AHHH EVANS, KATIE, & KATE ARE MAKING ME WRITE THIS!!!!!!!!!

I'm kinda opposed to writing a blog, its kinda weird, just so you know. And if you can't already tell Evans, Katie, and Kate made me write this, but here it goes. 
This past summer I was talking to some friends telling them why I became a Christian. They told me that the fire that I felt for God would eventually burn out. The idea of the fire going out was the last thing I wanted. I made it my mission to keep my passion for God burning. So here I am, having never ridden on an airplane or been out of the country and I'm about to get on a plane and fly to a country I know little about and live there for twelve weeks! I'm excited for this adventure and opportunity to jump right in and trust god with my life.
-Michael Follis

How I Got Here...

In high school I was able to participate in a lot of short term missions' trips with my school.

My Junior year we had the opportunity to serve in the Dominican Republic and it was there that I felt God calling me into a life of ministry. Since then I have done my best to figure out what this calling means for my life. I am still learning everyday what this looks like; but, for now, I know that it means complete trust in God in every decision that I make.

After graduating high school I decided to attend Trevecca Nazarene University, eight hours away from my home in Ohio, to study Missions. I hardly knew anything about Trevecca and certainly did not know anyone that went there which made that decision terrifying! I trusted God and I feel so blessed to be here learning and living in Nashville.  I am trusting God that this summer in Romania will be a lot like my decision for college. I applied for the Immerse program at the last minute possible still very unsure of whether I should participate or not. Three months away from home in a country I have never been to that speaks a language I do not know was a little intimidating. I trusted that God would lead me where He wanted and about a week later I received news that I had been accepted into the Immerse program as a part of the Romania team. I am incredibly excited and nervous for this journey. I do not know much about Romania but I hope that this summer, through God's grace and power, I will be able to be a testament of God's amazing love to the people of Romania. I also know that it will be a great time of growth and change for me and the rest of the team!

In closing I would like to share with everyone a verse that I always turn to in times of brokenness, anxiety, grief and even joy. "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9 This summer I am sure will have its fair share of struggles but my prayer is that in times of struggle I will be able to turn to this verse and know that God's grace will be the one thing I can always lean on.

-Kate

Getting to know Katie Gibson...

Hi! I am Katie Gibson. 

I am a Junior studying Religion with a focus in Compassionate Ministries.  I serve as a resident assistant on the second floor in Tennessee Hall, and I love it.  I am from Valdosta, GA where I live with my mom and older sister.  My dad just moved to Lompoc, CA about a year ago. While at school, I attend Trevecca Community Church and, when I visit home, I am a member of the Valdosta Church of the Nazarene.  I really love Nashville and the people that I have met here. I also like to paint, be crafty, play frisbee, and enjoy warm weather. 

I have a passion for serving people; that's what encouraged me to apply for Immerse. I am very excited for this summer and what God has in stored for me and our team. The only mission trip I have been on was to Jamaica last Spring Break and it was only ten days.  One of the things that I learned on that trip was that we didn't have to bring God to the people there in Jamaica, he was already there.  I know that's how it will be in Romania.  God is already there in Sighisoara, we just get to experience him and the community that he has there.

We just had the opportunity today to talk to a volunteer missionary that lives in Sighisoara, and I can not explain how helpful and encouraging it was to hear about the culture, people, and how life is kind of like there in Romania.  If you would have asked any of the four of us going on this trip, what we would be doing there, none of us could really tell you. And maybe we still couldn't really, but now we definitely have a better idea.  I think this is just what our team needed to hear because sometimes not knowing exact things can be discouraging.  I think that it can also be stressful especially for some of us who are planners and like to know what is going on.  I am so thankful of the time our team spent together today and the things that we learned today.  If I could give an adjective describing my day, it would definitely be encouraging.

I know God has a plan, and every day I need to remind myself that it's okay that I don't know what it is right away.  We still have three months to prepare, and I know that God will reveal his plan in the right time, even if it's not my time.  I'm going to be leaving behind a lot of great things this summer, but I am looking forward to what God has in store for me and for our team on this journey.

I hope this shows you a little bit about myself.  I want to try to be as honest as possible, and thank you all for reading this and sharing in our journey.  I am looking forward to keeping you posted on everything that is going on with our team! 

- Katie

Oh hey...I'm Evans :)

As the semester and summer goes on the four of us will alternate writing updates and we thought you all would like to know a bit about each of us and why we are going on this trip. So we want to take the next couple blogs to introduce ourselves for those of you that don’t know all of us.

