My New Friends

Scared, questioning my decision, and nervous about leaving home--that's pretty how much I felt when I began the 16 hour drive to Truman. I wasn't sure what God had in store for me. The first night on Truman's campus, I was alone in my room, organizing my stuff. In the silence, I prayed that God would give me strength and open my eyes for ways to show love. Over 4 weeks have passed since that night, and God has been blessing me way more than I could have imagined. I've met some amazing people who love Jesus more than I do. They're encouraging me so much in my faith. Others have shown me so much love--they've offered me chances to come home with them, they've laughed with me, they've made fun of my accent (Apparently Cheese Doodles and Cow Tails do not exist in Missouri. What a shame!), and we've made so many memories together. Here are just a few pictures summarizing the past four weeks:

My roommate Sarah Jo and I at the bell tower on campus

Our group at the Train Bridge. Basically, it's a bridge that goes over railroad tracks (in the middle of no where).  You  have to experience it to understand how cool it is.

Painted faces before the first home football game

My friend Christina and I bought balloon hats at the Farmer's Market!

Christina and I wrote a thank you note to the Domino's delivery man. He called to thank us and say he would hang it up at work.

Yesterday, our group went to Thousand Hills State Park. We had an awesome picnic, looked at some cool petroglyphs and got caught in a massive thunderstorm. Christina was eating an apple sucker and the boys were trying to keep me out of the picture. They failed.

After the thunderstorm we saw an AMAZING rainbow!

West Campus had a carnival last weekend that had Jello-wrestling. I was up for trying something new, and it turned out to be so much fun!

As you can see, they used green Jello.

All in all, I can't begin to describe how blessed I am to be part of such an awesome community of people. :)

P.S. MY FAMILY COMES TO VISIT IN < 2 WEEKS!!!

Zambia

Some of the kids in my youth group back home have been organizing a concert to raise money for Active Water. This organization raises money to build sand filters for families in Zambia. Without these filters, people are forced to drink dirty, unsafe water. 

Crazy: Sometimes, the women in Zambia have to walk six miles to get even water. They have no other options. Often, the water they get is still unsafe to drink. A sand filter costs about $75. The average American spends twice that amount per month on FAST FOOD (FinancialNut, 2008). Seriously, isn't there a better way we can spend our money?


Crazier: 884 million people lack access to safe drinking water.  That's approximately 1 out of every 8 persons on earth. (UNICEF/WHO Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation: Special Focus on Sanitation, 2008)


Craziest: Every 15 seconds, a child dies from a water-related disease. (United Nations Human Development Report, 2006)

Pretty sobering stuff, huh? It definitely is, but at the same time, I am so pumped about the Zambia Benefit! I'm extremely proud of the kids for taking the initiative to do something bigger than themselves. They have amazed me with the time and dedication they're putting into planning this event. This is a chance to show people what faith in action looks like. It's not about us, or who WE ARE; rather, it's all about who WE ARE WITH, and that is a God who changes lives. 


Call me crazy, but I believe in a God who can use three high schoolers to change the lives of hundreds of people in Zambia. 


Data and photos provided by Pamela Crane, Barak Bruerd, and Victor Huckabee of BWM, as well as photos submitted by Tam Faller.