We arrived in Atlanta Friday evening. After dinner, we were challenged to go out onto the streets with a group, find random people, and share stories with them.  I will admit, my first reaction to this news ran more along the lines of "Say What??" rather than "OK, let's do this!" So it shouldn't be a big surprise to know I started out a little apprehensive about the whole experience. My mind went into overdrive thinking of all the possible scenarios that could come out of these encounters. What if…What if…What if…. But I knew if I...

La verdad que no se donde empezar. Esta semana ha sido una locura. Siento que tengo tanto que contarles, pero no se como ponerlo todo en palabras. Llegamos al aeropuerto el viernes y ahi nos conocimos todos. Honestamente fue miedoso llegar de un sitio donde todo el mundo te conoce y te quiere y luego llegas a un sitio donde nadie te conoce y tienes que empezar de nuevo con todo el mundo. Pero pues ha sido chevere conocer a todas las ninas y ninos de mi equipo. Entonces el viernes nos quedamos en un shelter de personas sin casa en el centro de Atlanta. Fue super duro, solo ver como vive...

    The stripping away of all that is known, all that is comfortable, all that I depend on except the Lord. Painful, tough, and draining – these are all words I would use to describe the process of this past week (training camp). But rewarding all the same. To know I can be completely satisfied in the Lord is truly exciting.      When leaving for my trip to Guatemala, I didn't realize we would first go through a week long training camp. I knew there was some sort of gathering before we left, but I didn't realize just how intense it would be. A...

The day I left for training camp I found a card that my dad had snuck into my backpack. On the front of the card was a picture of a little girl pushing a big rock with all her might, a rock that clearly could not be easily moved, especially by a child as small as her. He wrote inside that over these next four months in Guatemala I will probably feel like that little girl often. He encouraged me that even when I feel like the task I am striving to accomplish is impossible, it is not because God is with me, and he is ultimately my strength. When I read that card for the first time I knew that...

I am courageous through God. What encouraging words. Since I arrived in Atlanta, which happened to be on my birthday, I fought with God on why he wanted me to leave my family, friends, and school. I knew I was supposed to be extending the kingdom and showing people God’s love who needed to know about it, but I felt weak. Through the few days I have been at training camp I have truly connected with God on such a different level. Three people prayed over me, one person I had never met! All three peo­ple telling me that I was courageous. I don’t know about most people but to...

               By this time tomorrow, I’ll be in another country. I still can’t wrap my mind around that. Training camp has been pretty crazy, but I feel like our team has meshed together really well. The first day in Atlanta, after riding the Marta, we arrived in a place called the SafeHouse. They’re an organization that provides ministries for the homeless and that’s where we would be sleeping for the first night. Late that night, we were given the opportunity to go out onto the streets and just talk to people. We walked a...