I am officially back on US soil for the foreseeable future! It has
been nearly 1.5 years since I could say that America was my home; but
now I will be planting some roots for my next season in Washington
state. I spent 2010 traveling the globe doing missions with the World Race, 6 months in Spain at G42 Leadership Academy, and now devoting my time to Nations Foundation as their Director of Operations.
I spent the last week in Copperhill, Tennessee at World Race training camp where about 150 Racers from the upcoming September (“Z” & “A”) and October (“B”) 2011
squads came together to be broken, built, trained, commissioned and
released to start their incredible journey to love & serve the least
of these all over the nations for 11 months.
I
had the honor of being a trainer for “B Squad” which ended up being way
more fun & insanity than I could have ever hoped for! I watched
this group of 51 strangers start the week by surrendering their
expectations & personal agendas to the Lord; watched as they learned
to support and love each other through nights of rain, tents, tarps and
unexpected challenges; and joined with them at the end of the week to
worship God in a way that was so vulnerable and free it nearly brought
me to tears.
This week was a blessing. Not only a time to pour out to others, but a
time where God continued to speak to me about how He desires for us to
become fully alive; to burn with passion to see his love displayed here
on earth. I saw so much of God's character displayed through B squad and
how they quickly became family; how they started to learn what it means
to unconditionally love someone; how to believe in the identities and
truth God speaks over them daily. What an honor it was to stand before
them 1.5 years after I left on the race and see the hope that they will
bring to the world. Watching them burn over the last 10 days has
increased my excitement and hope in living a life surrendered to the
Lord.
Good luck World Racers! You are in my thoughts and prayers!
Six months has passed since I first arrived in Spain to attend G42 Leadership Academy. It has been a
crazy, amazing adventure full of learning, loving, and continuing to let
God refine my character and depths of trust in Him. As I return to the
states in a week, the big question is…. WHERE IS SHE GOING NEXT?
Over the past 1.5 years I have had a dream stirring within me- one that desires to see our generation come alive
in who God has made them to be. Particularly I have a desire for the
snowboard community to be awakened to the freedom and unconditional love
that He has for us. I long to see this generation loving others and
changing the world. Can we get out of our complacency and selfishness?
Yes, I believe it is possible! Can a radical bunch of powder loving
snowboarders change the world, yes.
At the end of July I will be moving to Puyallup, WA to start my role with Nations Foundation as Director of Operations.
Nations Foundation is a Christian non-profit organization focused on
sharing the Gospel message of Jesus Christ with this generation's global
snowboard community. Our passion is sharing Jesus with people around
the world through creating world-class snowboard films featuring some of
the world's most talented snowboarders, while sharing the faith they
all have in common. Our first film, ONEYEAR, was released in 2008 has
been shown to over 30,000 people around the world in 12 countries from
New Zealand, Argentina, Canada, United States, and all throughout
Europe.
I will be joining just in time to assist in the efforts of filming
our next project “Anthropology”, as we continue to tour ONEYEAR around
the world. As we tour around the world, we partner with local churches
and organizations in hosting premieres.
I will be in need of your support to make this transition a reality. I
am drawing close to God and trusting Him to provide supporters who
understand and are excited about why my heart burns to serve God. I'm so
confident that God is leading me to pour out my energy to this ministry
that asking for financial support is merely a small part of the big
picture. I am making a deliberate decision to live on less and trust
that you all will help me make ends meet to enable me to give all of my
attention to Nations! God is asking me to be faithful and trust that He
will provide; continue to let my character be refined, and continue to
give my life away to serve others.
JOIN THE TEAM! If you would like to sign on as one of my supporters or get more info Click on the Donate Tab.
PRAYER: I welcome prayers over Nations Foundation
as a ministry and their leaders; As well as my steps as I join the team.
Pray that the ministry remains focused and attentive to God's voice.
That we stay pure of heart and continually seek Him. That as we are
stretched thin, God will pour out favor and blessing. Health &
strength for the pro athletes.
I would like to announce the launch of my new blogsite! Although I am done with the World Race, I wanted to stay in touch during my new season of life in Spain and beyond.... You can get to my blog via the link below to learn more about my stories, visions, travels, photos, and how you can support my remaining time at G42 Leadership Academy. If you would like automatic updates sent to your inbox, please be sure to sign up to be an Email Subscriber on the Home page. A sincere THANK YOU to all of you for your love and support throughout this past year, I look forward to continuing this journey with you!
