A Whole Lot of Coffee & a Few Thoughts

Here we are....3 days til my team and I board a plane that will take us to our home for the next two weeks. While I can't say the name of the place I'm going to for safety reasons, I can tell you that I will be spending the next two weeks in China. For most missions trips, at least from what I hear, the person going knows pretty much everything he or she needs to know before they leave. For this particular trip, its not the case because of the high-risk nature of the trip. If I said I wasn't freaking out... I'd be lying . Yes, its easy to say that God is in control, and God will take care of us while we are over there. And while I truly believe those things, I am also human, which means there is a part of me that is anxious, nervous, and scared about the trip. From Day 1 of knowing about the trip, we knew it was a high risk trip. We knew we wouldn't be able to talk about it or say where we were going. We knew there is a possibly of being arrested if we're...

Some would argue that it is too early for this kind of post and Christmas music should wait til after Thanksgiving. If it were any other year, I would agree. But this year is different.... Myself, along with 7 others students Charleston will be spending Christmas in Asia. We won't be with our families, we won't get to see the joy on our relatives' faces, and we won't be chowing down on stuffing, turkey, and all the other foods that are consumed during the Holidays. When I signed up for the trip, it really didn't bother me that I wasn't going to be here for Christmas. This past week, reality hit me. I won't be able to say Merry Christmas openly to others because where we will be going doesn't celebrate Christmas. I won't be with eating delicious home-cooked food with my family. I won't be able to participate in family traditions, such as the white elephant gift exchange. I will be gone. Please don't get me wrong, I know God pu...

So I just realized its been forever since I last posted a blog. Being in New Orleans for the Saints game(We won 62-7), I figured it would be a good time to write one. First off, mucho thanks to Will Biestek and the Biestek family, without them I wouldn't have had this chance to come and experience the Big Easy and the Saints game. I can't thank them enough. I also can't even begin to express how blessed I am to have Will as a friend. Thanks God! Anyways, so while I was here, amongst the excitement for the game, an overwhelming sense of hopelessness and darkness has surrounded me. As festive and "fun" New Orleans may be, it also is an extremely spiritually dark place. Example A: Bourbon Street . Obviously, Will and I strolled down Bourbon Street just to be able to experience typical New Orleans. Yes the bright lights and the numerous amount of characters walking up and down the street were great, and I am glad I experienced it. What isn't so great is ho...

So its officially September 12th, but unless you've been hiding under a rock for the last two weeks you would know that yesterday marked the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on 9/11. Everybody has their place. For me, it was my fifth grade English class at THA. I remember it so vividly. We were having class like a normal class day, when Mrs. Tiller, the elementary principal, came in and whispered something into Mrs. Lesesne's ear. I can still see the look on my teacher's face. It was a look of confusion and insecurity.  Being the little kids we were, we all asked what was going on. Mrs. Lesesne wasn't going to tell us, but after us nagging her, she gave in and told us that America had been attacked. Thats my place on September 11th, 2001, a memory forever ingrained into my mind. Being a elementary student, I couldn't grasp what had actually happened. Over the years, an understanding has come to me about what happened and how it forever affected the USA....

So you're probably wondering who is Susan Jones? Let me tell you a story This story starts when I transferred from THA to HHCA my sophomore year of high school. At HHCA, I figured it would be a fresh start and since it was a Christian school, it would help me become a better Christian. As soon as I got there, I heard about a Mrs. Jones. Apparently, she was a cool teacher who was really personable and really on fire for Christ. It wasn't long after I started HHCA that I fell into a crowd that I shouldn't have. I wanted to be accepted so that meant I would do anything, including drinking, partying, and being sexual immoral. I did all of this out of school, but at the same time, I tried really hard to keep my "Christian" mask on for those at HHCA..so they wouldn't think I was a bad kid or anything. I guess you could say I had two different reputations to keep up, the cool kid reputation and the "Christian" reputation. I was good at doing this too...ev...

So here it is, 2 weeks since I've arrived back in the good ole USA. I miss Swaziland more than ever but I know that even though I am not there, God is doing AMAZING things. Coming back home was tough, really tough. We had talked about reverse culture shock in debriefing but experiencing it was a whole different level. When I arrived home, I felt sad, lonely, maybe a little depressed because I felt that Swaziland was my home and I had left it to go to some foreign land. One of the hardest things I had to deal with was to process the fact that the world kept moving for the two months I was gone. Things changed, people changed, some for the better and some for the worse. I missed everything about Swaziland: the people, our house, the culture...everything. It was what I had grown to know and love. Here I am 2 weeks later and I am still dealing with all of these issues. The great thing is God is using my experience to further my walk with Him and also to spread the word about Swaziland ...

