New Faces and New Places

This past weekend, I got to travel to Arkansas with my parents to meet my Africa Team.

On the way down, we stopped at “Western Sizzling”, where I ate my first Hush Puppy, one of many Southern Traditions I was promised to soon be introduced to and hooked on.

Friday night, I met Kimmy, Chris, and Shannon; my entire Intern team minus Aubrey, who couldn’t make the flight out from California.

Pictured here: Chris Campbell, Kimmy Miller, Shannon Jack, Darlene Coulston, Paula Green (My mom), Me, Kevin Green (My Dad), and Charles Coulston.

I also got to meet Dusty and Cecily Breeding, the founders of this Internship. The other important couple I was introduced to was Charles and Darlene Coulston, the founders of Made In The Streets.

Both of these couples became instant inspirations to me. Their love for each other, life, and serving others, was contagious.

We stayed at Chris Campbell’s home. Chris is a Senior at Arkansas Tech University, studying Engineering. From the little time I spent with him this weekend, I learned he loves music, adventure, the outdoors, serving others, and Jesus. His family were the most welcoming hosts to our crew.

Our intern leader, Shannon Jack, is a Senior at Pepperdine University in California. She has been to the MITS Base 6 times (I believe). Shannon’s smile brings light to the room the minute she enters it, and her humble spirit is truly beautiful. It’s obvious she has a love for fun, and a passion for the people of Nairobi.  Over the weekend, we seemed to instantly click, and I can’t wait to make last memories with her this summer!

Kimmy is a Junior at Harding University in Arkansas, but is originally from South Carolina. Kimmy seems wise beyond her years, and is wonderfully creative. She brought with her lovely little braided cloth bracelets that sold like wild fire for her fundraising. She will an awesome asset to our team.

I did not have the pleasure of meeting Aubrey, but I can’t wait until I get to!

We spent the weekend at ChrisTEENS 2012, a huge youth rally in Russelville, Arkansas. While there, we got to engage in the speakers, worship together, as well as learn the art of “Tabling”. Tabling consists of setting up a table to display our merchandise, sharing our ministry with others, and setting up tour dates for our summer tour. We also go to brainstorm about what each of us could bring to the MITS Base itself. I will most likely be teaching or assisting in classes having to do with Drama, Catering (Serving), Basic English, and a Zumba class!

After this weekend, I can’t wait to go! I still need lots of help fundraising, so if you’d like to donate, please send a check to Lifebread Inc. at P.O. Box 424 Malibu, CA 90265 or go to lifebread.org and click the DONATE button. This will take you to their PayPal where you can donate easily online, just please be sure to specify that your donation should go to GRACE GREEN. Remember, these donations are tax deductible. Thanks for all your supports!

As for Prayer Requests:

1) Continue praying for our team – for our hearts, our minds, our fundraising efforts, and even our bodies, as we physically prepare for this trip.

2) Pray for MITS – Pray that the right children would be able to be placed in the program, and their hearts would be teachable.

Thank you for your support and prayers! More adventures to come! If you have any fundraising ideas, please send them my way! Thanks!

And the Journey Begins...

When I got the call about a month weeks ago, I was paralyzed with awe and excitement. I couldn’t believe it was happening. You see, I applied for the Internship with Made In the Streets in the middle of December. I wasn’t chosen. Although I was disappointed, I knew God had a plan, and He immediately gave me peace about it. That’s why I was stunned when I received the call from the Director of the Internship asking me to join the team.

I prayed over the decision for about 4 days, as well as talked it over with my family, and I knew God wanted me to go. So I confirmed my spot on the Internship team!

As for the adventure now, I am in the process of letting God shape my heart in preparation for this journey. As an Intern, we are required to read the book “When Helping Hurts” by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert. As of right now I have read the first two chapters, and done some discussion questions about it. It is so interesting to dig deeper into the dynamics of poverty and how it should be addressed, so much so that I want to share a bit of it with you. I’ll soon be posting another post regarding what I’ve learned from this book.

The rest of my journey right now is consisting of patience and trust. If you weren’t aware, I am currently in a serious relationship with an incredible man who is also my best friend. This semester, he decided to take the semester off to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. For those of you who don’t know about the trail, it is a trail through the Appalachian Mountains that stretches from Georgia to Maine covering over 2,000 miles. His journey will take approximately 5 months. Last Sunday, I hugged him goodbye for the last time in 5 months. As you can now imagine, God is teaching me patience in this journey of waiting, and enjoying my own adventure. God is also teaching me to trust in His perfect timing as I work to raise funds in a limited amount of time. I’ve never been challenged to raise this vast of an amount in such short time, but I know my God is big, and will ALWAYS provide in His perfect timing.

As the journey continues, I’ll continue to keep you updated! In the meantime, if you have chosen to be a prayer warrior for this trip, please be praying for:

1. The children we will be working with. Pray their hearts will be softened and teachable.

2. The missionaries who run The Farm (The Children’s Rehabilitation Home). Pray that their spirits would be kept strong, and their ministry needs continually met.

3. The hearts of the Intern Team. Pray our hearts would also be softened and teachable. Pray we would step down from any pedestals we currently stand on to better serve our brothers and sisters in Christ.

4.Finances. Pray that my fundraising efforts will be successful, and all fundraising goals will be met in a timely fashion.

Thanks for being a part of my adventure!

If you’d like to support my trip, you can send a check to:

Lifebread Inc.

P.O. Box 424

Malibu, CA

90265

(On behalf of Grace Green)