I write today in celebration of the life of Sylvia Whaley.While being away from home and living
in Spain, I have recently gotten the news that my grandmother has passed away.
Sylvia had three sons; Roger, Doug, and Donald, and lost her
only daughter at birth.I was her
only granddaughter which made us very close- as if I was the daughter she never
had.I loved being with grandma so
much that when I was a child I would pretend to be sick so I could stay home
from school just to spend more time with her. Why was it so easy to love
Sylvia?
She was a giver of Life! She had a
joyous personality that would encourage anyone, even strangers.She would strike up a conversation with
anyone who had the time to listen; she was the type of woman who you could
become best friends with simply spending 3 minutes with her in the grocery
check out line.
At the age of 20 Sylvia was diagnosed with
Neurofibromatosis. This is a distinct genetic disorder that cause tumors to
grow along various types of nerves and, in addition, can affect the development
of non-nervous tissues such as bones and skin. Neurofibromatosis caused tumors
to grow all over Sylvia's body which made her “beauty” slip away at a young
age. When hanging out with her, we would often get funny looks from other
people, some would stop and stare, and at times babies would even cry when she
approached them due to how extremely rare the disease was. This disease has
only shown itself for 1 out of every 3,000 births.
If I characterized Sylvia's life by they ways the world
tends to judge, some may say that
she had nothing…… no fancy job, no beauty, no mansion to live in, no heaping
funds stock piled with millions of dollars.But upon the death of Sylvia God reminds us of how riches
are quantified in the Kingdom of God.What we have doesn't matter; rather…..God cares about
WHO WE ARE!
Sylvia had EVERYTHING!! She received life
from the Lord and loved to give it away in abundance to others. She is one of
the most beautiful people I have ever met, and it is because of her character.No matter the challenge or trial, she
would always be the rock of the family.She was a fighter who won over adversity.
She was a lover EVEN when others did not give her love in return.
She was one of the greatest examples of unconditional Love I
have ever seen. She gave her life to make others happy. She gave others who
struggle with appearance & disease HOPE. She was an incredible friend, amazing mother, and inspirational grandmother.
She would want you all to know that when your time on earth
passes, no one will remember what your job title was, how much money was left
in your bank account, or what your house looked like.But you will be remember for the LIFE you gave away, how you
allowed God to Love you, and How well you loved others. Sylvia, you are my HERO!
Dear
friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.1 John 4:11
I wanted to share some of my raw and unedited thoughts on Christmas just 34 days after arriving back home in America from a year long journey around the world.
They warned me about this moment before I left the World
Race, but without control of how I might feel in this moment….it has arrived. I
feel confused, helpless…. drastically different, like my perspective is so insanely
different from when I left and from everyone else around me.One would assume that you would be
changed after serving around the world for a year….but I never could have
imagined that God could do so much inside of me in such a short time.
I spent this Christmas in Florida with my family visiting my brother and the only grandchild of the family- my incredibly adorable niece Madison. I cherished our time together, as it had been over a year since we had been all together as a family. So it all started like this.....
One beautiful Christmas tree overflowing with gifts for my 4 year old niece... a precious and beautiful sight as she unwrapped each present with wonder and joy. There were so many presents the unwrapping went on for hours to the point where a few of us adults were starting to play with her toys to maintain focus. I picked up the game "Connect Four" and was not prepared for what God was about to do inside me......
I sat still, completely paused starring at the game, and slowly slipped back to the days spent in Thailand with the prostitutes that were being sold in the human trafficking market at the bars in downtown Phuket. The bar counters would be lined with Connect Four & Jenga games. Ironically childish, but just the distraction a woman would used to engage a person long enough to solicit themselves to them to be owned for a night, week, sometimes months at a time. I tried to blink harder as if that would stop the cascading wall of images that flooded my mind. Images of people we met on the World Race came rushing back...children starving, babies infected with AIDs and orphaned, adults with no hope to break the chains of their addictions, woman and children being sold and trafficked as sex slaves....
In this moment Madison had just finished opening her last present, and looks up and says "I want another one, I want more!" What was an innocent and cute moment broke my heart when i thought of all those kids around the world that don't have anything, not even shoes. So, to harness the conflicting feelings in my heart as to not get angry or cry...I decided to shift my feelings to something positive and desired to spend some time as a family talking about the Christmas Story- and what really happened on that night our Savior was born. I didn't want anyone to feel ashamed of having many presents or Madison to feel guilty, but I wanted to turn our hearts towards God and thank Him for blessing us in such incredible ways.
