It's Official!!

I am headed to Fiji in June as part of a missions team through Pioneers!! 

I am a little exctied if you can't tell..... :)

Words can't describe how blessed and grateful I feel that God has given me this opportunity.  There is so much that I want to share with you regarding how He has led me here, and I hope to use this blog as a platform to do that before I leave in June. 

I hope to share with you my story, as well as how God has continuously showed me his grace and mercy.  For now, I want to share with you what I will be doing on this trip!!

Pioneers is a missions organization that seeks to reach the unreached through building relationships and planting churches.  I opted for a shorter missions trip my first time around (for various reasons that I will get into later), and there were so many trips to choose from.  It was a bit overwhelming narrowing it down.  I prayed a lot about it, and eventually had my top three choices narrowed down: Fiji, Japan, or Serbia.

Now before anyone starts making any comments about how I chose Fiji as number one because of location, let me be clear: Fiji isn't just beautiful shorelines and white sandy beaches with resorts and crystal clear water.  Fiji is a country used to source children for trafficking.  It is a top location for slaves to be brought from China and forced into prostitution.  People visiting Fiji have the opportunity to rent out children for sexual purpose at one of many small hotels.  The government doesn't follow even the bare minimum standards for helping to eliminate trafficking. It's amazing what goes on in a country or city behind the scenes. 

During my time in Fiji, I will get to work alongside long-term missionaries (LTM).  They will help expose me to a variety of ministries, including working with the poor,  building relationships with the community, working with children and university aged students, visiting trafficking organizations, and much more.   I felt this would be a perfect first step into missions work, and through the mentorship of the LTM, I hope to find exactly where God is calling me to work!

There are many things that need to happen before I leave on this trip, and I hope you will be able to help spread the gospel in Fiji through your prayers and financial support!

Ways You Can Help Spread the Gospel in Fiji

Prayers
- There are so many ways you can help in preperation for this trip through prayer! Here a few specifics in regards to prayers:

• Pray that the Lord works in my heart to prepare me mentally and spiritually for this experience, and to trust in Him to provide everything I need for this mission.
• Pray for the people in Fiji who our team will come in contact with. Pray that their hearts will be open to hearing about Jesus!
• Pray for the long-term missionaries already in Fiji - spritually, mentally, and financially.
• Pray that the team God puts together for this trip is able to serve together well, and form relationships with the people in Fiji.
• Pray that my heart is open to new experiences and a different culture (including maybe trying fish for the first time......!)

Financially
-  The trip itself costs $4900, and this will include our orientation, lodging, food, and airfare to and from Fiji.  However, I will also need to travel to Florida for the orientation, which is looking to be around another $250 for airfare. Will you consider being a financial support team-member?  There are two ways you can donate:

• Send your donations directly to Pioneers using the support slip, which can be found here.
• Give online at www.pioneers.org/give/missionary using my account #175146.  Please note there is a 3% deduction from your donation amount if you use a credit/debit card.  There is no service charge when using an e-check option!

I will admit, asking for financial support wasn't something I was excited about.  However, God has been revealing to me through various people that this is how missions have always been funded. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 8:3-5:  

"For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints - and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first  to the Lord and then by the will of God to us."

I truly believe that God has gifted people to serve in a variety of ways, and one of those is through giving financially to support our mission globally. Please consider being a part of God's mission through this trip!

Helpful Links

To read more about the mission trip: http://www.pioneers.org/edge/destination/islandencounters/
To learn more about the mission organization: http://islandencountersfiji.com/
To read more about trafficking in Fiji: http://www.refworld.org/docid/4fe30ccb2.html