susie wittman is a dear missionary friend of mine, from crossworld international. over the past couple of years, she has been coming on to pbu campus serving as a "missions mentor." last year, she met with many young women who had a desire for counseling as well as missions. we talked a lot about this together because my passions lie here too. wondering if something more could be done with this, i pointed her in the direction of my advisor/professor/mentor/friend, lisa kuzma. through meeting together and susie talking with crossworld, a idea for a missions trip was born. this trip would be open to counseling (and social work) majors at pbu and would provide and opportunity for them to serve and observe missionaries who are currently involved with "helping professions" overseas. where would the need be great? GORAZDE, BOSNIA. in gorazde, crossworld missionaries serve at a mental health and food distribution clinic, among other ministries (such as teaching english, summer camps, and business seminars).
when susie first told me about it, i knew i was going to go. as a chance to experience my field of study in the cross-cultural context, i felt like it's a step forward toward seeing how counseling and missions fit together. i am VERY excited to see what that is going to be like, and not too sure what to expect.
you may be saying the same thing my brother said, "but that's not poland!" it's true, i'm branching out! ;-) i think that this opportunity is going to be an experience that will definitely benefit me for future ministry whether that be in poland, philadelphia, or portland. (the latter was chosen for alliteration, nothing more.) i will have a chance to see and experience how the skills i am learning now can be used in a cross-cultural setting.
our team is made up of susie, lisa, and seven (hopefully eight!) counseling/social work students who have an interest in overseas missions. we had our first team meeting today, and i am very excited to get to know everyone more as we work together over the next few months.
please pray for us! we'll begin our support raising endeavor within the next week (needing to be at 100% by FEBRUARY!) and will be meeting together as a team at least once a month.
i'm excited to see how God is bringing this trip together, and even more so excited to see what He is going to do with it.
3 comments:
yeah for Bosnia! I have loosely been in touch with the team over there via email! I don't know if the Lord is calling me there or not, but it's a great team! Yeah! I also love Susie Wittmann, your team leader!
I love you and your adventures!! I'm so excited to hear more about this one.... :)
We lead such wonderful, interesting lives and I LOVE your zest for experiencing the world, helping others, and always learning more!!
Christine, that's awesome! Bosnia is lucky to get you:) Of course, I hope you eventually come back to us here in Poland, but most important is that you are following God's leading. I'm excited for you!
-Rebecca Doan
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