Usually, I like to go all out with making my blog posts aesthetically-appealing. But, this itinerary for our Gens Nova Choir mission trip is such a thing of beauty that I don't think the rest of my post needs much embellishment. I even put a frame around it for your viewing pleasure. ;)
It is hard to convey the amount of work that went into this itinerary! And I think that my heavenly Father had started work on it long before I did! One of the most important goals I had in mind for this trip was interaction with other young adults and making music together. My brother, Jesse, suggested we work with Brooklyn Teen Challenge, where he has served as an intern in the past. When I found out that BTC has a choir made up of rehab students, I couldn't believe how God had already prepared a way to achieve this goal! I decided to travel to Brooklyn in November and create a plan for a choir exchange with BTC. In this exchange, my Gens Nova students will be mentoring the BTC students in choral singing and music ministry. I believe this will be the perfect opportunity for these young singers to be mutually encouraged in their faith, develop their ministry and musical gifts, and form enriching cross-cultural friendships. With the exchange planned, I returned to Seattle in order to save for the mission trip through substitute teaching and begin preparations for my choir's visa interviews. After an incredible amount of research, preparation, and nervous waiting, they went to the U.S. embassy with 7 support letters, pictures of choir events, letters from universities and employers, references from pastors, deeds to houses and cars, birth certificates and authorizations, and even a letter from Congressman Reichert in hand! They were ALL granted U.S. visas. Seeing my choir's nervousness in this process and excitement when they got visas made me realize again how much this mission trip means to them and I am so thankful that I can help make it possible.
This itinerary is a mix of my favorite experiences from both past mission trips and choir tours, so it may seem a little unconventional! I am trying to find the delicate balance between evangelism and ministry opportunities, music education, sight-seeing, and developing relationships. I am so thankful that Hilary and Jesse (my sister-in-law and brother) will be with us sharing devotions every day, contributing their gifts in leadership and ministry, and helping us interpret our musical presentation of Jesse's testimony effectively. At this point, we have ALL of our plane tickets and visas payed for, which amounts to about $14,000!! We also have a good amount saved for our housing and I am working two jobs this month to save for our food and transportation. We are blessed to be staying at Living Waters Church in Brooklyn, which is letting us pay a minimal cost for our housing, prepare our food in their industrial kitchen, and rent a van for a discounted price. Would you consider helping us raise the rest of the money we need for our mission trip? If we don't raise enough, I will be returning to Seattle in March to continue saving until I can pay off the trip, so anything you can give will help me get back to my home and mission field sooner. I have a job, my apartment, and my ministries waiting for me when I return and it has been hard on my choir for me to be away, so I would love to get back as soon as possible! We are still lacking funds for our transportation, food, warm clothing, and sound equipment. You can read about how to give on the right side of this blog in the "Support" caption. Also, please pray for us! We have already been feeling attacked lately and many of the choir members have been dealing with depression, illness, and family conflicts. Please pray that God would use these struggles to prepare our hearts and refine our faith, that He would be on the throne in our ministry, and that we would honor Him in everything we do. Also, please pray that we will form real friendships with the people we minister to, that people would come to know our God, and for an anointing on the art we are creating in response to what He has done in our lives.
Thank you so much for all you have done to support me in my missions calling over the years! You have made this project possible and I hope I can honor your support by passing on this incredible blessing.
