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1) How long have you been involved in Missions work?
9 years

2) Where did you go on your first trip?
When I was sixteen, I went to Acuna, Mexico, where we participated in food outreach, street ministry, and ministry in orphanages and schools.

3) What other countries have you visited?
Nicaragua

4) In getting prepared to leave for Missions, what did you find to be your greatest obstacle?
Raising the funds to go was my greatest obstacle.

5) What motivated you to go?
I began to pray to the Lord, “Break my heart with what breaks yours.” And He did! When I would hear stories from people or see videos and pictures from Nicaragua or Mexico, my heart would overflow for those people, especially the children. At the time, I was studying Spanish in college and was an optometric tech for an eye doctor in town. I thought I was going to help with a vacation Bible school for the Nicaraguan children. But God had other plans. When we arrived, we found out the vacation Bible school was cancelled, and the eye doctor who meant to go wasn’t able to. They were left without a doctor for the eye clinic. Through lots of prayer and dependence on the Great Physician, I was able to train a team to give out over 500 pairs of glasses to the Nicaraguan people at the medical clinic. It never ceases to amaze me how God orchestrates, transforms, and establishes our plans when we simply answer his calling.
6) Describe your first thoughts on arriving in a foreign country.
I remember feeling vulnerable. I also remember almost immediately feeling overwhelmed by the weight of the great need around me.

7) What is your favorite memory or most poignant moment?
There are so many! I believe my most favorite memory was when I went to Juarez to build a house with Casas por Cristo. It was the last day, and we all gathered inside a house that a bunch of inexperienced volunteers had built over the past three days. We began to pray and dedicate that house to the Lord. I cannot describe the emotion I felt as this family then committed their lives to Jesus and expressed deep gratitude to us, and then we all gave great thanks to God for what he had done!

8) Have you ever gotten ill or experienced danger on a Missions trip?
The only time I was ill was when I was in Nicaragua. I reacted to some of the vegetation in the rural areas where we had our clinic.

9) What shocked you the most about conditions you experienced or cultural differences in a country you have visited?
I was very surprised by the lack of sanitation. It broke my heart that many of the people lived in filth and disease.

10) Do you fund the trips yourself, or rely on contributions from others?
I rely on contributions from others. I send out support letters to friends and family asking for their help. The time spent waiting for the money to come in is so difficult, but it’s also the most rewarding because you see God move mightily on your behalf. He gives seed to the sower! I remember being two days away from leaving for Nicaragua and I was short over $800. Out of the blue, my uncle calls me and the conversation ends with him wiring a check for $1000. God not only covered my costs, but he allowed me to have spending money to bring home mementos that will forever remind me of the incredible work God did that week.

11) Do you plan on going on another trip, and if so, where?
I plan to return to Nicaragua and my greatest hope is to one day take a mission’s trip to Africa.