Heading West

i'm starting an adventure. and i am terrified.
this is my first post for the summer i'll be spending in waco, texas.



i'll be serving as a missionary intern (term offered up by katie for a quick explanation) with the organization MissionWaco. you can check out their website and it gives you a good idea of what they're about. it's a large organization that focuses on so many ministries (homeless, innercity kids, innercity youth, etc.). their mission statement is to:

"1) Provide holistic, relationship-based programs that empower the poor and marginalized

2) Mobilize middle-class Americans to become more compassionately involved among the poor

3) Seek ways to overcome the systemic issues of social injustice which oppress the poor and marginalize"

So me and Kaitlyn (a girl from Mars Hill who is going as well) are leaving Greensboro at 7AM tomorrow. SO early. And we're taking the next two days to get to Waco, TX by car.

I'm excited but I've never taken a roadtrip like this before, so I just hope it goes easy and safe. I'll post pictures hopefully along the way.
Here's a map of our route (for the most part): It doesn't look so bad on the tiny map.

Our drive is approximately 18 hours and we'll be stopping along the way to eat and such, so it'll probably take us nearly one whole day. Thank God Kaitlyn has a GPS!

I'll be using this blog to keep friends and family posted at home on what I'm doing and the experiences I have. And I promise the posts will be WAY more interesting than this one.

I have loved spending so much time with great friends and family the last two weeks since I got out of school. Thank you so much for caring and I'll be missing you the entire time. My attitude towards this trip has done a complete 180 in the last week from so much excitement to hesitation and anxiety. I have been really struggling with having good relationships and friendships with the people in my life and I've prayed to God since the end of school for Him to show His love for me through other people and it has been made obviously real for the last week. You all have been such a part of that and I'm so thankful for you. That's why I am nervous about going to Texas as of late. I feel like I'm starting college over all over again and that was a horrible experience in itself. Please pray that God would change my world with this summer and that I would be in the midst of His work. Also, that I wouldn't let myself get in the way of being used by Him.

The title of this blog is "to proclaim freedom for the prisoners ... set free the oppressed" which is from Luke 4:18-19:
¹⁸"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
¹⁹to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

I am really hoping to build relationships with people that have struggled as I have, but with so many other issues and trials. And through them, God will educate me and erase any ignorances I have and burden my heart for the call I have as a Christian. I want my eyes to be opened wide to the social injustices in our country and in turn be educated in useful ways of combatting them. It's one thing to see it, but it's another thing to do something about it.

As for now, I need to finish laundry and pack my stuff up. [I promise this will be more uplifting and witty in the future. However, I am not as cheerful yet. Pray for me.]
Thanks for reading. peace to you.

[[P.S. this is a pre-existing blog that I started on a whim and definitely did not keep up with last summer. So if you're wondering why I have a few random ranting entries prior to this, that's why.]]