Without Borders | Sin Fronteras

For those of you who don't know, I will be working for a Christian organization called YouthWorks over the summer! I am SO excited to be entering into this season of ministry as I have the opportunity to work alongside high school students as we serve the people of Kansas City, Kansas!  As I write this, I am in the midst of a week of training (called RAMP) in Minneapolis. My time at RAMP has mostly been spent getting to know my team and preparing for my role as a service coordinator. As a service coordinator, I will be working with different service partners (local ministries, homeless shelters, soup kitchens, etc.) within Kansas City to organize service projects for the youth groups and high school students that will be coming to our site each week. I will also be working with my team to run meal times, devotionals, praise and worship, and everything else that goes into a typical mission trip. While we still have a lot to learn and figure out before the summer officially starts...

So apparently I am not so great at consistently updating my blog on a regular basis. It has been quite some time since I have written anything considering that it is now the day after Thanksgiving and the last time I posted was this summer while I was in Taiwan. This semester has been mostly busy and chaotic, and I am glad that I have finally found the time to put some of my thoughts into words.  _______________________________________________________________ In light of it being Thanksgiving break, I have decided to write a "thankful post" similar to those currently trending on social media (I apologize for the cliché-ness). God has blessed me abundantly in the past few months and I don't know if I can fully express my gratitude in words, but I will try my best.  To start with, I am thankful that I have the opportunity to be studying at Northwestern College. I am constantly challenged to grow in my relationship with Christ and with others. I am challenged to discu...

Today was definitely the best, yet most difficult, day of our trip so far. It was the last day of our camp in Pingtung (a city in southern Taiwan) and we had to say goodbye to all of the students and host families we spent the last five days with. I have never seen so many people cry or say "I love you" when saying goodbye. Even though we only spent a few days with these students, we created really strong bonds of friendships with each other. The first two days were spent doing presentations, news conferences, and MANY crazy songs and dances (they love the chicken dance). I had opportunities to share my faith in almost every group discussion because the topics talked, such as family, marriage, and blessings, always seemed to connect back to my own faith. My group seemed very open to hearing about my life as a Christian. On the third day we went on a tour of a solar power plant and on the fourth day we traveled to Kenting National Park and went to the beach! Of course, most Ta...

After more that 24 hours of traveling, we finally arrived at the airport in Taiwan at about 9:30 pm on Thursday night. We then took a half hour bus ride to the hotel in Taipei (the capital of Taiwan). Thankfully, I was so exhausted that I fell asleep right away and was able to get a good nights rest. In the morning we got up and had breakfast at the hotel and then walked to the Mass Rapid Transit or MRT, which is similar to a subway system in the US. We rode on the MRT for about 20min to get to the high-speed rail train. The high-speed rail took us from Taipei in the north to Zuoying in the south in about an hour and a half, and there was beautiful scenery along the way. I found it interesting that most people in Taiwan seem to be very quiet in public places and then you have our little group talking non-stop, taking selfies, and generally being loud, typical Americans.             When we arrived in Zuoying, ...

I can't believe that I leave for Taiwan in one week! (which means that I should probably start packing) For those of you who haven't heard anything about my trip, I have the opportunity to go to Taiwan this summer and work with some high school students as we participate in the first Taiwanese and American Young Leaders' Camp. I will be going with fellow students and faculty members from NWC, along with a few other Americans. I leave on June 25th and will return on July 30th. For the first few days, we will be attending an orientation with other Americans who will be doing various missions work in Taiwan this summer. Then we will be leading/participating in several youth camps where we will discuss topics such as leadership, family, society, community, nation, and world. Our main responsibilities will be presenting on the topic of "community" and leading group discussions. An NWC alumnus has been working very hard to put these camps together and he hopes that we ...

Considering the fact that the last time I posted was more than a month ago during finals week, I thought that it would be a good idea to post an update about the crazy busyness of summer. Coming home from college has been an interesting transition. When I am away at school, I am responsible for myself and my own schedule, so adjusting to my family's schedule can be challenging at times. My mom always wants to know where I'm going and when I will be home, which I expected, but I am glad that she is communicating with me and not just placing restrictions on everything I do. I really missed her while I was at school and I love being able to spend time with her at home. We have been going on bike rides and working out together so that we can both stay in shape. And she has decided to be a leader of the college group at our church this summer, which I am excited about because I know that she really likes to invest in college students like myself. Since coming home from school, ...

I can't believe that I am almost done with my freshman year of college. Just one more week of classes and a week of finals and then I will be going home for the summer. God has done so many amazing things in my life this year and He has taught me so much about who He is, who I am, and how He will use me to do his redeeming work in the world. I will write about these things at a later time after I have had a chance to reflect and organize my thoughts.  Right now I am extremely busy writing papers, working on projects, and studying for finals. There are moments where I get so stressed that all I want to do is anything but schoolwork. Thankfully, I don't have to carry all of this stress and worry by myself, for I have a Savior who takes away my burdens. I was reminded last night at P+W (Praise and Worship) that it is during these times when I need to turn to God and find peace and comfort in Him and his Word.  Matthew 11:28-30 says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and bu...