Leaving so Soon!

My launch into Journey School is officially less than one week away, which is honestly so crazy to think about! It feels so recent that I was even considering this as an option, and now I am already (almost 😅) fully packed. The excitement of traveling the world and spreading the gospel has definitely started to bubble up inside of me. I've looked up the cities, researched the weather, and started to imagine each place. Simultaneously, the realization that I am actually leaving everything and everyone familiar behind has truly started to kick in too. Moments feel so fleeting and days fly by. It's like I am looking forward to something and then it's gone. In that though, God has been so kind. He has allowed me to reflect on the abundance of blessing that He has provided. He has shown me that this "see you later" isn't so emotional because I am doing the wrong thing, but because there are things and people here that mean so much to me.

What Journey School is all About

Journey School is an 8 month gap year opportunity to travel to seven different countries spreading the gospel while doing online college at the same time. As a team of about 25 people, we will be traveling to Tokyo Japan, Seoul South Korea, Da Nang Vietnam, Kathmandu Nepal, Bangkok Thailand, Pererenan Indonesia, and Brisbane Australia. Each country's ministry style will differ but I am so excited for everything! Additionally, I will have class time each day which will allow me to come home with 24 accredited college credits. It really is the best of both worlds.

How I Got Here

In June of 2025 I went on my first mission trip to Guatemala. That trip was transformational for not only my faith but also for my potential call to ministry at the time. I was thinking of pursuing ministry vocationally, but I wasn't sure, and that trip, doing ministry each day really confirmed that it was what I wanted to do for a living. I got home from that trip and missed being in Guatemala A LOT! However, I didn't know if that was because it was just my first mission trip or what, so the next year I signed up to go to Brazil over spring break in 2026. That trip was also amazing and transformational in the way that I saw how different types of ministry could be. I got home from that trip and I missed Brazil A LOT too. That got me thinking that maybe it wasn't just coincidental, but that my heart was longing for missions. So, I started praying and asking God if He was calling me to missions. I had several conversations and prayers, and then I saw something about Journey School. It was like the world between going to college (which I was planning on doing) and pursuing missions collided. God confirmed that this was something that aligned with His will, and so now I am stepping out in faith, because God has been faithful and I know that where He leads, He has got me.

While I am Gone

While I am gone I don't know exactly what will be happening here, what my friends will be doing, what my family will be doing, what I am missing out on, what I will be doing, where exactly I will be going. There are a lot of I don't knows, but I do know that God is in control. That God knows. My life hasn't been the easiest to predict and that has taught me that when God is in control everything works out exactly how it is supposed to. I have peace in that, so I have peace in leaving, no matter how much it hurts. As I leave I am trusting Him with everything even when it is hard to let go. I ask that as I am leaving you would be praying for me in whatever way the Spirit is leading you, but some specific ways I can think of are that God provides funds, family, and familiarity. Funds to sustain my trip, family within my team - that even though we're just meeting it would be like we've known each other forever, and familiarity that even so far away from my normal, God would show up to connect the gaps and make unfamiliar things familiar.

Staying Connected

This blog is a really practical way to stay connected with me, so I hope you will continue to lean in and read whenever I post :)