Two weeks left....not sure what to feel, ready to be home..but not done with the mission. Lord let me finish the race, let me fulfill your will. Lord, thank you for all the many, undeserved blessing you have bestowed upon me this trip. I know that we didn't bring God to Africa, and You definitely won't be leaving when we leave. I pray that the people I have come into contact with haven't seen or heard me, but have heard and seen Your glory and Your amazing grace. To You and You alone be the glory. Thank you for the privilege to serve You and do work for Your Kingdom. I'm falling on my knees, Lord, an unworthy servant that you chose to come to Swaziland. Words won't do it justice...but I hope that the Swazis know how much I care for them. So many of them, just like the rest of the world, are looking and starving for the truth...I pray that I did my best to give it to them. I pray for these last two weeks. I pray that I find my strength and purpose in You alone. Even...

Im just going to start off by what Im feeling right now. That feeling is terrified, but in a good way. We are currently on our second "break away" from our homesteads. Last night we had a young couple come and talk to us about the organization Children's Cup. As they were talking, I started feeling anxious. I knew God was talking to me but I was kinda scared to listen because I was pretty sure of what he was telling me. He's telling me to pursue a career of a career missionary. Let me simplify what the means...it means leaving behind everything and everyone in America to pursue the Lord's work where ever He would want me to go.It means leaving America for a career, which means life-long. Let me say this again, that terrifies me, but I know if the Lord wants me to do it, then that's the only choice. Please pray that God will make that decision more clear to me. Over the past couple days, I have began to realize the similarities and the contrasts between Swazi...

Well, the first week in our homestead is complete. What an AMAZING, and thats an understatement, week is was. Not going to lie, when we were on our way to homesteads, I was a little nervous. I mean they were dropping us off at at home, in the middle of nowhere practically, and we had to create our own schedule. Intimidating to say the least. Now, looking back on my worries, I worried in vain. My worries were pointless. God was in control the whole time, and man did He has an awesome week of His work planned out for us. So once we got settle in, in our humble 3 room house, we began to get acclimated to the change(or at least try too). First off, Swaziland is not the typical Africa you would picture. It is nothing like the Lion King or any pictures of Africa you have seen. Swaziland is a very mountainous area and we were placed right in the middle of the mountains. The girls were placed in a flatter area called Mgudze. The place where we live is amazingly beautiful. There is mountains ...

Ok so quick things to update you on since the last post: The day after arriving in Swaziland, the team went with Make(pronounced Ma-gay, means Mrs)Shandu to her weekly Bible Study. Make Shandu lives in a part of the missions houses that we had our orientation in. We took a kombi(they very hectic very of public transportation) to the Sibebe area where the bible study takes place every week. Three young kids were already there when we arrived, waiting in the field beside the road where we had the bible study. When we began the study, there were probably only 5 kids there max. During the time it was going on, kids kept coming and coming from all over....walking from wherever their kombi let them off at. I would say we ended up with close to 20 kids by the time we finished. Our bible study included songs sung by the kids and by our team. Our team acted out the David and Goliath bible story as well, with me being Goliath, naturally.What a blessing it was to see the Swazi kids praising God...

(Hello to you all, I greet you in the name of Jesus Christ.) So where do I begin? Honestly we have only been here for two days but I feel like theres so much that has happened. So we arrived in Jo'burg on the 31, spent the night at a guest house and got up early the next morning to leave for Swaziland. Thanks to jet lag, getting up at 5:30am has been a regular occurrence. We were told to eat at his little cafe place in the airport called News Cafe, which had the most amazing Banana Peanut Butter smoothie I've ever had in my life. After eating, we boarded our plane and were bound for Swaziland!!! Upon arriving in Swaziland, we were greeted by some of the missionaries taking care of us while we're over here.It was comforting to finally meet Todd(His wife, Deborah is also a missionary), Wayne, Hunter, Katie and Monica(her husband, Steve is also a missionary here). Their smiling faces and warm welcome helped ease some of the nerves that I had accumulated over the combinat...

Never were those words so sweet than hearing them after a 14 hours and 41 minute flight. Last post of mine was when we were in the ATL Airport, waiting for our 7:15 departure. Needless to say, the flight didn't leave on time, but it was all good because we didn't have connecting flights. Then the rest is pretty boring from there. 14 hours and 41 minutes of airplane time. Most of it spent sleeping, watching FREE movies, or eating the interesting choices they would give us for the meals. Plantains and chicken? Some vegetable that was cold and the flight attendant didnt even know? But overall it was a great flight. PS for those of you who don't know...sleeping on a plane, is not comfortable at all, thank God for Dramamine. It was the only reason I got some sleep After arriving in Jo'burg we did the usual airport stuff and met up with Stan, our ride to the BIMS Guesthouse. I knew immediately that I was where I was supposed to be. I could feel it. Not to mention it was a...

