.a week in pictures.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then I guess this is a realllllllly long post  ;)

Nathan and I were looking at our crazy schedule coming up!

Upon arriving at the office on my birthday, I found lots of little celebratory decorations! 

 I work with wonderful people.

My coworkers brought in fresh berries and popcorn for snacks on my birthday!

Did you know that when it's your birthday, Google changes your homepage to a birthday theme?!

Wen I got home, I discovered that my sweet Nathan had sent me flowers :)

Sticking to office dress code sometimes means wearing skirts with soccer jerseys  :)

When I got back to my car on Friday, I found that someone had taken my mirror off while driving down the alleyway.  They did not leave a note, which was a bummer, but it was an opportunity for me to react in grace and learn to be resourceful.  I found the mirror on Amazon for a mere $45 and was able to use a friend's Amazon Prime account for free shipping.  The mirror should be here Tuesday and I found a Youtube video to teach me how to install it!  Praise the Lord!

Priases:
1. Nathan is DONE with his Junior year of college in a few days!
2. God allowed me to find a reasonably priced mirror and a way for me to get it fixed soon!
3. I was able to get my work computer this week so that I am not using my personal computer for all of my YMI files!

Prayers:
1. Gene and John are in Denver now at a Mission51 retreat.  Pray that kids would catch the vision of missions and that it would leave to future involvement with YMI.
2. Pray that people will continue to sign up to host teams for the summer.

3. Please keep praying that we find at least one more student for Japan 2013.

.Needs.

Many people have asked me how they can help with what we are doing at YMI.  There are so many needs, so I figured I would compile a list of ways in which YOU can help contribute to what God is doing at YMI.

5 Tangible Needs of Youth Missions International
1.  Participant - We need at least 1 more high school student to sign up for our Japan trip for this summer.
2.  Host homes - We need host homes that are willing to host teams during their launch and debriefs before and after their trips respectively.  This involves having enough floor space for a team to sleep, being able to provide meals while they are in your home and being willing to either provide transportation to and from the airport yourself, or round up a crew of people to do it in your absence.
3. Team Leaders for 2014 - Believe it or not, we are already planning for our 2014 trips all around the world!  We are in need of people who are at least 23 and willing to lead a team in the coming year.  To see our 2014 trips, click here.
4. Training Camp Cooks - we are in need of people who are willing to help out by cooking at training camps!
5. 2014 Participants - Are you going into high school or in high school?  Do you love the Lord and have a desire to share the Gospel around the world?  Then sign up for a trip in 2014!  We are training and sending teams to 9 different countries, including 4 different continents!!  To sign up for a trip, click here.

If you are interested in any of these things, please email me at morgann@ymimissions.org!  I woud love to get you plugged in!

Praises:
1. Nathan and my support raising is going well.  We are sitting at about 61% of our married goal, which is really great!  That said, we still have a ways to go and would appreciate prayer for that.
2. Volunteer training went really well on Saturday morning.

 They listened very intently.

I had access to a white board, so I drew pictures to help the students remember the answers for the test. Needless to say...I am no artist.

Prayers:
1. Pray for Brian as he is traveling all over Europe right now doing some pre-trip work for our teams this summer.
2. Pray for Nathan as he is finishing up this year at school in Oregon.  Pray that God would give him health and that he would be diligent in his studies and finish strong!
3. Pray for the Burres family as Grandma's memorial is tomorrow.  We will be getting together as a family to celebrate the life she has in Christ.  Pray that the Gospel is proclaimed and that the family would have hope and peace that can only come from Christ.

.hope beyond hope.

Why I do what I do: HOPE. 

HOPE that there is more than the here and now.

HOPE that we are more than flesh and bones.

HOPE that the troubles of today do not compare to the sovereignty of God.

HOPE that Christ will come again.

Praises: 

1. It's FRIDAYY  :)  Who doesn't love Fridays?!

2. Leader training went very well last weekend and we already have some of those people who have signed up to lead trips next year!

3. We had our first sign-up from a high school student for a 2014 trip this week.

Prayers:

1. Pray for Gene and Brian as they are out in New England this weekend doing a Mission51 retreat.

2. Pray for our Japan team to get their funding in and for at least one more person to sign up for that trip!

3. Pray for volunteer training tomorrow morning! 

Playing "catch up"

As you may have noticed, this is my first post in two weeks.  Though I had planned a post for last Friday, God had other plans for my weekend.  God allowed me to spend lots of time with my (future) family as we said goodbye to Nathan's grandma over the weekend.  She lost ended her battle with cancer on Tuesday, and we spent lots of time by her hospital bedside leading up to her departure into eternity.  Please be praying for the Burres family as the plans are being made for a memorial in the next couple weeks.  Grandma was an amazing woman of the Lord.  I only got to know her for just a short time on this earth, but I am so thankful for the example that she set of what it looks like to live out Proverbs 31 each and every day.

My (future) sisters and me grabbing dinner at the mall before heading back to the hospital.
I adore them.   :)


I thought since I didn't post last week, I would just do a longer post this week!  Last week, Nathan led a mission trip of college students from his school to come up our way and run a sports camp at a church in Tacoma.  On the front end of the trip, my wonderful mother volunteered to have all 14 of them over for dinner and a bonfire.  The night was filled with laughter, good food and s'mores for dessert  :)

Spaghetti, french bread and green bean casserole!

We were so thankful that they volunteered to clean up after the meal was done.

Since they didn't want to go back to the church smelling like campfire and make the church smell like campfire, the whole team put on clothes belonging to my brothers and me.  It was rather humorous to see them all dressed in our clothes.

My brothers did a fantastic job building a "man fire"

We sang worship songs, roasted marshmallows and told jokes  :)

Nathan and I were very thankful to have some time to spend together after him having been at school for a long time without us getting to see each other.

Praises:
1. The Corban University spring break mission trip went very well!
2. It seems like we may be back to health here in the office.
3. We are getting airfare booked for many of our teams!!
4. We just announced our mission trip destinations for next year: http://www.ymimissions.org/mission-trips/ymi-teams/

Prayers:
1. Some of our teams are still behind in fundraising; we need prayer that they would get their money in!
2. Nathan and I are still working on our personal fundraising; please pray that God will continue to provide and that he would get the glory for it!
3. Pray that our leader training would go well this weekend--that we would have leaders who are excited to serve and excited to learn!