Faithfulness..

I could write for days about the faithfulness of Jesus. Forever. & ever. & ever. & ever. I am officially headed to Africa May 25 & I don't know where to start telling you how God has provided & led me since all of this came up! Of course I've heard about Him moving in other people's life and even seen Jesus work in mine, but He has confirmed so many times since bringing me this trip that He set it up and even put me in the plans to go and carry His name. It is finals week, so don't be surprised that I don't have time to say a lot, but let me leave you with these verses about His overwhelming goodness. Romans 4:20-21.. "No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised." Love Love Love.

Passion.. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!

I know its been forever and obviously I've given up on the 30 days of pictures, but I have so much to say. This weekend, 5 of my very best friends and I went to the Passion Conference in Fort Worth. Passion is a gathering of college students that love Jesus and want more of Him. We signed up in January and I was excited then, but throughout the crazy semester, I lost focus and didn't really know what to expect for the weekend by the time it was time to leave. I honestly can't put into words what a beautiful, life-changing weekend it was. There is no way I can make everything into one blog post, but I'll start with what God is already using so much in my life. Story time again! 

I think I've shared before about feeling absolutely called to go to Africa at least on short term mission trips, but even for extended periods eventually. This weekend, we talked about unreached people groups where less than 2% of the population claims to be a Christian. In countries with populations more than a billion, there are sometimes a few hundred unreached people groups. My heart for missions and desire to go was multiplied and reinforced throughout the weekend as we talked about the Koso people of Mali in North Africa where only 12 of their 500,000 population know the name of Jesus. We talked about the rubble and devastation that is still so drastically affecting Haiti. We talked with missionaries who have seen Jesus in their second countries, and we talked with people from destitute places who now know the hope they can find in Jesus' name. Fast forward to our drive home Sunday night.. I was thinking about Africa and telling my friends that I wish I could just drop out and go. After a small panic attack about us not being together, Rachel instantly started praying that God would provide opportunities for Katie and me to go if thats what we are supposed to do. I've seen God move fast, even instantly, but I was still taken back when He showed up yesterday. Rachel, Katie, Taylor, and I were eating dinner with Katie's family when Taylor shouted at me, "OH TORI!!!" She went on to tell me that she knew of a trip to Africa that suddenly had a couple of spots open. I'm not sure whether this trip will work out. The trip leaves in 7 weeks and that isn't very long to raise the money and all of that, but I know that if I'm supposed to go, God will provide. I guess I'm saying all this to ask that you pray for my discernment and this trip. I need to decide this week if I am going, and if I am, I have a lot to do. 

If I had to pick one thing that I learned from Passion, I would have to say that I now know that I know that I know that I know that if it's in His will, it WILL work out. I'll leave you with this quote from Louie Giglio's sermon Friday night. He said, "I'm not going to waste my time praying small things to a Huge God. That insults His power."

Love Love Love.