Greetings from Chiapas, Mexico!

Hey All!

I am here in San Cristobal, Chiapas. We've been here for a week now and just got back from the tribe yesterday. I am totally in love with the Mexican culture and the people in Llano Grande, where we stayed for the last 5 days. It's been an amazing week! God has been showing me many things while I'm here. Stay tuned for coming attractions :) Please continue praying for our team. We've done about 5 kids programs so far. God is blessing this trip! I will post pictures when I get home. Dios los bendiga mucho! Cuidate.

Tomorrow...

Hey All!
Ok, I have been horrible about keeping this poor blog updated. The most important thing is... I LEAVE FOR CHIAPAS TOMORROW!!!! How is it possible the trip I've been looking forward to for so many weeks is finally here? Me and my friend fly out of Buffalo airport tomorrow and connect with our team in Houston before flying onto Chiapas. Please keep our team in your prayers. NY is getting hit with thunder showers and I'm praying that doesn't affect out flight out tomorrow morning. God is in control though. I will post pictures of the trip when I return safely. Pray that I do please 'cause I just am unsettled about this trip for some reason. I know it's where God wants me but there's just a feeling I have. He holds me in His hands though. Have a great summer!
Abby

3 weeks!!!

Hey All!

I am sorry for dropping off the face of the earth these past weeks. Life has been crazy and I haven't made the time to write on here.

My team and I leave for Chiapas, Mexico 3 weeks from today! That's amazing! Time just flies by. God provided a girl to fly with me to meet the rest of the team in Houston. There are 11 of us going. 4 guys and 7 girls. I'm praying that the Lord will bless this trip and use each one of us for His glory.

As with the Papua New Guinea trip last summer, I am confused and antsy and wanting to leave but afraid to for fear of the unknown. Going into the PNG trip I had 3 fears: Getting lost in Atlanta airport, crashing and burning and dying, and snakes. Those fears all seem silly now (except the snakes) but I have new fears. What if God tells me I won't be going back to Mexico? What if I don't get along with my team and there's alot of tension? What if something horrible happens wile I'm gone at home like last summer when my grandma got cancer and died? What if I come home just as confused as I was when I came home last year? What if all my expectations are crashed? My God is bigger than any of these fears. But what if I don't trust Him like I should? AURGH!!! All these fears could overwhelm me so easily. God has been reminding me to cling to Him during this confusing time. I so easily take my eyes off my Savior like Peter did when he walked on water. He took his eyes off of Jesus onto the waves around him and began to sink. Help me not to do that, Lord!

Despite what this post sounds like, I am extremely excited going into this trip. Please pray for me and my team and the people we will come in contact with.

For this post's picture, here's one of me and my siblings at an amusement park near our house. We went a few weeks ago with a friend and had a blast. I even got a nice tan :P I will miss my sister Katy's 20 birthday so I'm trying to find out which phone works best in Chiapas. Any ideas? I hear AT&T works best so I'm thinking of getting a GO phone prepaid for the 3 weeks I'll be gone. Hopefully I'll be able to call her on her birthday. She'll have a great party, hopefully better than last year when my parents were in Colorado with my grandma and I was in Colorado. Praising my Savior for my family. I love them.

Ok, cuidate y Dios los bendiga!

Tickets are Booked!

Hey All!

My tickets are booked for Mexico! I fly out the 10th of July and come back August 1st. God has provided a girl who lives about an hour away to fly with me. That's a relief because I really didn't want to fly alone. Now I am starting to make contact with the other teammates. There are 9 people going. 3 guys and 6 girls. I am SO excited to see how God works. Please be praying for me and my team. I have been praying that the Lord will be glorified and that He will show me what the next step is.

I've been praying about applying to bible school. Actually, it's a missionary training school in TX. I'm not applying until after the trip though. God has provided a waitressing job for me as well when I get back so I can start saving money for school. We shall see what God has.

Tuesday, a friend graduated from high school so to celebrate, yesterday my sister Katy and I went with him to the park and took lots of crazy pictures and ate pizza and chicken wings. Yum! I'm so blessed to have the friends I have.


A gorgeous view of a very romantic spot. We all agree that it's the perfect marriage proposal spot :)


Me and my sister Katy Dee. She's the best older sister I have. Even though I don't always act like it, I love her dearly.



