Hello everybody! I am starting this back up to let everyone know what is currently going on with my journey to Portugal!
I have been in the application process for about a year. The first 7 months I spent in the reapplication process with GEM but unfortunately that did not work out. I spent most of the 7 months trying to track down my advisor and figure out information and what the next steps would be for me. After the 7 months of me chasing down people, GEM decided not to accept me as a full-time missionary because of my student debt and told me that I needed to pay off about half of my debt in a year or find a rich person to pay off my debt for me. Since I knew that neither of these choices were actually an option, I decided that I would find a new organization. I immediately called TEAM and have had an advisor that has been so incredibly supportive, just like the rest of the organization. I believe that my difficulty with GEM was God closing the door on that opportunity and opening a door to a better opportunity.
There are many reasons why I like TEAM and am excited to serve under them. One of the main reasons that I am excited to work under team is that they have many active missionaries (3 couples) currently serving in northern Portugal. I am excited about this because it means that there are people who are currently working in the Porto region and they know what is going on. The team just finished a church plant in a town called Guimarães, and as they make their departure from the church they will begin searching for a new village to work in and begin a new church plant.
In October I will be heading to Porto on a vision trip and the missionaries and the group I will be with will be looking at a few different villages to do the next church plant. Basically, I will be helping find the village I will be working at when I arrive in Portugal long-term. During the trip we will be visiting about three different villages and other sites. This trip will help me in the long run because I will have more details to share with you and my other future supporters. As of today I have 100 days until I board a plane for Porto! I seriously can't wait!!! One side of me can't believe that I am returning to Portugal and the other side of me believes that I should be boarding the plane tomorrow! Hopefully soon I will be able to grasp the concept of when I am returning to Portugal. The trip is only for 10 days so it will have a quick turn around but it will be amazing!
That's about it! I will write a post soon about how God has blessed me in regards to my future trip!
