OuCh!!!!!

Oh, my....my head hurts thinking about all of the details that must be covered in the next 3 days! On my own strength they will NOT get done!!!

...thankfully none of us must go through the next days in our strength...

"I have strength for all things in Christ who empowers me. I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses inner strength into me. I am self-sufficient in CHRIST'S sufficiency."

Phil. 4:13

(Jared Feister's verse)

I think I speak for each one of my teammates when I say we are so blessed to be going on this trip. The details that have already come together are only because of God's hand of mercy was upon them. We are so incapable of pulling off a trip this big. He's up to something much bigger than us. We've walked through a few hurdles and had a few minor blips along the way, but as only HE can do, He's intertwined those things into a greater picture. And in the places that we've failed, He's covered over with His great faithfulness.

"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are NEW EVERY MORNING, great is Your faithfulness."

Lamentations 3:22-23

(Holly's verse)

We believe He is behind us and all the details that are still to come regarding this trip. We approach a nation that is in mourning over the recent death of their longtime President. There are unspoken risks...but we believe He is moving us forward to proceed, and our HOPE lies in Him..not in what remains unknown. He has gathered 18 of us, taken care of EACH and EVERY need, and we believe He has orchestrated a journey that we will individually discover along the way. He's up to something big IN us...He's uprooting us from what is comfortable and planting us in a foreign land that will require us to need Him more than we ever anticipated.

My prayer is that not one of us comes back the same way we left. What has been uprooted often struggles to go back to the same exact place that was once comfortable. That is my hope for each one of us. That what we offer in these 10 days is never again to be taken back. May we leave behind the part that fights for "ME"...and return with hearts that yearn for "THEM"...My prayer is that in giving and loving like we've never done before we will start a revival that flames into everyone we come in contact with. May it be so.

"And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and Holy sacrifice..."

(Nate Burchill and Bethany Holler's verse)