One Year Down, One To Go!

Thank you! It is impossible to express how grateful I am for everyone who has supported my work in China. Because of your partnership, my first year of service is fully funded! How incredible!!! Whether you listened to a presentation, played in the golf tournament, visited the water gardens, or are just reading my blog because you are bored at work, you have contributed to CWEF’s efforts in China. Your words of encouragement and the overwhelming generosity you have shown me are true blessings, and I give thanks daily!

At the beginning of this journey, I never thought it would be possible to meet the first year mark so quickly. With every week that passes, I continue to watch in amazement at the outpouring of support. I am so thankful for each of you!

As we celebrate this exciting time, please remember that we have just met the half-way mark. We have completed the first year’s funding, and have moved on to the second year. You can still get involved, and your financial support is still needed. Please consider how you can partner with me to bring fresh water to the villages in Yunnan Province. Your thoughts, your encouragement, and your donations are still needed and are so appreciated. THANK YOU!

28 people. 15 countries. 1 goal.

Training was an awesome experience! I spent the past two weeks learning specifics about my position and the avenues in which I will serve. Not only did I learn more about the work I will be doing, but I also met twenty-eight incredible people that are going to be serving in fifteen different countries.

It was refreshing and inspiring to hear how each person arrived at this place. Everyone at training had a different story. Some of us (like me) are fresh out of college and have just begun our career paths; others have been working for years. Some people have always planned to serve in this capacity; while others (like myself) were surprised to realize this was His plan for our lives.

Regardless of how different our paths have been up to this point though, we are all now united in our passion and in our purpose. We all want to make a difference.

Please continue to think of us as we disperse throughout the world.

One word

Ni hao! or "Hello!" in Chinese, (Well friends, there you have it... the extent of my Mandarin vocabulary. Needless to say, I have a lot to learn).

Now, as I stare at a blank piece of paper with the only Chinese word I know, I simultaneously feel incredibly excited and completely overwhelmed. My blank piece of paper symbolizes the unknown, as my story has yet to be created. A new language, a new culture, and an entirely different way of life await me in August.

And so, I begin here with the blank page of my first blog entry. My empty sheet of paper represents my completion of college and the beginning of a new adventure. The next chapter of my life will soon fill these pages with stories of success, challenges and everything in between. The goal for my blog is best described by Henri Nouwen in Seeds of Hope. He explains,

“Writing is a process in which we discover what lives in us. The writing itself reveals to us what is alive in us. The deepest satisfaction of writing is precisely that it opens up new spaces within us of which we were not aware before we started to write. To write is to embark on a journey whose final destination we do not know. Thus, writing requires a real act of trust."

I trust that this blog will encourage further introspection into my experience. By reflecting on the people I meet, the lessons I learn, and the food I taste (food is a key part of everything I do), we will have the opportunity to share in this incredible experience. I hope you are as excited as I am to see how this blank page quickly turns into a novel filled with countless stories of love and hope.

Happy Reading!