Israel!!!

YES! I made it! I graduated!!! On the Mount of Olives!!! How epic is that?!
I can't tell you how good it was to see the other teams in Israel. 
And how amazing it was to get to walk where Jesus walked. 
I feel so privileged to have gotten to do this. It was a dream come true for me. And YOU helped me do it! 
THANK YOU!!!!

Being in Israel was different than I expected it to be. We toured many places Jesus walked and it was sad to me how religeous they've made those places. It was hard to imagine Jesus being there when there are big gaudy churches built on top of every thing. But it was still great to learn about the history, read the Bible in those places, and get a feel for what it was like in His days. Most of the time there was spent touring the Holy Land and having our last lectures. We also had a couple of days devoted to team presentations which was so good.

It was awesome having my momma there with me the whole time too. It was such a blessing that she got to come to my graduation and also get to know all my friends!

I know I'll add a lot more to this post later... I'm still trying to process everything and it's hard. I think it'll take me a while to really debrief myself and get my head out of YWAM mode...

Judy and I are in the Athens airport right now, waiting to board our flight to Rome. 
We'll be staying there a week resting and spending time debriefing with God before coming home.
Pray for me, though, because honestly, I don't have very much money left at all.
I haven't been worried about it because the Lord has been speaking to me over and over that He is my Dad and I don't have to worry about what I will eat, drink, or wear. He takes care of the birds, and how much more valuable am I to Him than they are? He's told me to enjoy this week of rest and trust Him to take care of everything for me. 
So I'm hopeful and expectant that He'll take care of my needs! :)
I want to come home with some crazy testimonies of God's provision. 
Prayers are very appreciated.

And for my last announcement.......
*drum roll*
I come home on August 20th at 5pm!!!!!! YAY

See you all soon!

Me with my school leaders, Julie Anna and Jeremy, after receiving my graduation certificate

Momma :)

Turkey

Gobble Gobble :)
  Oh, Turkey was amazing. What a beautiful country. And so much more different than the other Asian countries we've been in! It's more European--I loved that about it. The biggest difference was the muslim community surrounding us. "To be Turk is to be Muslim", the Turkish people say... and that was one thing we knew wasn't right. All around there are people searching for something more to life than that quote. More than the empty religion they were born into without choice. So that was our prayer for Turkey--freedom.
  During our 20 days in Turkey, my team mostly went on prayer walks, worshipped, and served the community in various ways. There are very few Christians in Turkey, and because of that, very few ministries to work with. The first few days we worked with a ministry called 1881 which focuses on sharing the gospel to all 81 provinces in Turkey within 18 months. We had the opportunity to go to a province that had never heard the word of God. It was such an adventure! We had to be a little sneaky handing out Christian papers/booklets/DVDs/Bibles, and even got caught by the police once... but by the grace of God they let us go :)
   My favorite part of our time in Turkey was when we worked at Maria's Cheesecakes shop. (Check out her website here!) We spent a full day (which was not long enough at all) helping Maria make deserts, clean her shop, and whatever else she needed. Being in a place where everyone is muslim, this shop was a breath of fresh air. As soon as you walk in the door you feel Jesus. I felt like I was in an old movie where the world is a perfect place. The look on people's faces when they walked through that door was priceless. Everyone knows there's something different about that place--about Maria.
 Her vision is to provide muslim women with a good job and a peaceful working environment, and to see muslim people get to know Christ through her business. And it's working.
 Being there inspired me more than anything I've done on outreach, I think. To see someone living a completely normal life, but also living her dream, in an unreached country... she is a great example of what a long-term missionary is. And OH, the food she makes.... incredible. She taught me how to make apple pies from scratch. I wish I could work there. I know I would learn so much.
    The rest of the time we were in Turkey, we walked around many ancient ruins where Christians lived hundreds of years ago and prayed and worshipped in those places. I struggled with feeling like I wasn't doing anything meaningful, but God showed me that doing what we were doing was important for the future of Turkey. We were part of paving a foundation for missionaries to come into that land. I had never thought of the work that has to go into a place before it's possible for missionaries to frequently come and go. So it was a different type of ministry, for sure.
  I saw many beautiful places in Turkey... I feel privileged to have gotten to go.
 The team had a week of debriefing there. I couldn't believe that outreach had ended. I still can't. I'm excited for the next season of life, but also scared of not knowing what's next.
Thank you for every one of your prayers for me during outreach,,, I seriously don't know if I could have made it through without them!