Four summers ago I received a vision of me on a tennis court. I was hitting the tennis balls way over the fence. Everyone around me was asking “what are you doing?” as if I was being a complete idiot and being wasteful and purposeless. But the vision was not over. The balls were landing at the feet of international children and international elderly people. The children began to play with the balls and the elderly people began to put the balls on their walkers. I have been thinking about this vision a whole lot the past couple of weeks. I believe God has been teaching me some solid...

One of my biggest fears coming into this trip was my inability to naturally encourage, affirm and motivate people. I did not know how I was going to co-lead a young adult women’s mission trip when I did not know how to encourage or affirm them.  Or did I know why God was calling me to do so. Within our second week here, I received some constructive feedback after a conversation with one of the girls on the team. She told me that after our conversation about some personal things, she did not feel cared for or encouraged by me. This hit me really hard. I was aware that I struggled to...

For the confidentiality of those written about, I have only used a letter to identify them rather than their full name. For the last month, our team has had the privilege of living with and working alongside eleven beautiful women who have intentionally left the bars to pursue a relationship with Jesus and participate in the program for them through Samaritans Creations. Being with them so much, we are able to continually pour love into their lives. It is amazing to hear some of their stories and how God has changed their lives in such large ways. Our team has, thus far; made an order of handmade...

            I would like to start with coming together with you all to say, “Our God is an Awesome God!” “I exalt His Name on High.” “He is my Redeemer, Savior, Friend, Lover, Groom, Father, and Helper.” “Our God is worthy to be praised!”             Coming back from the Koren tribe (the mountain village) was harder than I expected to come into the city. The atmosphere of Chaing Mai could easily be described as empty; so empty it felt painfully oppressive. The Koren tribe (unexpectedly) was a Christian Village. They have church every Sunday and the children are raised in Christian families....

~~We have officially arrived, and are beginning to get acclimated, to our new home in Chiang Mai, Thailand! This place is fascinating and far different from our American lifestyle. After a 12 hour day in the Atlanta Airport, an 8 hour flight to Amsterdam, a five hour layover, a 12 hour flight to Bangkok and an 11 hour drive to Chiang Mai, we are FINALLY home. I love it!!  Our home is called Zion Hostel at Zion café, and it's truly a light in the darkest of places. Located on a corner right down the street from the Red Light District, Zion Café is a fortress for so many...