It’s been a while since my last blog post, and so much has changed in that time. Here’s a little update for everyone about where I’m at now. Currently I’m sitting in my parents living room, but that’s not exactly what I mean. In the last 9mo, wow that’s a long time, since I posted my trip has changed twice. First we got word that we could launch with our original group, but not in August, instead we’d wait until October and launch into our trip right after training camp. That’s where the waiting started, but it was easy to change plans so I could leave in October instead. So in the meantime, my family helped me fundraise and that’s where most of the trusting has been. I currently sit at $2,664 until I’m fully funded, although it doesn’t yet show some of my coming funding.
If you’ve known me for any time at all you know I hate asking for help, and especially help with money. That’s where me selling shirts, bracelets, cheesecakes, and more came in. Selling those alone did well for me and I raised over $4,000 doing that along with donations. Over the summer however I saw God show up in big ways. My father had the idea for me to setup a stand with vegetables, fruit, jams, and bread to raise money, so we got to work. He got in contact with farmers he knew in south Arkansas, and I found a spot to setup on a corner down the road from us. We had a thought that this would probably raise a few thousand if I worked it hard, and that would be a huge help to get me closer to my goal, but God had other plans. We ended up selling out our first day and having to get more the next day! This kept up for almost a month! In that time I was able to meet people who knew about AIM and more importantly, share the gospel and my own faith with people who knew nothing about God. I never expected to have so much support and the ability to share the word while on the side of the road in Ratcliff AR. Within that month of working I raised over $9,000! After this, my wonderful church family had a yard sale to help me with fundraising. In three days, with almost everything they had priced under $5, they were able to raise over $700! I’m so thankful to everyone who donated, or helped with these! It just goes to show you God can work in wonderful and surprising ways.
Now I feel like I’m in a constant countdown, mostly of my own making. I’ve got 5 days until my little sister gets married and I gain my first little brother, 18 days until I get to see my teammates in real life at training camp, just over 3 months and we will (hopefully) launch on our trip and spread the word around the world. While we don’t exactly know everywhere we will be going, that’s part of the trusting. God will send us where we are needed and I will trust in his planning for us. In the meantime, some of the team is meeting through Zoom to encourage each other and share how God’s working in our lives. Even though seeing all these smiling faces is wonderful, I still can’t wait until we all meet face to face! In the waiting there is so much I’m learning, God is pulling me out of my comfort zone and preparing me for all He will bring on this journey. While it’s not going to be easy, I can’t wait to see all that He has planned for me in the next year, and the amazing friends I’ll be making along the way.
