The Gospel is Free | thoughts on graduating and my future plans

Last Thursday I finished two summer school classes, meaning I literally only have one semester and 5 classes left in my undergraduate degree. This fact startled me. I will have a bachelors degree in a short 4 months. 1/3 of a year. I will be 21 when I graduate and after that I guess I will have to make like long term plans for what I plan to do on earth. 

This hasn't sent me spiraling into an existential crisis (yet), it's just made me excited more than anything. Excited for what I will be able to do with my life. You see, the thing I love, more than anything else in the whole world, is traveling. I love to go to new places, to meet new people, to try new food, to wear something new, I love how that notion of new is translated to you yourself when you travel. You become a new person. You become a new creation. Being a Christian that idea of being a new creation is central to my beliefs. In 2 Corinthians 5 Paul says this "¹⁷ This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!" I think traveling plays an important part of you becoming new, and I would argue that Jesus wanted us to travel and experience newness as much as he called us to love one another.  In Matthew 28 Jesus tells his disciples this

¹⁸ Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.¹⁹ Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. ²⁰ Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

 This passage has become known as the great commission, it’s sorta the field guide to be a Christian. Jesus tells us to go to all nations! And if you still doubted whether or not he really wanted us to go, check out Luke 10,

The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit. ² These were his instructions to them: “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields. ³ Now go, and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves. ⁴ Don’t take any money with you, nor a traveler’s bag, nor an extra pair of sandals. And don’t stop to greet anyone on the road.

⁵ “Whenever you enter someone’s home, first say, ‘May God’s peace be on this house.’ ⁶ If those who live there are peaceful, the blessing will stand; if they are not, the blessing will return to you. ⁷ Don’t move around from home to home. Stay in one place, eating and drinking what they provide. Don’t hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve their pay.

⁸ “If you enter a town and it welcomes you, eat whatever is set before you. ⁹ Heal the sick, and tell them, ‘The Kingdom of God is near you now.’ 

Not only does he want us to go, but he doesn't want us to pack much either. 

As a girl who loves clothes, but especially jackets, this sounds crazy to me, but the message is the same. GO.

Go tell people about Jesus.

Go share about the love that Jesus has.

Go proclaim God’s grace for everyone.

God wants us to GO and tell people about him.

This is my favorite part of the gospel because it lets me do something I love so much, all with the blessings and goodness of God around me.

So that brings me to this, in exactly a year, in August 2013 I will be moving to North England for a year. I will be getting to live in the country that brought us amazing Christian works from the likes of CS Lewis, Charles Spurgeon, J.R.R Tolkien. I will be living in a country with such a rich history of religious and political reform, the country that hosted Guy Fawkes unsuccessful attempt to rid England of its new royal protestant ways, the country that houses famous Christian buildings such as Westminster Abbey, or the Rievaulx Abbey. the roots of Christianity in England historically go back to as early as the 3^rd Century CE….and in the 21^st century I will be experiencing all of the wonders of England, as well as adding to the magnificent history of Christianity in the United Kingdom.

While there I will be working with an organization called Pais. Pais was started in 1992 in Burnley, England, and now it’s 20 years old and is in 8 countries across the globe. Pais’ motto is “missionaries making missionaries” and it’s goal is to educate and mentor youths in schools about Christ love for them, and his plan for them. The coolest thing about Pais to me, and why I was so excited to get involved, is that instead of waiting for the youth to come to you, Pais goes to the students! They go into the schools almost daily to have programs, Bible clubs, game days, and other things that take place in the school. When I am not inside schools, I will be working with a local church planning youth events and basically interning for a local church.

The statistics for youth church goers in England is baffling. Only about 10% of young adults age 16-24 go to church. 10%. 1 in 10… If you’d like more info about Christianity in the UK you should check out this study released by BBC in April of 2007.

Pais wants to change that, I want to help Pais, and I want you guys to help me!

In Luke 10 Jesus sends out the 72 in pairs, in a partnership. I am asking you guys to be my partners in this journey. 

In the coming months I will need to fundraise for this opportunity. While Pais provides room and board, I still have to raise funds for spending money for things like clothes while there, living money, my plane ticket, and my visa, etc. 

I will be planning some fundraisers in the next months and I will have money solid info about how much I have to raise and by when, but I would love for you guys to help me monetarily in any ways you can, and would ask that you start praying about the funding right now. 

Remember the gospel is free, it only takes money to get it places.

Right now you guys can also directly help by praying for me, for Pais, for the students, teachers, and other youths that I will be coming into contact with.

Thank you all so much for your continuous support!! XX