Today, six good friends left for a Gospel sharing mission trip to Kenya. Each member of the group has a special place in my heart. The connections are very personal but ultimately each one chooses to walk with the Father and to obey the call on his or her life.

Several months ago I met with Stephen and Brenda to learn just how they share when on the field. I came away from that evening challenged to prepare myself much more thoroughly for my upcoming mission trip in October. God seems to bring them to mind constantly and so I have thought a lot about their purpose and its challenge over the past few weeks.

Each team member is charged with learning Bible stories from Genesis to Jesus being taken up to heaven. On the field, walking the people through the Bible, story by story, is a task shared by all. After my trip last year to Brazil, I came home with a great desire to be able to share the Bible orally with my friends who do not read. Imagine my frustration as someone who relies on her Bible for nourishment daily to discover that the ladies I was talking with had never looked at the Bible they were given the year before. We treasure our Bibles, we even buy multiple translations but their Bibles are as clean and unused as the day we gave them. My heart was broken.

So I embarked on a plan to learn those stories so that I might also share from Genesis to Jesus’ ascension. As a visual learner, I knew that writing, or note-taking, was the best way for me to learn. I was truly amazed to receive new insight into Scriptures that I have read many times. What a learning experience! This is not to say that I am prepared today to share all the stories but by October I will be. As I think about my friend Alda, I cannot wait to share with her the story of the women who followed Jesus. Just think of what a witness she can be to her friends once she hears how Jesus healed the blind man or how He loved Mary and Martha. What emotion will she feel when she hears the 23^rd Psalm?

184 pages handwritten burned into my mind. From Genesis to Acts, sometimes writing the same story from all four Gospels, I have learned or been reminded of the magnificence and love of the Father. All in for this adventure, I no longer wonder ‘what is God’s purpose for my life?’ It’s all about bringing Him glory; exploring the depths of my devotion to find the courage, wisdom, fortitude, and diligence to go, as often as I can, to share Jesus. I do believe that a certain amazing man, who never knew someone with whom he couldn’t share, would be very happy with me today. That’s a very good feeling.