Tickets, Money and Plans for Africa

Hello everyone!

So many things are starting to come together for Africa. It is very neat to see God's hand in this trip! This past Sunday Bethany (my church) voted to support me and Bri for Africa both financially and in prayer. I am so blessed to have such an amazing church family behind me. Unfortunatly, when we took a look at the tickets that afternoon, we saw that the ticket prices had gone up about $900. We immediatley began praying and asked others to do the same. Yesterday, we felt God telling us to play around with the dates of our trip. We realized that if we go August through September the trip is $1000 cheaper! This morning I was able to speak with Allen and Gloria to confirm that these new dates would work. It was great to be able to get some questions answered and hear their shared excitement to have us come! God is so amazing in how He is working this out!

We were able to buy our plane tickets to Africa this afternoon for $1566.41 each! Such an answer to prayer. The official dates of our trip are 8/13 - 9/19. This is a week shorter than we were origianally planning, but we both felt that for $1000, it was worth it.

Please keep praying for both Bri and myself as we prepare for this trip. It was neat to be able to talk with Allen and Gloria about some ideas that they have for Bri and my time in Africa. Allen said the trouble is going to be figuring out what, out of the list of things they have for us to do, to cut out because of time ;) They will definitely keep us busy (which is exactly what we want)!

Financial Support

I realized last night after hearing back from a couple of people who would like to help financially support my trip to Africa that I forgot to say where people can send the money. People are welcome to give me the money in person, or send it to my P.O. Box. The address is P.O. Box 15903 Seattle, WA 98115.

Thank you!

Africa Summer 2010!

Hello everyone,

I know it has been a long time since I have posted anything on this blog. I have decided that I will use this blog to keep people updated with my missions adventures and facebook to keep up with people on a weekly basis :) If you are not already friends with me on facebook, and would like to be, feel free to look me up. I do not get on facebook everyday, but I do get on at least once a week to see how everyone is doing.

Anyways, I am planning a trip to Africa this summer and wanted to let everyone know about it! I am going July 16th and coming home August 28th. My church has a missionary couple, Allen and Gloria Brittingham, who live in Kokstad South Africa. I am not sure yet if Bri (my friend who is also going) and I will be staying with the Brittingham's or an African family from their church. There are many needs in Kokstad right now, and we are working with the Brittingham's and their pastor in Africa to figure out where we could best be used to serve the people in their city. I am just excited to be going, and I am open to letting God use me however He wants during this trip.

As the planning for my trip becomes more real, I am so excited to be preparing to go to Africa! Because the planning is in the beginning stages, I would appreciate all of your prayers for God's guidance and wisdom. The plane tickets from Seattle to South Africa are around $1900 at the moment. This week my goal is to get a support letter out to all of my family and friends. The total that I need to raise for the 44 days in Africa will be around $2500 depending on the final price of the tickets when we purchase them sometime in the next month or so. Any financial support is greatly appreciated! I would also love your prayers throughout this whole process that God would prepare my heart for what He has planned for me in Africa, and for the people that I will be serving.

Thank you for all of your love, support and prayers! I will keep this blog up-to-date as I find out more details.

Pictures from Mexico this past year! Finally... :)

This past year I was the co-leader for the children program in Tecate, Mexico. Here are some pictures from the trip. Enjoy!!!

Yum! I LOVE Mexican food!!!

My girls :) I could not have made it through the week without them! Thanks Elise and Bri!

Craft time was always a hit with the children. Beads are their favorite!

Game time was a hit too :)

On my free time I helped out with some construction.

Mexico 2008!

Once again I'm going to Tecate, Mexico with my Bethany family! After praying about Mexico this year I felt God calling me to take on a new level of ministry. This year I'm going to lead the children's ministry!!! I would LOVE all of all your prayers as God gets my heart and my team ready for this trip. I'm very exited to see all that God is going to do in Tecate!!!

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!

Southeast Aisa 2007- Scenery

The steel building that looks like a
bunch of rubber bands intertwined
is the Crow's Nest, which is where the
2008 Olympics will be held in Beijing.
This was my view outside my hotel
window. We stayed in this hotel when we
first arrived in Beijing & just before heading
home.

The sky just before the 2nd Typhoon.

The path from the camp to the grocery

store & Dico's.

We swam here with our students

3 times. It was over 100 degree's

outside & the water was the same,

so it was not very refreshing.

This was the camp we stayed at for

our 3 weeks with the students.

These are the dorms where we all slept.

This was a statue that some of the
people worship. They have

several gods. They believe the red
keeps the wood from burning &
black will keep water out.

They have many superstitions.

This is a special rock. The

Emporers would send their armies down,

dig trenches along the way, fill the trenches

with water, wait for it to freeze & then

bring a rock like this across the ice. They

thought it was beautiful.








This is the Forbidden City. It held the

most amount of Emporers.

The rock above is in the Forbidden City.











A temple at the Great Wall. Inside are

gods the people worship.












I took this from the top of the first

tower we climbed up. As you can

see, parts of the Wall are VERY steep!

There were times I would not let go

of the railing, as I felt like I would just

topple over if I did.








This was a manmade island in the

Summer Palace. The Summer Palace

is the largest, best kept Imperial Garden's

in the world. It consists of a manmade

lake with islands all throughout it. You take

boats to get from island to island.








Behind the water flowers you can

see some of the boats used to get

around the Summer Palace.

This was at the Acrobatic

Theatre. We went to this our last

full day in Beijing. It was good, but

we were so exhausted that half the

team fell asleep.