Nicole's Heart

I want to first thank everyone who supported me and made it possible for me to go on this trip. Your prayers, financial support and encouragment meant more to me than I can ever express in words! God did amazing things on this trip. I know without a doubt that God wanted me in Southeast Asia this summer and I feel stronger than ever before that He is calling me to missions in my future. I don't know exactly what this will look like, but I trust God and know that He will show me when I need to know.



Heading to Southeast Asia did not go how I had planned. Due to fog, I missed my flight in San Francisco, which meant I was not able to fly to Beijing with my teammates. This also meant I had an 9 hour lay over in the San Francisco airport all by myself. I had several lines to wait in and because I accidentaly took an open water bottle with me through secruity, I got into some trouble with the security guard. I was originally to fly to Beijing through United Airlines, but they booked me on an Air China flight to get me out that same day. I had been communicating with the people who were to pick me and my team up, so they said someone would meet me at baggage when I arrived. After the 12 hour flight to Beijing, I got off the plane and followed the crowd praying they were going the direction I wanted to go. I arrived at baggage and no one was there to pick me up. To top it off, my bags did not show up either! It was midnight, so there was anyone there. After an hour of waiting, I decided to go outside and see if maybe someone was there and low and behold, there was my team! We filed a claim for my lost bags and went to the hotel and crashed. Little did I know that my mom had called to verify I arrived in Beijing and was basically told that I was lost! She and my Pastor spent the rest of their afternoon trying to track me down. It was not until 5 pm that night her time (8 am the following day in Beijing) that she & my dad received word that I was indeed in Beijing and safe!



The first 3 days were team building. We had team meetings, got to know one another through touring, learned hands on about the culture hands on & tried to get on a proper schedule (15 hr. time difference for me) & tried to get used to the climate change. An average day was between 100 and 115 degrees with high humidity. This was a time where I was totally dependant on God & my new teammates. I had 1 extra pair of clothes and that was it for the first 3 days with my bags lost! As hard as it was, God showed me that He is in control and my trust and reliance on Him is all that truely matters. He is so faithful & graceful! He kept me safe in all of my travels and gave me teammates who felt like family from the beginning.



When we arrived at the camp it was a bit overwhelming at first. Within the first 4 days I slept in 4 different rooms, each time being told that was the last time I would have to move. They don't have elevators in buildings that have less than 10 floors in the building, so I had to hike 5 floors to get to my room & 3 floors to get to my classroom. The great thing is that I came back in great shape! The number of students changed daily for the first 3 days. We went from expecting 240 and the final number given was 40, so we prepared for that many. 75 showed up! Because we were expecting so many students in the beginning and ended up with only the 75, we had more teachers than what we needed. A group was asked to go to the nearby orphanage to teach, which ended up being a blessing.



I was an assitant teacher in an Advanced English class. I taught vocab. most days. I co-wrote a script with Gary, the other assistant, for the play our class would perform during the talent show on the last night of camp. Gary & I taught the play to the kids everyday during part of the class. We did a condensed version of the movie "Over the Hedge". The girl who was to lead crafts had to go home early, so I took over her position for that as well.



We had to get the students asking questions about our faith. The fact that these people believe all Americans are believers helped us out, but we had to be very careful. Anna, one of my students had a high interest in learning about the Lord. She approached Alisha & I on different occassions about our faith. She would see us reading our Bibles on our free time and ask to borrow them. Sometimes she would even read over our shoulders. She was full of questions. It was a great feeling to be able to share my faith with someone who did not know the Lord. Anna even stayed our last night at the camp after all the other students had gone home, just so she could sleep in my room and visit longer. I really miss her, but we are keeping in contact via email & I continue to pray for her salvation.


I LOVED my students! I kept a daily journal while on my trip, as I wanted to write down all of my thoughts & feelings while they were fresh in my mind. Here is a line from my journal written August 13th (this was after I said goodbye to everyone but Anna). "The heart God gave me for my students is far beyond anything I could have imagined. Today was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, I knew it would be hard saying goodbye to my kids. With each goodbye, hug & tear my heart was breaking". Andy, the student who we gave the "Most improved" award to was the sweetest boy in my class. He was the first one I had to say "goodbye" to. When Andy came up to me I thought I would be strong and not cry, but as I looked at the tears streaming down his face as he hugged me and told me "Thanks for everything Nicole. I will always remember you in my heart", I totally lost it. As I write this tears are streaming down my face. My life will forever be changed because the Lord called me to Southeast Asia! There were way too many stories to share in my blog, but it is so great to be able to share them all with my family, church family & friends who live close.

I was so blessed to be able to have gone to Southeast Asia! I could not have asked for better team mates and students to have shared this experience with. I am also very blessed to have such a loving, supportive family, church family & small group of friends who understand and support me in my call to missions. It's not about me, but instead what I can do to serve the Lord and remain in His will. I am currently seeking where the Lord wants me to go this next summer. I have a couple of good leads that I'm working on right now. I trust the Lord to let me know which one He wants me to go on. I will be working as a Nanny around 15 hours a week this year and putting a portion of that money into my missions account (the rest for gas, car upkeep & college). This blog is my way of keeping everyone up to date on my past, present & future mission trips. I will continue to update it as I learn more, so keep checking it out!

Mission trips are not all that I originally thought they would be. They are physically & mentally exhausting, but so very worth it! Please keep praying for me and for those the Lord has allowed me to share my faith with!