoughts really hit me:

a. God could have done, and still can do the work that will be done this summer, yet is using us. He doesn't NEED us to work, yet what an honor to be specifically chosen for a task, directly from God.

b. God has been working where we are going even before we started planning or even working towards going on this trip. We are simply the tools that he will use for His purpose.

EVERYTHING WAS GOING GREAT UNTIL THIS MORNING!
I woke up in a bad mood. I for some reason recently had formed the view of God in my mind that since He is such a Holy, pure and amazing Being, that I have no right even bothering Him with my small things. Sadly...I don't even know know how to approach God anymore. Then because of this, I woke up with the thought: 'does God even like me?' I know he loves me no doubt. That's undeniable. Yet, besides making sure that I bring Him glory and praise, does He really care about ME??

I went to the last session calmed down, yet the question still was bothering me.
Right at the beginning of the session, our worship leader just started speaking directly from his heart. He gave the simple example that He loves and actually LIKES two things: his wife and sushi. Since he LIKES these things, he can talk about them for hours and share with anybody he wants to about it. Then he asked the question 'do you actually LIKE Jesus?' I was hit by a wall. I realized that this is the reason it is so hard to share about Jesus and telling about Him. This is why Im scared to get into conversations about Him: Is it that I dont LIKE him? That hurts so bad to say. I'm so ashamed. I love Jesus, yet there is a difference between loving someone and actually liking them.

Tonight I was drained. I needed to talk to God so bad. I left the motel room so that my roommate could have privacy and walked down to the hotel lobby and found a chair around the corner from the motel's bar. I started reading John. Still the thought 'does God like me?' was in my head. I just said a quick prayer asking God to show me what He is passionate for. I was about to leave. I felt led to read the next chapter in John, which is chapter 15. I got to verse nine which is Jesus speaking to the disciples, saying "Just as the Father Has Loved Me, I have also loved you..." I nearly jumped up out of my chair.

IT'S THAT SIMPLE?? (I sat there laughing, drunk people were around the corner yelling about something while I was in shock.) Its that simple? I have read that verse so many times, yet it never meant the same as it did now. When reading this, I immediately thought of the different Gospel accounts (Jesus' baptism and the transfiguration) where God is talking directly about Jesus. Theres no denying that God sounds like the proudest father in the world, gloating when speaking about Jesus. He sounds crazy about Him.
Then the second part of that verse says that Jesus loves us the same way that the father loves Him. This means that Jesus is crazy in love with us. The kind fatherly love that God the Father had for Him, Jesus has for us. This must mean Jesus likes us.... Jesus likes me. I dont know why such a simple concept was so hard for me to believe. It must be the same way that my dad thinks of me.

When I finally understood it, I was dumbfounded. I have read Crazy Love by Francis Chan, and have been told all of my life that Jesus is crazy about us, yet it never made so much sense until now. I remember sitting in my Romans class this semester being told that from one of my favorite profs, yet I still didn't take it as fact.

Point number one that God had shown me on this trip: He likes me.

Sorry for being long winded hahaha =)

Oh yeah I forgot to add that Our flight leaves tomorrow (Saturday) at 9:25 EST. Please pray that there are no problems with the volcano. Some of the teams going to other countries were delayed a day because of it.

"But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord God my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works."
Psalm 73:28

I dont feel real.

I am laying in my bed at the Hotel in San Diego. So tired. I just had my first meal in 24 hours . I think ill take another nap. Tomorrow we have to take a shuttle back to the airport to meet up with the rest of the interns that will be with us in Mexico for a week of training. We will have two awesome speakers for the training and have been told we will be surprised as to what all will take place there. Im pretty excited. We have no idea what kind of living conditions we will be in, what food we will eat, or what we will be doing.

We found out that when we do actually leave here for Africa, it will be a 30 hour trip. I dont think I like that plan. I cant wait to actually get there and to serve however Gods uses us. This summer will be such an experience that I know God will use to help shape our lives and paths we take.

Last thought: God is so funny how He encourages and calms us in ways that would only make sense to us individually. Yesterday I was starting to wonder if I was really following Gods desires or my own to Go back to Gabon. He made it known to me again that it was His plan.

We have a funny God.

Ill try and update sometime this upcoming week.

Nerves

Yeah, so if you haven't already been on here, this will be my blog for when I'm in Gabon. I will leave this Saturday for a week of training in San Diego and Ensenada Mexico, and will be in Gabon from May 30th til August 13. I'm not so sure what will happen during the training in Mexico. I think they want us to be surprised actually.