When attempting to shift some of our attention to God, it seemed at though no one could hear me, that everyone was far too engrossed in their new ipod, new game, or cleaning up the mess of wrapping paper and bows... So i left the room disheartened and spent time praying and thanking God for all he has done in my lifetime...and praying specifically for my family. By evening the the family had a short time to talk about the Christmas story and who Jesus was, although I was fighting feelings of it feeling forced or because of obligation to make me happy...... I kept praying........not even 24 hrs later I find my dad asking for my bible and has been reading Matthew & Luke for hours, most likely the first time he has revisited these books in over 28 years! Wow God, you are good! When taking a close look at the Christmas story you will find that there are things we have always assumed about Jesus' birth that has been implied by our culture, but there are many things that I failed to know until i looked a little closer.... Here are some questions that helped inspire us to look closer at our Kings birth...
* Is the birth of Jesus in all the gospels? (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) No. Just Matthew & Luke
* Were there 3 kings, and 3 wise men? Are the kings and wise men the same guys?
* Does the bible says anything about animals being present at Jesus' birth?
* Was Jesus delivered in a stable or a manager? What is frankincense? What is Myrr?
* Was there ever an encounter with an innkeeper mentioned in the biblical story?
* What is a Heavenly Host?
I pray that during this hectic & digitally connected holiday season.... you find time to read in more detail the story of the baby who was born to save us! Today a king was born, and he is the one who has given me a heart beat and my joy! I hope you share with your family the story of Jesus' birth and celebrate the life & many blessing that have been given to us!
I THANK GOD FOR EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU! MERRY CHRISTMAS!
It is hard to believe that our time on the World Race has ended and that He has released us into a new season of life, it feels like this year went by in a blink of an eye! We have officially been back in the US for 4 days now and God has covered this process for me in so much of His grace, I haven't found it as hard as I once thought it would be. Yes, there is a fair amount of culture shock, feel nauseous when I eat, and I haven't slept past 3AM all week, but other than that - I am full of joy to see familiar faces, celebrate the holidays, and share the amazing stories of how God has completely dismantled my life and how my only desire now is to follow Him relentlessly- regardless of the cost.
The next season of my life is a pivotal part in laying the foundation to what i want to do long term. I will be leaving December 27th to attend the G42 Leadership Academy in Mijas, Spain. To describe what this Leadership Academy is all about in the simplest of terms that you can relate to....it is almost like Seminary/Biblical Christian Studies meets MBA program- Gods Word meets Business Plans- but this just isn't another seminary school.... Basically, we are using the foundation of how God has created us; our God given skills, passions, personality, etc. and using them to advance the Kingdom of God. Whether that be starting your own orphanage in Africa, planting a church in Italy, or creating a fortune 500 company.....the goal is to come to understand more truths about God, and the truths He speaks about us. It is a place to put your vision in to action and walk it out..... There is no degrees that I'm trying to earn for a resume, or certificates that I will use to advance up the corporate ladder.....but what I know I will gain is so much more. I will be writing a business plan that charts out my dreams for future a business/ministry. It is time for me to GO, to follow with everything I have....and this is only the beginning of a crazy life in which i chose and delight in being a follower of Christ.
For more details on my 6 months program in Spain, Here is website
Thank You to all who have prayerfully, financially, and emotionally supported me through this journey of the World Race. Because of you ~ many lives have been impacted across the globe.
14 countries 5 continents 3 oceans 20 different ministries 22 languages 3 trips to the hospital 1 emergency evacuation 2 armed robberies 90 hours of flying 126 hours on a bus 168 hours on a train 57 new family members 2 dutch parents 1 full trip around the world
Countless lives impacted, thousands of stories to tell....a testimony to God's infinite amount of love and grace.
By their fruit you will recognize them... Matthew 7:16
Our Last day in ministry: Harvesting fruit in the orchards of Firladeni, Moldova
I could have never pictured what my last day of ministry might look like when I started the World Race 11 months ago. Through
what could seem like a mundane, medial task of physical labor was the
sweetest gift from God. We picked fruit from the trees and ground of
this Moldovan orchard for 8 hours.....
