Sep 7, 20243 min read

The Gap Year Begins!!

Updated: Sep 15, 2024

AHHHHHH!! We made it to Orlando for training!! It has been so amazing to finally meet the girls on my team and get to know them! I love them so much already, and I am so beyond thankful the Lord has put us all together!

Yesterday was our first full day of training! We toured CRU Headquarters, which was so inspiring to see how God’s name is being honored and glorified in each area/ministry of CRU! We also got to learn more about the Jesus Film (definitely encourage you to look into it, it’s so amazing what they do!). The Jesus Film translates different Jesus-centered movies and short films into thousands of different languages in order to reach remote areas of the world with the story of Jesus! Thousands of people’s lives have been saved and transformed by the power of Jesus Christ from getting to watch the Gospel play out in their own language!

One thing we did yesterday that I thought was really cool, was that we got to walk around CRU Headquarters and take a photo of an object that matched how we internally felt about starting the gap year. After we found something that symbolized how we felt, we got to present/explain our photo to the rest of the team. This exercise was very cool because it allowed all of us to sort out our own personal emotions, while also bonding over the fact that we were all feeling similar things.

The photo I chose was of a crane staring at its own reflection in a window. I interpreted the photo as me being the crane, staring at myself, and God was the one “taking the photo”. I felt it represented the fact that God has been watching me and trying to get my attention each time I’ve felt stressed/overwhelmed about the small, little details of the gap year. God pointed out to me that my stress has been a result of me relying on my own understanding instead of Christ’s. I felt that God was gently reminding me that I needed to take my gaze off myself and look unto Him. He is our Provider. He is our precious Father in Heaven. He works all things out for His good and His glory. In that moment, the Lord also brought to mind a verse, Matthew 6:26 - “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” I can stand firm in the Truth that God will provide all that my team and I need for this missional gap year. Blessings to you all!

Ways you can be joining my team and I in prayer this month!

Pray my team and I would continue to be united in Christ and grow closer together so that we can be more effective in doing the work God has set before us.
Pray that God would be near to us and protect us from spiritual attacks.
Pray for many, many opportunities to be lights while we train in Orlando for this month.
Pray for boldness to proclaim the Good News of the Gospel.
Pray that we would have humility and that we would be sensitive to where the Holy Spirit is leading us.
Pray that God would get all the glory, honor, and praise for everything we do!!