So not only is today my 20th birthday, but its DEPARTURE DAY! Im currently typing this from ATL airport(I had to pay for the internet...what is up with that?) Anyways, we left from Charlotte today around 2pm after saying our goodbyes and having a prayer said(And Mom cried her eyes out). We have a 4 hour layover here and hopefully we will be getting some grub, our last American meal for a while, soon. God has already showed us He is here with us today in an interesting way. The guy sitting with Johnny was wearing a hat, and on the back of it said "BCM", for those who don't know, the group that Im going with is from BCM, Baptist Collegiate Ministry. Although that guy wasn't part of BCM, it was just cool to know that God placed that man in front of us as a sign to let us know that He was here. God is awesome. This post is going to be short and sweet, but Im going to put pictures from the plane ride and a short video of our team so you will have faces for the names you...

This is an excerpt from Francis Chan's book, Crazy Love. I think it is fitting for me to post it since stress and worry are both feelings I've felt in preparing for this trip. ...When I am consumed by my problems---stressed out about my life, my family, and my job---I actually convey the belief that I think the circumstances are more important than God's command to always rejoice. In other words, that I have a "right" to disobey God because of the magnitude of my responsibilities. Worry implies that we don't quite trust that God is big enough, powerful enough, or loving enough to take care of what's happening in our lives. Stress says that the things we are involved in are important enough to merit our impatience, our lack of grace towards others, or our tight grip of control. Basically, these two behaviors communicate that it's okay to sin and not trust God because the stuff in my life is somehow exceptional. Both worry and ...

So hard to describe how I feel right now.  Nerves, anxiety, excitement, and joy all in the same bundle makes for a very interesting mood. Every since I found out I was going to Swaziland, I have filled to the brim with excitement. I just couldn't wait to leave. I guess this was because it hadn't really set in that I was going 8,394.9 miles away(yes I calculated it, well a website did). Now that its only a mere 6 days away, truthfully I am nervous more than anything. People have been telling me that I will do great, and I thank them for having that kind of faith in me, but honestly, I, being a mere human being, will nothing except for that of God. He will be doing great things through me. All credit goes to God and God alone. I ask you all to do thing: Pray, Pray, and Pray some more. I personally  believe that the power of prayer is the strongest way to fight these nerves and the spiritual warfare that is in front of me. When I think about how nervous I am, I find my...

For those confused by the title....if you pronounce it the way it spelt, it sounds like I freaking out. Which I am...freaking out of excited!!!! So the other day we finally received the email, we (the team) had been waiting on, our travel itinerary! When we got the news we were going on this missions trip, we were told we would be from June 1st-July 29th. I was assuming that we would leave on June 1st, and to my surprise, when I got our itinerary, the departure date said May 30th! Thats two whole days then what I planned for, but I'm actually glad that we are leaving earlier. For those of you who know me, you also know that I will be turning 20 on May 30th. This possibly could be the best present I've ever had: leaving my comfortable life here to go and do God's work. How awesome! I wish you all could feel the feelings I have right now! I can't wait!!! Anyways, heres a breakdown of my itinerary: May 30th: Leave from Charlotte  May 30th: Arrive in Atlanta May 30...

" A person’s steps are directed by the LORD.  How then can anyone understand their own way?"                                                            Proverbs 20:24(NIV) "In their hearts humans plan their course,   but the LORD establishes their steps."                                                           Proverbs 16:9(NIV) Letting go . To humans, its possibly one of the hardest actions for us to...

Preface: This is not a post of judgment, this a post of awareness, and saying something needs to change. As I sit here, I can't count how many bible verses are popping up on people's facebook statuses. This is a good thing right? Usually, yes, but these same people who are putting up these statuses are putting up pictures of them drinking, or their next status will contain profanity of some sort.  Whats wrong with that picture? Does that make any sense? In a sense these kind of Christianity is what I like to call "Convenient Christianity" and unfortunately, this is a majority of American Christianity has become. Instead of believing there is an Almighty God who is always with us, most people believe that God is there only when they need Him...which isn't true at all. Being a Christian isn't a convenience, its a way of life. Its everything we breathe. Its our lifeline. Without it WE ARE DEAD. So how can we turn it into something that we use like a pill...