It's been a while

 So friends I have not updated my blog since before I went on my trip to Belarus. I am so sorry but as you know the Holiday season can be kind of crazy. To start off I wanted to share some stories of my time in Belarus with you.

 

New Friend Nastya

I had a few pen pals from Belarus that I wrote to before the trip and I was able to meet both of them while I was in Belarus but I didn't get to spend much time with them. I can say that I believe it was from the Lord that I was unable to spend a lot of time with these girls because I was able to spend some time with a girl named Nastya. Nastya came to our team with her friend Kate. We had a lot in common as far as our interests go. I didn’t get to share the good news of Christ with Nastya as I would have liked but I did build a friendship that I hope to continue building on while I am home. The day our team left Belarus Nastya met us at the train station to tell us bye and give me a gift before we left Belarus and that was one of the sweetest things for me. In the short amount of time we were in Belarus the Lord gave us favor with the people. The last thing Nastya told me was she wanted to learn more about the church we went to in Belarus (New Land Church).  I was very excited to hear that and my prayer is that she does check out the church and falls in love with Jesus.

Kate, Me, and Nastya

 

 

 

American Party

Another highlight of mine while in Belarus was an event our team hosted. We invited all the students we met at the university  through the week, and around 50 students came to the party. We played a few large group games. I was able to teach a few line dances that are popular in the U.S. Then we split up into small groups for some discussion time. We shared with our groups about Thanksgiving and then we were able to share what we are thankful for. I shared with my girls that I was thankful for the day I heard the gospel and understood it for the first time. I explained what the gospel was to my girls. I don’t know how well they understood what I talked about, but the seed was planted and will hopefully be watered. I did make some friendships that I hope to follow up with. A few of my girls also went with our team to the orphanage the next day. I enjoyed my time with these girls and they were a huge encouragement to me. 

My group of girls from the American Party

We Are Family

Another part of the trip that was a big highlight for me was our team. It is so amazing to see how the Lord orchestrates things like the people that go on trips together. We had men and women, people of all ages, and we had all different types of personalities on our team, but I can say that we were so close. In as little as 10 days our team started as random people getting on a plane and ended as a family. It all happened by seeing the Lord work in each other in Belarus to team-time in Lithuania and Germany. I am very thankful for the friendships that were built on the trip and the ones that were strengthened. 

This is our team picture :)

 

 

 

 

All the ladies on our team :)

 

 

The 5 of us became very close (as you can tell)

 

 The Rest of 2011

Once our team got home from Belarus the Holiday season was in full swing. I had lots of Christmas parties to attend. We had our youth group Christmas party. I had a dance team party. I go to see the lights at the Cincinnati Zoo with Austin. I spent Christmas with my mom and both my brothers. Then I got to go to the Alumni National Conference in Chattanooga, TN, which was awesome because I got to hang out with some friends that I hadn't gotten to see in a while and there were some great speakers (Matt Chandler, JD Greer, and John Piper). On New Years Eve we had a huge party at the conference with 5,000+ college students and alumni and I have to say it was an awesome way to bring in the new year. 2011 has been a crazy year but a good year, I did a lot of things I never thought I would. I am very excited to see what the Lord has planned for 2012 :)

Georgetown College Dance Team Christmas dinner and gift exchange

Pictures of Charley and I for Christmas

Austin and I at the Cincy Zoo to see the pretty Christmas Lights

Little bro and I before the Christmas Eve Service

The bros and I on Christmas Day

Sweet friends

Alumni ladies at the Alumni Conference