And I'll Keep Going

I have now survived two full weeks of my internship.  Living in Elk Creek and working in Louisville (there Christi- I fixed it! I now understand that I'm NOT living in Louisville!) has been great so far.

I have been really blessed during my time here. My first week here I met Kelsey, she graduated from CCU a couple of years ago and has worked in the office for just about a month.  She invited me to go to a small group though Southeast Christian with her.  So on my second day in town I got to meet about 30 other men and women in their 20's.  It was great to meet so many people my age so quickly and it has been fun to get to know the people in the group and study scripture with them.  Tonight we are going to be volunteering as a group at a group home for adolescent girls. I'm excited for that :)

One of my biggest blessings here is my host family and the home I am staying in.  I met the Baunach family when they hosted two other girls and myself in January when we were here for a week for internship training.  They have a basement apartment that was once used by Christi's parents. They now use that space to host missionary interns like myself.  I have my own bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and living room. Tom and Christi and their three children- Rachel, Joshua, and Seth are generously letting me stay in their beautiful home out in the country.  They have a lot of land and a pond in the back yard. They also have a sweet, excited dog (named Abby) and two cats.  They are doing so much to help me feel welcome and I have really enjoyed getting to know them.  I have had many late night conversations with Christi, I got to go to Seth's school program last week, and I even got to go shopping and to the library with Rachel.  Tom has been so helpful (he had to clean up some water that seeped into my basement bedroom and even helped me out with my laundry!) And Joshua is my tech guy that helped me get my computer set up.  It has been great to spend time with all of them!

This week my friend Cynthia is at Team Expansion doing some training so she will be staying with me for a few days.  I met her last week when she was in town and her, another college student (Peter), and I did some missions training together.  I got to spend a lot of time with Cynthia and Peter last week and we had some great conversations.  I was excited that Cynthia decided to come back this week.  Last night we went grocery shopping, had sushi and rice for dinner, and chatted all night. This morning we got up early (luckily she is a morning person) and took a walk around the neighborhood before getting ready for work.  It's nice to be living with another girl my age who is also going into missions. We have a lot to talk about.

Although I do feel blessed by my time here and I am really enjoying my internship, I have had some rough times in the last few weeks.  Satan is attacking me and making me feel worthless, and sometimes I am really falling for it.  Starting a new job and thinking about opportunities for the future is so exciting! I really see how God is working in my life and Satan sees it too.  There have been days when it has really been distracting. One hour I'm totally on fire for God and am excited to see how he can use me and the next hour I am thinking there is no way I can possibly be used.  I have also had times of loneliness (although surrounded by people who love me) and feeling like no one is really supporting me and my desire to be a missionary.  But I am daily being reminded that God is so much bigger than all of this doubt and negativity. I hope to continue to overcome these feelings and have confidence in the plans that God has in my life and to be able to see how he is blessing me and helping me grow daily.

Jesus Said: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the Earth" -Acts 1:8

I've Arrived

Copied from "Adventures in 2012". Written 5/6/2012-

I have now been living in Louisville for a week.  I came to Louisville for a summer internship with Team Expansion (www.teamexpansion.org).  I will be living in Louisville for the next 13 weeks and working as the event coordinator for the organization.

So, how did I get here? I first learned about Team Expansion last July.  I was actually at my grandfather's celebration of life ceremony when I met a man and woman (Dana and Chris) who work with Team Expansion.  I was talking with Dana at the lunch after the service.  He told me about Team Expansion and what they do.  I was excited to hear about this church planting agency because I have a big love for overseas missions.  I told him that I had been searching for an event planning internship and he said they had been praying for an event coordinator for a couple of years and told me to go online and fill out a profile on Team Expansion's website. So a couple of days later, I filled out a profile online.  I wasn't sure if anything would come from it or not, but a week later I was on the phone with Emily from Team Expansion doing a telephone interview.  A few weeks after that, I was filling out a full application and turning in references, etc.  At first I thought the whole process was going a bit too fast.  They wanted applications in by the end of November and training would be at the beginning of January if I were to be accepted.  That wouldn't even give me a real chance to apply for any other internships.  So I put it to prayer and trusted God to lead me to the right place.  At the beginning of January of this year, I arrived at Emerald Hills (Team Expansion's Louisville office) along with 10-15 other college students for summer internship training.  I was still a bit unsure how I felt about it when I arrived, but after 1 day I knew that I was in the right place. I fell in love with Team Expansion right away. We spent that week of training learning about what the Bible has to say about missions and God's love for his people and about Team Expansion's mission and vision.  I was surrounded by people who love the Lord and are woking for his kingdom.  I went home after that training excited how God would use the next few months to prepare me for the internship.

I have now completed one 40-hour work week with Team Expansion.  I arrived in Louisville Sunday night and was greeted by my amazing host family (I'll write more about them later).  My first day in the office was Monday. I arrived at the office early Monday morning.  I started the day with breakfast with the new Launch candidates (men and women who want to do missions full time came in for their first day of classes) then we started the work day with prayer (something everyone in the office does together every morning at 9:10!) After prayer, my supervisor Tara showed me to my cubicle and my work started.  I spent most of my first day with the IT guy, Greg.  He helped me set up my multiple accounts online and made me make up ridiculous passwords. Luckily, he's a very nice, very patient guy and has spent much of his time this week helping me log in to accounts and remember my passwords (I bet he just loves that my cubicle is right outside his office).  My whole first week was full of meeting new people, learning new things, and coming up with goals and projects for my 14-week internship.

Team Expansion currently does not have one person coordinating events so I am taking over most of the event coordination for the summer. My four main projects are planning a 2-week training in August (Jonathan Training), preparing for the pre-feild orientation for the summer interns coming later this month,  preparing materials and working at NACC in Orlando in July, and planning a 5k that will take place at Emerald Hills this fall.  At first Tara and I were a bit unsure if we would find enough projects for me this summer, but we quickly found that wouldn't be problem at all. I managed to keep busy all week and will continue to be busy with work this summer.  Many phone calls need to be made and many emails need to be sent.  I will have to shop for and prepare 10 meals for 20 new trainees coming in and just a couple weeks, I need to find housing for 20-30 people coming in August, I will need to attend planning meetings, etc. I am trying not to get overwhelmed and use this experience to learn and grow.

It has been great to be here so far.  I love Team Expansion and the people in the office. Everyone has been very friendly so far.  During my first week, many people in the office came up to me and offered to help with anything I may need this summer.  I feel happy and comfortable at work and am actually excited to go back tomorrow (I haven't had many jobs like that ;) ) I know there will be times when I am worn out and exhausted, but I am blessed to be working with such great people.  And it is so exciting to meet people who have lived and/or are going to live overseas and plant churches.  I have a great opportunity to learn about what is going on all around the world.  I am excited to see how God uses my time here.