My two friends along with 7 other interns and I will help lead groups that are staying with Tim and Meredith Brokopp, which are the missionaries that we are staying with. Along with helping the groups, we will help the Brokopps in their different ministries, such as the Hope House, a mobile medical clinic etc. I really like the mobile medical clinic and cant wait to work at the Bongolo Hospital. We will also be able to connect and build relationships with the Gabonese people.

We will need prayer for safety and for health. Also, please pray that God will prepare our hearts and they we will always be ready for service.

Yeah, its soon. I'm just ready to be there now.

Keep us in your prayers.

Drew

I have no words to express my thoughts right now. I have been sitting here for 15 minutes trying to get my thoughts gathered. With just finishing up classes, all I can think of is summer...

I leave for Gabon in 11 days. I have 3 days to pack up my life here at school and then one week to pack up my life for the summer, in only 70 pounds of baggage. ugg, I just want to be there now.

My two friends and I leave May 22 for a week of training in San Diego. I just found out that we will be staying a few days in Ensenada Mexico for part of the training, but I dont know of what all we will be doing. We then leave May 29 for Gabon. I woke up the other morning almost nauseous from the thought. I feel like last summer is just a taste of what God had in store for us this summer. 10 days was simply not enough.

Im almost done reading CrazyLove. Its about living your life in such a way for a God that loves us with a ridiculous love. Just something Francis Chan says: "A person who is obsessed with God is characterized by committed, settled, passionate love for God, above and before every other thing, and every other being." I hope that can someday be said of me.

My friends and I will be reading Follow me to Freedom before we leave. It looks good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkIZV3k-U84

thoughts and thoughts....

My mind is overloaded.

The biggest thing on my mind is school. I've spent this whole year studying 100 percent bible. I came into my program thinking I knew more bible than most college freshmen. I now realize I know basically nothing of this Book that could be studied a lifetime and its story never fully comprehended. Why would it make sense for a God who is so holy, so amazing and so beyond my simple comprehension, redeem a people who never seem to want Him for the most part? The story of the drama of His redemption is even hard to fathom sometimes. Its the most intricate story I have ever known.

-God saves the only righteous man named Noah from the destruction of the earth because of sin.

-A few thousand years later Abraham is chosen by God, and promised the earth will be blessed through him.

-God uses Moses to lead His people, Israel, into a land promised to them. He gives them the Law to follow, to show them that they are incapable of measuring up to His standards.

-David is promised an heir to the thrown forever.

-God sends the prophets to speak to His people a message that they need to return to Him and be obedient.

-God finally sends His son, Jesus, whom fulfills the covenants made to Abraham and David, and fulfills the Law in every way.

-The craziest part is this: The perfect son of God who never knew sin, died to pay for my sin and takes it away? Unbelievable.


I guess I will never be able to understand this thing called grace. I don't think we're meant to.

Ahh. I guess I just needed to vent.

Now that were past all of that.... I leave for Africa in 3 weeks. I dont know where all the time that I thought I had went. I decided to read Crazy Love, by Francis Chan before I leave. I only read up to chapter 2 and love it. So far the two main questions I have to ask from reading it are: "Who do I think I am compared to God?" And: "What am I doing that counts because of this knowledge of God? " Check it out if you haven't already read it. crazylovebook.com

To be honest...

Mmhmm, I should have started this blog a long time ago. I meant to do it... but I'm good at procrastinating when I want to.

The main reason that I'm making this blog is to share my journey, thoughts and feelings for when am on a trip to Gabon, Africa this summer. I will be an intern with the same missionaries I was with last summer, and will be able to serve alongside them while they do their thing. Tim and Meredith Brokopp have a home in Libreville, Gabon, which is set up to hold groups coming over for short term missions trips. My main job will be serving along with Tim and Meredith while they perform their various ministries, such as helping with the short term groups, a home for abandoned children, a mobile medical clinic etc.

When I went to board the plane to come back from Gabon last summer, I knew I wasn't done there. I saw so many amazing things such as several people getting saved or at least have the gospel presented to them. Best of all I saw God working in the heart of the Gabonese people, and that's why I want to go back.

Yeah, I'm giving up my summer which could be all about myself, for a summer that has nothing to do with me, and all about serving God through serving others.

Follow me on my journey.

-Drew