Willing to let His plan be our plan...

For the first time since the pandemic, this summer was going to be the first trip back to the Philippines in 4 years! Before the pandemic, I didn’t spend more than 4 years collectively away from the Philippines in a 10 year span! To say my visit is overdue is a massive understatement. I deeply love the Philippines and my “family” there as well.

So, of course, for our first summer trip back it was a no-brainer to choose the Philippines! We had 13 people sign up and begin fundraising. As I was planning for the locations of the camps as well as details for the team, I periodically would check the flight prices and pray they would stay affordable… For the last several weeks, they have actually been priced in the “outrageous” category. Rightfully so, I know this is the first summer people are truly beginning to travel again since the pandemic - but it hurt to see what I knew began to unfold.

One of the main things I learned during the pandemic is to hold my plans with open hands - something I have always known but didn’t practice so well as I am a fiercely determined person. It’s hard to balance the “never give up” mentality with the “don’t hold your plans too tight that God can’t move”. So this time, I began asking the Lord immediately what He may have in mind differently than what I planned.

I met with our missions pastors and also listened to those God spoke through around me. Many arrows kept pointing to a specific place - a place I have never been. I chose the Philippines for our first trip back because I am familiar with it and believe I can do a good job leading the team… Well, isn’t it a recurring theme in my life that God truly likes to send me on paths I have no familiarity with so that I can’t trust myself and my plan? I have to completely depend on Him every step of the way. Something I love but also can make me feel unsteady if I’m not on His solid foundation.

Sidenote: A few years ago, I felt the Lord leading me to get Freedom Camp translated into Spanish. I remember thinking that was odd because it would make more sense to translate it into Filipino first, but I followed His lead. Then last year, I met an amazing girl, Ana, whose parents immigrated to the US from a Spanish-speaking country. I asked her if she would be willing to finish the translation for me, clean it up, and make sure it is ready to print. She finished it earlier this year, and we tabled it for our plans for next summer.

Now as this current journey began unfolding, I was curious to see if God was wanting to use that translation sooner than we thought!

The missions team and I came up with three countries where our camps could most likely be rerouted to this summer: Belize, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic. One of those stood out to me in so many conversations I had in the last few weeks, and one of those countries - is where Ana’s parents are from! But I tried to just wait for the Lord and hear back from the locations to see which one was interested in having our team come…

Within one week of beginning conversations with those locations, we were booked. And not only that, but the location told us they had been praying for more teams this summer and that our camp was exactly what they believe their children need right now. I don’t know why I was shocked, but I was shocked! God moved so fast and so clearly that it was undeniable He had this planned all along - we just had to find our way to His path. His sovereignty is ALL over this trip.

While I am sad that we won’t be going to the Philippines this summer, I am so eager to see what all God does on this trip only He could have put together!

Without further ado… We’re going to HONDURAS this summer to share Freedom Camp with the precious children of Rancho Ebenezer!

We are so excited and would love your prayers as we begin working out the details for our trip. If you feel led to give, we would so appreciate any contribution to our team as we take the Freedom of the Gospel IN SPANISH to Honduras this summer!