So HELLO! I’m Evans Knowles and I am a sophomore graphic design major at Trevecca from Ooltewah, TN. I have a great family--two fantastic parents, one older brother, a sister-law, two younger sisters that are twins, a 4 month old nephew (that is just the cutest), and a larger extended family full of pretty much the best people ever. I love my family, God has certainly blessed me with them!

My passion is people. Ask anyone, I'm a people person and I love it. If there's an event or social gathering, I'm usually there. I want to love on people, make them feel included. That's what I want to do on this trip...love. That's what we're called to do. I'm not perfect at it always, in fact I'm rarely perfect at it; but, it's what I strive to do. Everyone should be loved...there's no for anyone not to be.

I am excited, nervous, thrilled, and a million other emotions about this trip. First and foremost, though, I am so excited to see what is in store for us this summer! When I applied for Immerse I was not sure that I would get chosen and I certainly did not know what I was signing up for. All I knew was that I had always thought the idea of a long-term mission trip was fantastic, life-changing, and all around amazing but I had pretty much assumed I'd never go on anything longer than a week or two trip---I'm a graphic design major after all, long term mission trips didn't seem like something I'd get any chances for. Honestly, before applying that was a hold back for me, I had friends applying that were religion majors and I thought, "Well, yeah mission and religion majors, that makes sense. But graphic design, not so much." At the same time, however, I've been on a journey for the past year or so just trying to figure out where I'm going and where God's taking me and mostly what it looks like to trust in God's plan, even when I have no idea what he's doing. I'd say there is certainly no accident I heard about this trip when I did with where I am in my walk with God. Therefore, my interest was peaked and, with some nudging and encouragement from friends, I decided to jump right in--even with as little as I knew (and still know) about the trip.
One of my favorite Bible verses comes from Ecclesiastics 3:9-13 and says

"God made everything beautiful in itself and in its time—but he's left us in the dark, so we can never know what God is up to, whether he's coming or going. I've decided that there's nothing better to do than go ahead and have a good time and get the most we can out of life. That's it—eat, drink, and make the most of your job. It's God's gift.” (The Message)

That's what I want to do, make the most out of every opportunity God puts in front of me, even when it's scary how much I don't know about those opportunities. This trip is part of that for me. This is me trusting that God has a great and wonderful plan for me. This is me coming to terms with what will not be an easy summer at times. So yes, I'm scared of all the unknown. But I guess Jesus never said following him would be easy--I mean really, carrying a cross would be the opposite of easy. This is me embracing a call to love. This is my confusing scared excitement. This is my readiness to be challenged.

This is me. It's nice to meet you!
I can't wait to take you on this journey with me and my team!
 - Evans

The Beginnings

Hello friends, family, person that randomly stumbled upon this blog. Hey!

The reason we wanted to start this blog was so that all of you could stay clued in to what we are doing while we’re in Romania. We also plan on giving some updates as far as our preparation in the next couple months before we leave

For that random stumbler or any of you that want a refresher, here is what’s going on:

Last summer a group of Trevecca students took a trip to Eastern Europe, traveling to different cities and experiencing and learning about some of the ministries in those cities. Out of this trip was born an idea to go back to those places and those people they met and formed relationships with; but, not to just travel to a bunch of places and stay a few days—to spend an extended period of time working with the people and ministries and truly "Immersing" themselves in these cities. Thus, we started hearing about Immerse and the five cities and teams that would be sent for 13 weeks this summer. In October we applied and in November we were notified and told where we were going and who we would be going with.

That briefly catches us up on how this all came about and now, in January, the reality that in just a couple months 21 Trevecca students will be making our way to Eastern Europe to disperse to Romania, Bulgaria, and Albania for 12 weeks.

We're going to Sighisoara, Romania!
Our team consists of junior, Michael Follis; junior, Katie Gibson; sophomore, Evans Knowles; and sophomore, Kate Worley. The next couple posts will be each of us introducing ourselves further, so stay tuned!
 

We will be in Sighisoara for 12 weeks and while we are there we'll work with a compassionate ministry organization called Veritas (you can visit their website at www.veritas.ro), helping to conduct social activities for the elderly, adults, and teens with disabilities, or children and teens from poor Roma families in the area. 

 

Left to Right: Evans Knowles, Michael Follis, Kate Worley, Katie Gibson