Hi! My name is Laura and I’m 18 years old. I’m from northern Virginia and I’m currently in Ecuador. My team and I have been in country for almost three weeks now, which in my mind is absolutely CRAZY! It’s been such a blast seeing God move in small way and huge ways. I’m so excited to share what he’s been doing but first I want to tell you a little more about me.
Well I grew up in an awesome christian home! Both my parents have always been involved in the church and in speaking God’s truth into my life. God has always been a huge part of my life and I’m absurdly blessed to have had a relationship with him since I was four years old. When I was 12 years old I knew God has given me a heart for missions and for serving his people all over the world. Since then I’ve been pursuing a life full of sharing Christ’s love and experiencing the insane adventure God has in store for me. And the adventure has been insane to say the least, He’s walked with me through hardships and trials into season of joy and rejoicing. He’s lead me to the other side of the world, to do life with his beautiful children in Nepal and India. He’s guided me into ministry where I got to mirror Christ and pour into the youth in my community. He’s lead me to Ecuador by difficult circumstance that I never understood at the time, but now looking back I see He was in from the beginning.
See the reason I’m here is kind of an odd story. I recently graduated high school and I was supposed to be going to Liberty University this fall. However my school ran out of beds, they literally had no more room for me. When I first heard this I was so confused. See I felt like I had been called to go to Liberty. So when I found out I couldn’t go when I had planned I was stunned. I thought this was God’s plan for my life. For me to go to school, get a degree to teach english and then to go and be a missionary forever (that was my interpretation anyway). Now don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t telling God my plans and hoped he agreed. I prayed and sought-after Him asking if this was what He had for me, it was a resounding yes. But something I’ve discovered about God and His callings is sometimes we calls us to things that he might not always use. Let me explain. If I had never been called to Liberty, then I wouldn’t be in Ecuador right now. See, I felt an overwhelming call to go to Liberty but because of the circumstances I couldn’t go, so my and a friend started to look at mission trips. We found AIM and eventually decided on this trip. God used the call to Liberty, but not in the way I thought he ever would. And the funny thing is, if I would have never come on this trip I would have never had the blessing of having God call me on my next adventure.
Since I’ve been here I’ve been constantly reminded about all God did in Nepal and India. It’s been so sweet to be reminded of that trip, but never would I ever think God would take me back there within the next five years. However, I feel like He is calling me back to the countries that stole my heart. My dear friend Allie kept talking about how she is going with AIM in January and I felt so excited for her. Then one day I felt God tugging on my heart for those countries and again got to reminisce about my amazing adventure, when I felt the overwhelming need to go back. I pushed it aside and went on with my day. However I. COULD. NOT. STOP. thinking about going back. I pray constantly about it and when I’m was focused on my current task my mind would drift back to Nepal and India. And after a lot of seeking and praying and affirmation, I know that’s where I need to go.
So I would like to announce that I will be going back to Nepal and India this January. And I’ll need a lot of help getting there. But this is the last blog post I’ll be dedicating to this because right now I’m in Ecuador. God called me here for a many reasons, one of them I believe was to take me back to Asia, but that’s not the only reason. I’m here to give myself to these people whole-heartedly. I must live in today’s blessings, not tomorrow’s. I must stay present, because I don’t want to miss what God is doing here. And he’s doing so much!
Yesterday we went with some of Bible college students in a neighboring town, we went and did door-to-door evangelism. Myself, Stephanie, and two students went to a hand full of house and the first one we went to Janette, the woman who owned the house, accepted Christ! I had the honor of praying for her after she joined the family. God is working in this place, in this moment and I’m so excited to watch it all unfold.
I’ve been so blessed throughout my life and blessings are continuing to come. Today I’m choosing to live in today’s blessings, and celebrate how God is moving today. Past blessing shape us, and future blessings are where we find our hope, but it’s in today we see God move.
