The Count Down is On!

Well, here I am, and it's just two days before Christmas. However, Christmas is most certainly not the first nor the biggest thing on my mind. In just fifteen days I will be embarking on a journey with my newly made college friends and fellow Discover students. At the moment, the group is spread out across Canada and the United States, enjoying the company of family and friends in the Christmas spirit, while looking ahead to the journey that awaits us. On January 7th, we will be leaving our school, leaving Canada, and boarding a plane at four in the morning to head down to Guatemala where we will hopefully be able to put to use the skills and knowledge we have obtained over the last semester of hard work.

We have all worked hard, pouring our hearts into school work, fundraisers and, of course, shenanigans in our free time. Our classes have been built around gaining a better understanding of both the Bible, it's application in today's world and cultural studies. We have learned many things, both academically and about ourselves as well, but the learning has just begun. None of know exactly what lies ahead, but we do know that whatever it is, it is God's plan and He will use us to see His will be done in Guatemala so long as we dedicate our time there to Him and His work. I am thrilled to see what God has in store for our group. Challenges are guaranteed to present themselves, and I do hope and pray that this last semester has prepared us in at least some small way, but I am not too worried about it because I know God has His hand in all of it.

Going over the information we have been giving and thinking about what we will be doing down there can be a bit intimidating, especially when one considers the idea of a group of first year college students running their own ministry project during a ten day practicum. Thankfully the time we have before practicum should be sufficient for preparing us, and the first two weeks we will be spending on intensive language schooling should help us there as well.

As of now, I'm sitting in my dining room at home, a place I haven't seen in four event filled months, pondering the possibilities that lie ahead with this two month trip to Guatemala. My prayers are that God will open my eyes and my heart to these people, that I would see growth in myself as well as my teammates, and that God would use us to see His will be done, even if He has to carry us through the troubles we will inevitably face. In my old blog, I have written a few times about having moments where I feel as if I am in a boat at sea and Jesus is telling me to step out of the boat in faith and go to Him. Now is yet again, another one of these moments. And although these moments are challenging and at times, frightening, I know that these moments are faith defining moments; moments where I get the chance to live out my faith, not merely profess it.