So, I have now been on staff with AIM  for 8 months and it has been amazing, but for about the last two God has impressed upon my heart to go on the World Race. The World Race is a mission trip that AIM does that is 11 countries in 11 months where participants give up creature comforts to live and share the love of Jesus amongst the "least of these".  Sounds crazy right?

                                                                                                                   El Salvador, launch in January

At first I was hesitant, shocked even, as I thought God had brought me to AIM to be on full-time staff in the Short-Term Missions department. However, the more I sought Him, the more I felt Him prompt me to go. So go I am. And I am not just going, I am going in January! My first response was... are you sure Lord, I mean, JANUARY?! You know that is only 3 and a half months to raise $15,500 right? But yes (while probably shaking His head at my unbelief), the Lord confirmed that this is what He wants me to do, He knows what He is doing, and He will provide. And I have to say... I am so excited! Slightly terrified too, but I absolutely cannot wait to be able to share the love of Jesus with the world and to see Him move in the hearts of those my teammates and I will be ministering to.

 

My official route is El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, India and Nepal. The  World Race department is completely support raise, so the cost of the trip is $15,500 which includes all travel, food and lodging expenses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I set out on Sept. 15th to begin speaking at churches, support raising and sharing with youth and young adults what God is doing in my life, what He did this summer and is doing around the world.

 

       

        Nepal, final debrief end of Nov.

What an amazing summer this has been!  For those of you who have been following me, thank you so much for your prayers and support, God has used them mightily.  

 

The last two trips I had the privilege to lead this summer were both in Providence, Rhode Island.  Let me tell you, that there is not a city in this country with more need than Providence.  It is the third poorest city in the nation and has a desperate need for the love of Jesus.  Two different youth groups answered that need this July by partnering with us and the Providence Rescue Mission to work with the homeless, host a VBS for the Hispanic youth in the community,  and do various service projects for the mission and the local church that housed us.  While they were there, the teams got to experience what it was like to live in a very low-income urban community, not having any idea if you were going to end up evicted that day, or if you would even have shelter in the rain.  Everyday at the mission we got to feed the homeless and notice that we saw the same faces.  Through that the teams were able to hear their stories and to show the love of Christ in their actions, as well as their words.   

 

One youth the second week said to me that he really enjoyed the trip and his eyes had been opened, but that he didn't know how people were able to live in that environment without knowing Jesus.  It touched me to see him go and sit next to a homeless man after that and share what God had done in his life. 

 

Another day, one of the youth was painting a middle school when she saw some kids walking by outside.   When they looked up and  saw her, they asked if she was going to be their new teacher (that school often loses teachers every year due to being in the inner city).  When she told them that she was just painting their school they got so excited, bouncing up and down and squealing with delight...  they couldn't believe that someone cared enough to come to their school and paint it.  That is just a simple example of the difference that is being made in Providence through these teams, but through something as simple as painting, the staff and students there know that someone cares, and the door has been opened for the Rescue Mission to send people to give presentations at the school, including the Gospel. 

 

That is why I am doing what I am doing, to see the lives of youth around our country changed... to create disciples that will go out and reach the least of these, the people that have been forgotten and outcast and share what our Savior has done for them.   Thank you guys so much once again for partnering with me through this.  Another chapter of my life is coming up and I am so excited, but I will tell you about that in another blog soon :)

 

In His Love,

Christiana

So, I just got back from a wonderful trip to Johnstown, PA!  If I didn't know better, I would think God wanted me to spend my entire summer in Pennsylvania, lol.  I have just been incredibly blessed by what the Lord is doing there.  This go around we (my friend Hanna and I) had the fortune of combining two groups into one.  That being said, they were two VERY different groups; a Catholic high school (what a great chance to witness!) and a group of young middle schoolers.  To say it was interesting would be a huge understatement, but God still worked in wonderful ways.  

