20101226

beautiful journey.

To anyone whom this may concern, this is a start to a beautiful journey. A journey that the Lord has planted and deeply rooted in my heart long before i was even aware of the calling in my life. The glorious calling: something that i am completely unworthy of, but so graciously and undoubtedly thankful for. 
this journey means the world to me, literally. i will be traveling the world reaching the hearts of lost people. Using the gifts and talents that i am aware of and even those i have not discovered,
 i will sacrificially give of myself for the sake of an eternal hope for the empty-hearted. 
so please, take this journey with me and watch the miracles that occur in each individual life that is reached with the love of Jesus Christ.   
it was the year 2009 and i was in desperate need to be apart of some ministry for the summer of 2010. i contacted my advisor and was pleased to discover that he had a few different options for me. One was traveling across the sea to Mali, Africa and work specifically with Muslims. Sad to say, at first i was somewhat turned off, i had never felt a specific call to reach Muslims, but hey i didn't really feel a call to any one specific people group, so i expressed my interest and we got rolling! The first few months of planning went great and it looked as if i would be heading to Mali May 2010. However, as time went on and months past, communication seemed to become more skewed; plans for me to go to Africa that next summer were not looking too great. In the end, the trip never happened. Nonetheless, i knew that i had a required internship that had to happen for the summer of 2011 (between my junior and senior year). i started immediately on getting things in place and making this trip happen. i was going to make for sure it did not fall through the second time around. Today i am confident in saying, i will be traveling to Bamako, Mali, Africa and will live and breath the culture for almost 7 months. i will bathe my life in prayer and studying of the word to build me up in faith so i may obtain a boldness that will stretch across all cultural barriers. i will be the hands, the feet, the actions, the voice, the love of Jesus Christ.... 

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I will miss you a lot, can't imagine how much :) But i know that you are doing it for God and it's a big sacrifice but i know God will pay it back, just like He paid back for me when i came here.

Anonymous said...

i'm so proud of you and i will be praying for you every step of the way. you are gifted and don't ever doubt that things that God has planned for you. though it may not be easy He has promised you that he knows the plans he has for you and never will he leave you nor forsake you. be open to everything that he has and keep being those hands, feet, actions, voice, love, and heart of God!! go get 'em tiger!! i love you

Anonymous said...

Chelsea, praying and believing with you! All our love, Chris, Bethany, Christopher, and Katie.

John Philebaum said...

Chels,

Your Mom and I are so proud and we look forward to the great reports of how God is using you and the impacts you will make for the kingdom of God. We love and miss you now, how will we handle you being gone for almost 7 months?
XOXO
Dad