Becoming a Houstonian

It's incredible that I've been in Houston for 9 days, and with my Mission Year teammates for 7. It feels like a month has passed by since just last week. I have met so many new people who are already a huge part of my life. We have been going through a lot of training for this year that we are entering. I am grateful for the leadership that has been established in Mission Year. My City Directors, Jason and Jenni, have many years of experience in this city, and they truly exemplify what it means to live and love like Jesus. We also were privileged to hear from several Mission Year staff members this week, and it was beautiful to hear their hearts for God's Kingdom and the poor and broken people we all encounter daily in our communities. I have been so encouraged and challenged this week. I feel eager and prepared to begin this year. I'm nervous about the unknown people and circumstances that I will surely encounter, but I am so blessed to have a wonderful community to live and grow with this year.

I found out a few days before I left for Houston that I will be serving at The Forge for Families, right up the street from my new home. We've been meeting there all week for our city-wide orientation, and it's a really nice facility. My team also got to meet with the Forge's volunteer coordinator yesterday morning to discover more of what their mission is and a little bit of what we'll be doing there. I'm pumped. I'll be working there with two of my housemates Monday-Friday from 10:30-6:30. You should check out their website, but I'll just say that this place offers a ton of great programs for people in our community. I'll be helping with some of their after-school programs, and I'm very excited to see what that looks like.

My time in this coffee shop is running out quickly, and I'm not sure if I'll have a chance to get on the internet again today, so I'll share a few prayer requests in the meantime.

Pray:

• for boldness in my neighborhood, that my teammates and I would have confidence in these early days to meet our neighbors and to love them well.
• that I would learn to manage my time here with this new routine and be able to take care of myself in all aspects.
• for unity among my teammates and among all of the teams serving in Houston.
• for safety as we continue to travel around the city and in our neighborhood.

Thanks to everyone who is so supportive of me in every way. I am so eager to share this experience with you all, and I hope you're just as excited to walk with me in this adventure. I will try to update again next Friday when I can use internet!