Student.Go Orientation

Well... a lot has happened since my last post. My last day of school with my students was Thursday, May 21st. It was much harder than I ever expected. Very bittersweet! The last two years have been transformational. I feel so blessed to be a part of the Shades Mountain Elementary School family. I could not have asked to work with a more supportive faculty and administration. I know that some of them will continue to be lifelong friends. My students have inspired, challenged, and stretched me. I love them all, and have learned so much from each of them. 

After school ended, I didn't have much time to catch my breath before Student.Go orientation. We began with dinner on Wednesday, May 27th, and finished with lunch on Saturday, May 30th. There are 42 students/young adults serving through the Student.Go program this year. I really enjoyed making friends who are answering a similar calling. Many of them are volunteering in the following locations this summer: Miami (Touching Miami with Love), Arkansas (Helena), DC, China, Uganda, Brussels, Alabama (Perry County), Virginia, New York, California (Freemont), Liberia, etc. Please join me in praying for them.

Most of the weekend was spent getting to know our team. I feel so blessed to be going to Liberia with Holly Wegman (in the picture above). Holly and I both work for Passport camps over the summer, but have never been on the same team. Our friendship has developed and grown since February, when we both answered our call to this position. Holly will be teaching 7th-9th grade Math and Bible classes, and I will be teaching 2nd grade. These four days allowed us the opportunity to learn more about our personality types, set goals, pray together, and talk about preparations for the next year of our lives. After orientation, Holly stayed with me in Birmingham until she left for camp today. We had lots of bonding time! Please keep her in your prayers as she begins camp this week. She is the director of Passport Missions at Mercer University. It is an exhausting, but a very fun and rewarding job!

As for me... I am finally catching my breath and getting ready to begin my 5th summer with Passportkids on Friday, June 12th. Hard to believe it has been five years, but it is a ministry I love! 

Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers as this journey is becoming reality! Keep the prayers coming!

And the Journey Begins...

This year has been a very eventful one, filled with excitement and new opportunities. God is so good!! 

I graduated from Samford University in May 2007 with a degree in Early Childhood, Elementary, and Special Education. For the past two years I have been teaching kindergarten at Shades Mountain Elementary School in Hoover, AL. I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to work with such a supportive faculty and administration.

In June I will begin my fifth summer working for Passport, a camp that empowers students to encounter Christ, embrace community, and extend grace to the world. I will be directing the Passportkids Special Team, which consists of a session in Texas and two in Tennessee. Through this ministry I have learned so much about myself, and what it means to be the hands and feet of Christ in a world without borders.

From the time I was old enough to play school with my stuffed animals, I knew that I wanted to be a teacher. It was not long after that when I began to feel called to teach students from diverse backgrounds, knowing one day that would take me to another country. Through the love and support of people like you, I feel ready and able to pursue my calling to work with children in Africa.

After camp, I will be home in Orlando for about three weeks before moving to Liberia. I will be serving through the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Student.Go program for the 2009-2010 school year.  I will be teaching second grade at Rick’s Institute, a school that is leading the way in free primary education in Liberia.  The students at Rick’s are native Liberian children, half of whom are boarding students. You can learn more about Ricks Institute by visiting the website www.ricksonline.org.

I have been praying for an opportunity like this for years, and I am so excited about the way God is going to work through me. In preparation for this transition, I have realized that pursuing Gods call is not always easy. It involves a lot of trust and full dependence on God.  I have also learned that I cannot do this alone. Therefore, I would like to invite you to participate in this incredible journey with me... 

You can start by praying! 

Much Love!