Blog Update #1
Dearest friends,
I can’t believe it’s been exactly 2 weeks since I’ve been in
Germany. I don’t even know where to begin. It has been absolutely AMAZING. I
wish I could just upload the entirety of my journal so you could just read what
God has been doing. I’ll do my best to summarize this crazy missions
experience. My friends who came with me
on this journey (Sam & Gau) We left Minneapolis on June 12th,
7:30pm from the Minneapolis airport and arrived in Rekejavik, Iceland around
6:30am. We had 10 hours to spare so we walked to the town of Keflavik which was
about an hours’ worth of walking. It was cold, cloudy and the town was deserted
and smelled like deceased fish. We got to walk on this black mountainous rocky
shoreline which was the Atlantic Ocean. Then we flew to Frankfurt, and arrived
at 9:30pm June 13th. I’ll never forget the feeling when the plane
was landing in Frankfurt. I started crying. Just realizing that it took 2 years
to get to this missions moment. My heart was SO overwhelmed. A lady in her 60s
also started to cry as she saw me crying. It was such a precious moment.
Realizing all the obstacles, scars, joys, hells………..to be alive for this very
hour, that God had carried me to His heart, in the most unlikely of
circumstances………
I was SO naïve with this traveling experience. Little did I
know the madness that lay ahead. We waited about 6 hours at a train station for
our 4:37AM train. My patience was growing very thin. This was my first time
riding a train in Europe. We didn’t even know if we were on the right train. We
went to Nurberg which was about 3 hours, then 7 more hours to Meissen. We
almost missed our train to Meissen. Then from Meissen we bused to Krogis……I was
SO deathly tired…….it wasn’t even funny. When we arrived in Krogis, this kind
German lady who didn’t speak English told us to walk down this pathway to the
missions school…… We got lost, walked forever, Sam & Gau went to find
someone to ask for directions, and I just sat by the roadside and started
playing my guitar and singing…5 FREAKIN KILOMETERS LATER, after dragging our
freakin HEAVY luggage, we arrived at the gates of Steiger, Krogis. I was SO
mad, tired, and ticked off at life…..I’ve never been in such a ridiculously
long travel experience, but I couldn’t have been happier. (Let’s be honest, what
really made me survive the rest of the day was when these 4 good looking young
Brazilian men, helped carry our luggage the rest of the way….)
SMS Blog Update #2
The Atmosphere
There are about 100 students at this missions school. They
are from Brazil, Poland, Ukraine, Spain, Finland, USA……..I live with 4 other
crazy young ladies. Olga & Magda from Poland. Gau, and Anna from Spain. I
couldn’t have asked for better roommates. What’s really nice is that they
appreciate my wild Lithuanian craziness. I’ve promised myself that I’m going to
continue to learn Russian and start learning Polish. It’s going to be really
hard, but for future missions purposes my heart would love to evangelize in
Lithuanian, Russian, & Polish.
Krogis is literally in the middle of nowhere. The only store in the town
closes at 8pm. AHMEN. I’ll survive. I absolutely LOVE living in such an
international community. It’s interesting to see the culturally awkward moments
unfold. A typical mission’s day…… Spending time with Jesus…..chores………..several
hours of church services………….working on creative evangelistic outreach
projects…….learning Russian…..learning Polish……………..hanging out with amazing
dear friends……..
Sermon Quote Highlights
(The top sermon quotes that have really blessed my heart
& life so far……too much amazingness to write down all at once)
“The good shepherd takes the lost sheep, puts it on his
shoulders and walks with it home, lovingly. ~The heart of Steiger~
If we are going to get the world’s attention for Christ, we
must be foolishly passionate ~David Pierce
“I’m going to have a fire in my soul, until I go to Jesus.”
Jodi Pierce
Go to the place where you need a miracle.
When things start happening with God, you’re not going to
want to continue sometimes, you’ll be really exhausted, you’ll want to quit,
but you MUST keep going and NEVER give up. #SEEK.GOD.
IT DOESN”T MATTER WHAT PEOPLE THINK! IT’S NEVER ABOUT THE
MONEY. PEOPLE CAN’T HOLD YOU BACK. YOU HOLD YOURSELF BACK.
“Clean the toilets” Life perspective
“If I was going to win that race, it was going to mean
PAIN.”
“If I don’t die….I’m NOT going to quit” ~David Pierce
Your experiences, not others, take initiative; don’t wish
you lived someone else’s life. Live your life in such a way, you aren’t jealous
of anyone else’s. ~Jodi Pierce
When people say you can’t do this, remember you can do it,
with God.
If you are SO afraid of criticism, IT WILL DESTROY YOUR
CREATIVITY.
“I don’t like that man, I must get to know him better” ~Abe
Lincoln
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