These are a few of my FAVORITE things

SERVUS!

Don't know what that means? It's okay, I didn't know until about 30 seconds ago.

"Servus!" is an informal way to greet someone if you are in Austria....but wait....why am I greeting you in Austrian German? Well it's because our team has officially bought our plane tickets and one of our layovers is in Vienna, Austria! WOO! I've always wanted to visit Vienna because of my love for The Sound of Music! I wish we could explore Vienna but we'll only be there a few hours and the majority of that time will be spent in customs.

So we've bought our plane tickets but we aren't done raising money. We have a pancake breakfast coming up and a few other events, does anyone have a wonderful fundraising idea? We'd love to know. :)

Buying plane tickets and finishing up my sophomore year?? These really are a few of my favorite things! Unfortunately, while the school year is winding down, my work load is ramping up! Luckily, I'm only a few lectures and tests away from summer! I can't wait to be on break! Hope everyone is doing well.

$$?

It's been brought to my attention that the online giving might be a bit confusing!

Here's the breakdown.

1. Go to http://www.fbceugene.com/giving
2. Click the green box called "CLICK HERE to give online."
3. You need to create an account to give online. The church asks for address/phone number/etc. so they can mail a receipt to you if you want. The information isn't sold or used to ask for money down the road as I understand it.
4. After creating an account, there will be a box to type in the donation amount. You can pick which day you would like to give and if you would like this to be a one-time donation or recurring on this screen as well.
5. Here is the trickier part! The next screen (2. Funds) asks for where you would like the money to go. If you would like the money to go to me, type the amount next to the "Belarus Team Fund." Once you type the number in, a new field will pop up with the words "Optional Description," that's where you type "Emily England"! :)
6. From there, you select payment type (eCheck, Visa, Mastercard) and will be able to review everything!

Hope this helps! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

In His love,
Em

MIA but JOYful

I have been MIA, I know! It's been a month since I posted and it's been such an important month! Let me just give you a run down of my blog-less month....

Since I last posted on April 11...

-My water polo team won our Regional qualifier for Nationals!
-I went to Ohio for CWPA Women's Club Water Polo Nationals and our team placed 11th in the Nation! :)(We hit up Niagara Falls and stayed in Buffalo, NY while we were there! If you didn't know, my mom went to school in Buffalo! See the picture above :) )
-I had midterms....................
-I went on an AMAZING retreat to Washington Family Ranch (a YoungLife camp) called Discipleship Weekend with pastor Francis Chan! It was AWESOME. Please, please stay tuned to the blog because I will definitely be devoting an entire blog post to that weekend soon!!
-My Belarus team started our cultural training for the trip!
-We held one of our biggest fundraisers: the CCF Talent Show and Silent Auction.

All of that, plus a job and school makes for a hectic schedule. Despite being a little MIA from the blog, I know have super exciting news to share!!

READY!?!?

GOD IS SO GOOD. He has never failed me and I don't think he has plans to anytime soon ;)

I was getting really nervous about the finances for the trip this last week. We got a financial statement last week from FBC about how much money we each had in our name for the trip. While my numbers weren't especially low, it wasn't enough. I definitely couldn't complain...other team members had lower numbers, so I was in an okay place...but I was a disappointed. Our team's plan to buy plane tickets was fast approaching and I was getting a little nervous.

But today, in fact just a few minutes ago, my team leader told me my numbers as of today and (drum roll please!) IT'S DOUBLE WHAT IT WAS LAST WEEK! Insanity! My prayers this past week were for God to make some hard decisions this week very, very clear (one of those decisions being whether or not I should truly be pursuing this trip). Well, it's pretty clear, I think God wants me in Belarus this summer.

It really brings me so much JOY to be supported by a community that loves me and especially loves the Lord. Romans 15:13 says, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." It is so amazing to be able to trust God with a stress like finances, life decision, etc. and receive a calming peace and an exciting JOY!

I hope this next week is full of joy and peace for you! Please comment or shoot me a email/text/facebook message! And if you feel so inclined, please help me financially by giving! You can even do so online :) Technology these days, right!? (Just look to the right under "Support Now!" for details :) )

In Christ's love,
Em