You are God's Provision for Me next year....

"You are God's Provision for me next year".....at one point during the STINT briefing (where I have been for a week) they had us turn and say this to our teammates....at the time, it really just felt silly. The more I think about it however, I see how incredibly true it is. We spent all week together and I was amazed at how well our personalities, passions, and priorities (!) fit together and were to on track. I'm not trying to say that there won't be conflict, I can guarantee there will be. But, I know that God has truly blessed me with an incredible team of people that I am so excited to spend more time with and do ministry with over the next year. So in case any of you read this: you guys are truly God's provision for me next year. I know we are going to test each others' patience from time to time, but I can't wait to see how God uses us in Venezuela......in a matter of weeks!

A couple pictures from the trip:
We got to enjoy (and I had my very first) trip up a ski lift (chair lift?).....The girls enjoyed the trip by taking pictures (this was about the 30th picture, so I just had to make a face....). During a delicious *ahem* lunch (the cafeteria food at the conference was....interesting) it began raining on us, and we headed inside only to be told that the lift was closing due to rain and we had 15 minutes to get back down the mountain....Needless to say it made for a cold and wet ride back, but it was fun nonetheless and a very memorable first experience on a ski lift.

The place that we stayed (Copper Mountain, Colorado) was absolutely gorgeous. This is another view from the ski lift. The only trouble was the altitude sickness that plagued many of the conference attendees (about 400 people from all over the country heading all over the world). I myself suffered a bit from the altitude messing with my head and sinuses, but overall really enjoyed the setting, in all the beauty of God's creation.

Here's the team: (from left to right...) Amanda Coonts - an Elementary Education major from the University of Idaho (go Vandals!), Sarah Miller - a Spanish major from Whitworth College, who spent a year and half in Spain and speaks fluent Spanish, Me! (just in case you don't know, a politial science and philosophy major from the University of Washington), Eben Allen - a mechanical engineering major from the University of Portland, and Ivan Bucher - a journalism major from the University of Montana, Missoula.





Classic pic with the Venezuelan Flag went a little astray as I literally "hid behind the flag" and the rest of them just smile beautifully from above it....I like it:).