Without Borders.

I have lived in North Philadelphia right outside of Kensington for exactly twelve days. So far I have prayed a lot. I have been excited, at peace, encouraged, loved, and inspired. I have also been nervous, anxious, confused, frustrated and unsure. Thank you to all of you who have continued to support me and pray for me through it all! Throughout the last couple weeks I have moved in, met the Urban Hope team, have gotten to know my roommates, have gotten to know some of the other church members, and have begun to meet people in our community. There are four summer interns- Tommy, Paige, Jada, and myself. I am living in a house with Paige, Jada, and Devin (she is a nine-month intern with Urban Hope who has graciously and lovingly accepted us three ladies into her home). As interns some of our responsibilities include welcoming short-term teams to Philadelphia and taking those teams around Philadelphia to do ministry in our community with those in need of food, clothing, she...

Friends and family, Hola, Bonjour, and Hello! I am writing you to tell you of an exciting ministry opportunity the Lord has given me for the upcoming summer and ask you to partner with me in the exciting direction God is taking me. I am currently a student at Lancaster Bible College, and I am excited about everything God is teaching me during my time here. I have had several opportunities to be involved in ministry throughout this year and last year in Costa Rica. Through these opportunities God has really shown me the need in the inner city for God’s love and compassion. I have a deep burden to help reach out to those in the inner city. Recently I was accepted to work as an intern at Urban Hope Training Center during the summer of 2017. Through much prayer and guidance I have come to believe that this is where God desires me to be this summer. I can’t wait to see what God is going to do! What is Urban Hope Training Center? Urban Hope is located in one of the “rougher...

Buzz word of the week- wrecked. I'm a wreck, life is a wreck, my car is wrecked. Keep saying wrecked and it will no longer sound like a word. Wreck wreck wreck. Wrong. Sadly my car was in an accident last Saturday evening. Thankfully no one was hurt except for Captain Savvy. My car and I had been together since I turned 16. We traveled a lot of miles together. That car took me many places including but not limited to: airports, down the East Coast, to college, and to work regularly. I had very few problems with it and overall it was an extremely reliable car and she will be missed. I am going through the mourning process (it is quite likely I should not talk about my car like this). But this week I said goodbye to a good and trusted friend. Now just wait. The story gets better. I am convinced that as God sits in heaven he laughs. I know He must have a sense of humor, first of all because He made me and secondly because He must laugh at me. After I realized my car was likely total...

My heart sings! Water you turned into wine, opened the eyes of the blind there's no one like you Into the darkness you shine out of the ashes we rise there's no one like you  Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other. Our God is Healer, Awesome in Power, Our God! Our God! I had an amazing trip with so many amazing people. I was able to connect with people I never thought I would connect well with and I miss them already. I thank God for the gift that this trip was to my spirit. Everything including the people I was able to meet, the time spent snorkeling in the bay, watching the sunrise and sunset, attempting to surf, and reading on the beach were gifts from God. God truly does open the eyes of the blind and not only once but over and over again. On Monday the guys and ladies split up. The guys headed to volunteer at a local church and helped do some painting and the ladies headed into town to go thrift shopping. We were shop...

It's my "3rd" trip to Costa Rica but I'm only halfway through so I figured Costa Rica 2.5 was a good title for this one. God really is just amazing. He has already showed up in ways I never expected and continues to teach me and heal me. I traveled to Costa Rica mostly on my own which was cool to learn to navigate international travel on my own. Tonight will be my 6th night here and today we met up with the Cru team from Texas State University. The first half of the trip was spent in San Jose at the Villa where I lived last year. There I was able to reconnect with friends and ministry leaders from last year and also spend some time connecting with this year's students. I loved getting to know them and talk about life even if it was only for a little while. I was able to explore some new places with the new students and visit some favorite spots with friends from last year. It was awesome to spend time with the leadership team, to see their hearts for the students ...

I want to share with you a ministry opportunity that God has presented to me. I have recently been invited to participate in an international mission to Costa Rica this January with Cru. Cru is an organization that has been working with college students since 1951. I would be traveling with a group from Texas State University. I will be traveling with 15 other students and Cru staff members where I will be serving the poor, growing in my Christian faith and character, and sharing God’s love with others. We will spend the first part of the trip helping with various humanitarian needs. Previously this group went to Costa Rica and were able to paint a local church and volunteer there. This trip our team leader is developing another project with this church in order to continue to build this relationship. The ministry will likely address a physical need in the area in order that we might continue to build relationships and share the gospel in this community. During the second part of th...

I have been wanting to do an update now that I am back to college life in the United States. A lot has happened in the last 5 months since I arrived home from Costa Rica.  To start I wanted to make sure that everyone that supported me, both in your prayers and financially, knows they are so greatly appreciated. My year in Costa Rica was life changing. Going into the year my faith in God was shaky at best and my knowledge of Him was minimal. I was not in a great place. However, in Costa Rica I had great mentors, friends, and teachers. I replanted my faith in Christ and in November I was baptized. If you ever want to hear my testimony I would be happy to share.   Coming home to the states took some adjusting. My family for 9 months was gone and so were my ministries. Over the summer I worked a couple different places trying to save up money for college. For 7 weeks of the summer I worked for Upward Bound as a tutor/ counselor. The program is an academic summer program f...