 

Our groups were housed in a church that a ministry had recently been given actually, and it needed (and still needs) quite a bit of work, as well as many in the congregation needing help with various things at their houses.  One day I was actually at the church with a group from the high school and Terry (the pastor's father) burst in the door and told us that a missionary couple, who had recently come back from Israel and were trying to raise goats to help the wife's parents earn some income, had walked out their front door to see their goats being killed by coyotes (crazy right)!  So she called in desperation to ask if there was anyone who could go and help them erect a goat pen immediately.  The youth jumped up and threw themselves into it with beautiful enthusiasm.  In fact, I did not hear a speck of complaining all week.  It was truly amazing (and a blessing) to see older teens and younger teens working side by side, from completely different backgrounds, throwing themselves into their work as for the Lord and not for men.

 

This is not the only place I saw God in either.  Every morning and every evening we had small group time together, where they delved into Scripture and asked questions about anything and everything... from what it means to truly walk with God, to how we can approach others in talking about our faith.  One participant got saved (praise the LORD) and I saw many more become serious about their faith, as well as starting to come up with plans to serve the Lord in their own communities back home.  It reminded me once again why we do this... to see the Lord glorified among the nations, even our own.

 

Thank you so much to all of you who support me and prayer for me, it is truly a blessing to be a part of what the Lord is doing in the US and around the world.   I have three more trips coming up right in a row, starting tomorrow actually, and I would greatly appreciate your prayers.  I have seen Him work mightily through them already, and I can't wait to see what He does in the future :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

So I realize I have been slacking a little on the blogging, but you guys know me, it takes a nice quiet, distraction free chunk of time for me to sit down and really write.  Well, here I finally am and I'd like to share about my trip to Philly a month ago.

 

First of all, let me start out specifying that this was my very first AIM trip, and I had no idea what to expect.  Let me just say, God did not disappoint (as if He ever does, lol).  From the get go this trip was very interesting, one wrong thing happening after another, but you know what... I wouldn't have had it any other way.  Steve (my trainer/co-leader) and I showed up to find that one of our ministry partners had backed out and we had several ministry slots to fill.  Therefore we spent the entire first day calling up various ministries to find out if anyone had any needs for the week.  Thanks be to God we filled all of our slots that first day and had a full schedule ready for the team when they arrived two days later. 

 

Alright, so this youth group was exactly my type of group, loud, occasionally immature (love you guys!) but deep and hungry for God.  After a wonderful first day of talking/ministering to the homeless, we had our first debrief session in which all of them were encouraged to share where they saw God that day.  Every single one of them responded!  Not just with what they thought we wanted to hear, but with what they really had seen and felt.  I was so encouraged and could see God working already.

 

Throughout the rest of the week I saw them sit and interact with the homeless, plan a children's ministry for inner city kids, go on prayer walks and end up taking a pregnant woman to a ministry we had found earlier in the week that takes in homeless single women and women with children.  This ministry is a wonderful ministry that teaches them how to make it on their own as well as giving them a temporary home.  They are allowed to stay as long as it takes to get on their feet and currently there are 32 women and 7 children living there.  It's an amazing ministry and it was so wonderful to see these students bless the lives of the women there and see their lives changed in return. 

 

Since this was my first trip I did not lead most of it, but I was in charge of teaching two of the evening lessons.   As I'm sure you know, talking is not hard for me, but this wasn't about what I could come up with, this was about what the Lord wanted to do.  Needless to say He just blew me away.  It reminded me once again that the best I could ever do in my own power is nothing compared to the smallest ounce of what the Lord can do.  Walls came crumbling down, the youth and the leaders opened up, and we got to see what God was doing in their hearts.  I still remember one of the youth spoke up when his friend had finished sharing what he was dealing with and said, "God needs to be your addiction, make Him what you crave most.  Let your soul be a refugee in Christ."  This is a fairly quiet 17 year old boy who spoke up to someone he had never been close to in front of a group of his peers.  The fact that the Lord put something on his heart and he actually had the courage to speak up really humbled and awed me.

 

Many of these youth walked away changed, from one who had been afraid to be around the homeless and now counted several of them as friends, to a girl who saw the beauty and value in every single woman but herself until God showed her how HE saw her and made her come alive.  I feel like John (except on a smaller/non-Biblical scale, lol) when I say that God did so many other things as well but if I were to write them all down I would never finish, so I will just say that I was so blessed to be able to go on this trip and see the lives of these guys changed.  Thank you guys so much for being a part of this ministry.