About half way through the day, God lead me to a specific tree, a tree he set aside for me to encounter. One that He would use to speak to my heart.....This tree was the littlest tree I had seen in the orchard all day. There was no fruit on the branches, it was withered and almost looked dead. I nearly walked right past it, and then something caught my eye. I saw one red apple hiding under the grass. I knelt down to push back the grass to uncover the largest pile of apples i had seen all day- the biggest, most flawless, beautiful apples in the field, and tons of them! As I scratched my head I thought to myself.... "How is it possible that fruit like this could come from this tree!?"
In that moment this verse came alive....
16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
21
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of
heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in
heaven.22
Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in
your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform
many miracles?'23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!" Matthew 16-23
God reminded me of one of the most valuable lessons i learned this year... It doesn't matter what you look like on the outside, it doesn't matter if you call yourself a Christian, it doesn't matter what you are striving to do or how you are trying to perform- Even if you call on the name of the Lord....if you don't have a relationship with the Lord; don't even know who He is in your life..... There will be no fruit. When we follow the will of our Father and desire to know Him, we are motivated by the very nature of Gods love to live a life in a way that will bear much fruit. Your fruit will reflect the state of your heart for the Lord. I had to look to the sky and chuckle at how creative God was this day in speaking to me... He spoke of how proud he was of us in the orchard that day... He spoke of the large harvest of fruit that would come from this year .... His words are exciting and true. Thank you God for choosing us this year to serve your kingdom in such an incredible way.
I wanted to share with you this ridiculous memory from Tanzania.....It made me cry with laughter tonight when i viewed it again and thought it wasn't fair not to post it. So, let me give you some history on this part of the race before you view, just so you get the whole picture of what our travels were really like.....
For the first week of ministry during month #7, while the rest of the squad went ahead to Tanzania - Austin & I stayed in Kenya with 6 other members of our squad, some of which were dealing with pneumonia, Typhoid, malaria, stomach ulcers, and ovarian cysts.
Week 2 of month #7 consisted of flying with a teammate who was extremely ill, back to America from Niarobi Kenya and returning to Africa 24 hrs later. Upon arriving back in Kenya, Austin and I then caught a bus to Tanzania to meet up with the squad.
:::::::Insert Video footage here::::::
Our assigned seats are taken (Apparently Africans are first come, first serve/ no order on buses even though the tickets have a seat number assigned) Have to sit in the very last seat on a packed bus with a metal slab tied on as a substitute for a window.
Metal sheet window blows out, dirt pours in for 2 hours straight before they fix the window.
Don't have ATM to get currency= can't eat- very hungry!
Hit a bump in the African Pot hole roads, Austin & Krissy get launched and Austin hits his head on the overhead compartment, breaks compartment, Austin's head cut open and bleeding.
Dirt in teeth
Get a phone call 1 hour from destination saying that one of our teams had been robbed at gunpoint and all their things had been stolen....
While in Romania we visited a community of Gypsies, who are
a people group that are known as the “Roma." The community consisted of
3 families that lived on the outskirts of one of the nicest neighborhoods I had
seen in Timisoara, Romania.These
three families lived in shelters that were constructed of miscellaneous plywood
sheets, old blankets for insulation, scrap plastic, and metal sheets. We had
arrived 3 days after their houses had been bulldozed by the government. After
several years of “squatting” on the land, people will eventually own the land
by default, therefore- without warning…the government bulldozes the
shelters and destroys them and
everything they own so that they can never legally own the government
land.
Then the families reconstruct their shelters which usually take
approximately 2 days. This was another moment where God very
quickly humbled me.The most
curious part of this visit was the fact that these families were merely 50-100
ft. from huge homes…..I kept scratching my head and thinking to myself… “Isn't
the second of his greatest commands?.....to love your neighbor as yourself!?”Why were people walking by as if they
couldn't see what was going on?What was I not understanding about this situation?!There were 3 families….that's it!And 50 huge houses…..how did no one
take these people in? The father
of one of the families was so sick that he couldn't work and didn't have the
finances to buy the necessary medications.We brought food to the families along with toys for the
children and clothes to make it through the winter. A little piece of my heart
was left with them that day. God spoke that day.....Don't forget to notice and seek out your
neighbor….We must love them as ourselves……Don't let them be ignored- You ignore them, you ignore me!Please join me in prayer for these 3 families.