Andrew and me being goofy as usual :) I'm so thankful for a friend like him. He really challenges me in my walk with the Lord.


Katy and Andrew. Um guys, I think those are supposed to be used to look out at the gorge....


Me, Andrew, and Katy. We were at a place called Inspiration Point. Do we look inspired? :)

Apologies...

Hey All,
I want to start this post by apologizing profusely for the lack of attention I have been giving to this blog. Yipe! Summer weather has finally come to NY and I have been taking advantage of it.

Life has been pretty crazy these past few weeks. A dear 81 year old man from my church died. It's been an emotional roller coaster ride for sure! BUT God IS GOOD!!! All the time even in the hard times.

I've been looking into ticket prices for my trip. God is amazing and is taking care of my needs. Please continue to pray for me. God has put me in contact with a girl who is going to Chiapas. She is from NY too which is amazing!!

Here are some pictures of what's been happening lately. My brother Danny, friend Bethany and Rudiel went to the Lilac Festival which is near our house. We had alot of fun and Rudiel got to try many new things like fried dough. The evening ended with a nice dinner at Bugaboo Creek. *The last picture is PEPSI by the way*

Dios te bendiga mucho. Cuidate gentes!

More Happens...

Hey All,
I have neglected this blog for a bit and want to apologize. Many things have been happening these past couple weeks. The biggest being that I applied for a mission trip to Chiapas, Mexico a few weeks ago rather impulsively. I didn't pray about it first. A friend told me about the mission organization, Global Encounters after bible study one night so I got on the computer and looked up the mission, perused the statement of faith, and saw the trip to San Cristobal de las Casas which leaves in July. I quickly filled out the application online and hit send. There was no fee or anything. I did it without thinking or praying and really felt guilty after that.

I got accepted to the team that is going and after alot of prayer, my parents have decided to let me go. The trip is from July 10-31. We will be traveling to different jungle villages in Chiapas, working primarily with children. I am SO excited and can't wait to see what the Lord does. Even though I did this impulsively, I feel God is leading me to do this. I appreciate your prayers for me. I will post more details as I find them out.

No picture for this post but there will be next time. Cuidate gentes!

Conviction...

Hey All,
I came across a video from a friend's Facebook page and had to share it with all of you. This video is incredibly convicting for me. Last summer, I went on a trip to Papua New Guinea. During that time, I met people who's parents and grandparents died without ever hearing the Gospel. All my life I have sat through dozens of missionary presentations. I have heard dozens of stories about people dying without hearing the Gospel. But to look into the faces of people whose parents died before hearing the Gospel was heartbreaking. The reality of the need for laborers in God's harvest hit me. People are DYING without ever hearing the name of Jesus and here in our comfortable lives, we use His name as a swear word. How sick is that?

I firmly believe that it is not an option to be a missionary. If you do not believe you are "called" to the foreign field then you had better be working wherever God has you. I am not meaning to sound like I'm better than you because I am not. Just because I have gone on a missions trip does not make me holier than you at all. Coming home from PNG, I struggled with feelings of resentment towards the American church. We who have had the Gospel for hundreds of years yet there are still how many unreached people in the world? I am not resentful anymore, just sad for the lack of laborers for His harvest. People are dying EVERY DAY without ever hearing Jesus' wonderful name.

If you are not called to go to the foreign field, do everything you can to support those who are. Whether it be praying (the most important tool of all) or giving monetarily. I know this probably sounds like I am asking for money for me but I am not in any way meaning it to be that. As of now, there are no definite plans for trips anywhere. I'm just trying to point out the need for support of missionaries here at home.

This is a picture of me with 4 precious bible leaders. At least one of these said that their parents or grandparents died without ever hearing the Gospel. Heartbreaking for sure. Why have we not done something? Jesus commanded us to "Go into ALL the world and preach the Gospel to every kingdom." So far, we've reached not very far with the Gospel.

But we can be and are part of the solution! We are laborers in God's harvest. "Look unto the fields for they are WHITE UNTO HARVEST."

I might not be the most popular gal after this post and if I came across as proud, I truly am sorry. I don't mean to be. This topic is so close to my heart though. Listen to the Lord's leading in your life. Seek Him and don't pray for opportunities to share Him, pray for the courage to take the opportunities He sends our way. Dios te bendiga mucho hoy. Cuidate!