Welcome to Texas!

People have flown in from around the world to participate in Mercy Ships training program called Gateway. Countries represented include US of A, UK, Germany, South Africa, Australia, and Norway. I am amazed by my fellow crewmates; their excitement and zeal for serving the Lord fill me with even more energy for this journey. Last week I made my way down to Garden Valley, Texas and after two days of travel, I finally made it here. I was instantly surrounded by my classmates and have felt at home ever since.

The first excitement of our dorm includes the local wildlife trying to give us a warm Texas welcome. 

Yes, we saw our first scorpion in our dorm lounge. It created quite the uproar, as everyone was excited and petrified of this little creature. Later that night, sitting in my bed, I said to my roommate “I am so glad the scorpion wasn’t in our room!” Only to then look over and find a scorpion right next to my bed on the wall. After a cry for help, the entire dorm (almost) came running in my room to the rescue.

After a few minutes, we managed to wrangle Mr. Scorpion with duct tape.

So far, class has been both amazing and intense. It is hard to find words to describe this week. We have had class on faith formations and spiritual warfare. God has carried me through the tough schedule so far and helped me to gain a lot from these long study hours. I am generally in class from 8 am until 4:30 PM and on Tuesday we had a planning session from 6 – 8 pm. During this evening class, we are starting to plan our 2 week field service in West Africa away from the ship. I am excited to get more information about what we will be doing and will outline this in another blog.

I can’t thank you enough for your support and encouragement. 

Stay tuned! Future updates are sure to include Nicole: The cow herder, international diversity, silent retreat, and a REAL Texas BBQ :-D

Prayer Requests: 

Inevitably, I arrived to Texas and my fall allergies kicked into high gear. I have been struggling all week with congestion and coughing. It has been difficult to stay focused and have energy while having to fight these symptoms. Please pray for guides help though this time of healing.

Please pray for Texas. The drought here is still quite severe and there has been a "no burn" ban in the area. This has the potential to affect our training as we won't be able to have our firefighting practical. Please pray that the rain will come!