LIVING PURPOSEFULLY

- A daily journal by Judson senior Amber Goodwin, summer 2008 missionary in Canada. Amber's daily experiences can also be read at http://amberlivingpurposefully.blogspot.com.

"I don't know why my eyes were drawn to Canada, as it was listed, but I started reading the job descriptions and looking at the places on the map. I didn't have a desire to look anywhere else. I didn't intend to look for missions there, it found me-or God put me there. I thought it would be great to learn more about a place so close to ours geographically but different culturally..."  - Amber

TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 2008 - 10:41AM

New Place, New People, Same God
"I've made it to Evansburg, Canada for summer missions. God has comforted me with a wonderful host family and a perfectly, friendly community. I met sweet people while grocery shopping yesterday and one of them was a mortician. Hopefully, he will show me some of his work.

Mr. Al and Mrs. Joan Litchfield are very giving and their house is a home to me. I feel comfortable and in the right place. Their granddaughter, Shyanna, lives with them and she is a bonus. She is so cool and we have a lot in common. She loves to dance hip/hop, play outside and has great taste in food. I got my room set up today and I'm starting to feel sad about going back home. God has promised me that this summer will be life changing and I feel it will be the summer of my life. I'm learning new Canadian words like tugue and what the word oatmeal really means.

The town is small, but that makes it even better. The Litchfield's keep talking about all these wonderful things that they will take me to do and it feels more like a vacation. I can't wait for my prayer partner, Abby, to get here. It feels unfinished without her. There will be a two week period where Mr. Al and even Shyanna will be gone with work and travel. I hate that they are leaving and I'm starting to miss them already. During that time, Mrs. Joan, Abby and I will be preparing for VBS. I've never done VBS, but I feel I have a lot in for me.

Today, I am at the house alone under insisted rest. I'm catching up on journaling, blogging, writing a school paper, and getting situated. I'm ready to start mingling. I pray that I take advantage of the opportunities God has given me to serve His people and for me to fall in love with these people and to be filled with compassion for them."

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11, 2008 - 7:46AM

What a small world
"Yesterday I had all day to myself and it was nice to get some work done. I have so much work to do that is not even for this summer, but for school. I'm having a hard time catching up and it's aggravating. At least I am learning patience.

Well, I want to send postcards to everyone but you wouldn't believe how much it costs to send one post card...96 CENTS!! I hope an email will suffice.

More interestingly... Last night we went to another church and enjoyed a performance from students from the Rio Grande Bible School in Southern Mexico. They had a whole band; they even used instruments that I haven't seen. I did get a video of them, so I hope you like it.

One of the girls in the group was Gabriela. I had the honor of meeting her after the show. She is the only one in the group not from Mexico. She is from Nicaragua, so she has pretty skin. She wants to be a medical missionary in Cuba. She is so cute, sweet and funny. I wish you could see her. She is working on her English, but when she messes up it's very cute. I am so thankful that God puts these people in my life and continues to use them to glorify Him. We exchanged emails and I hope that we can, together, glorify the God we love so much. Hola, Gabby!

OK, Now! I walked out of the church and it was still light outside. Guess what time it was... 10 O'CLOCK! Yes, it's messing with me mentally. And the sun starts popping up at 3 in the MORNING! I'll be moving down to the basement soon so at least it will be somewhat darker.

I wish Abby would hurry up and get here."

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FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2008 - 11:30AM

IN THIS ENTRY:  "That's how we should all live - play hard and don't be afraid
to get dirty, wear the same clothes more
than three times and who cares if it rains." - Amber

Bodies? No... just deer meat!
"Ever hung out at a funeral home? Well, I had the pleasure of doing so. Lanny, the mortician, goes to our church and he is such a funny guy. Pastor Al, the guy whose family I'm staying with, works at the funeral home during the day helping Lanny do electrical work and some building on the place. So I decided to walk around town and stopped in to say hi. The first thing I saw was ash boxes, pretty and weird...pretty weird. I went to the back and was leaning on a freezer for about 10 minutes until I realized where I was and what I was leaning on...

"Umm, hey...what's in here?"

"...Just deer meat."

That could have gone a different route. I'm safe. He showed me his casket catalog and fancy boxes for cremation. Nice selection, I must say. I went into the embalming room and saw tons of bottles of embalming fluid. You're probably thinking I must be lying, but I'm completely serious. He said he would let me watch him work. I'm excited. What a day, right?

So, Lanny took me to lunch at a Chinese restaurant and I ate every bit of it. We talked about his past and how much the Lord has done for him and how God has blessed him with a wonderful family. It's nice to hear how God has worked in another's life. It's refreshing.

Have you ever played "Grounders?" It's a game on the play ground where you have to be off the ground and one person counts to ten and has their eyes closed and searches for you until someone gets tagged. If you think someone is on the ground, you call grounders and they're it. It is loads of fun!  It's good exercise too! Well, Shyanna and some friends and I played for awhile and I really enjoyed hanging out, playing with the kids. They have so much fun and don't care about getting dirty. That's how we should all live - play hard and don't be afraid to get dirty, wear the same clothes more than three times and who cares if it rains. I've been missing more in life than I thought. It's waiting for us in our back yards...

I got to go to Wally-World (Wal-Mart)!! It wasn't a super store, but I enjoyed it just as much. I found a Canada hat and some Canada flags. I think this is the most beautiful place I've ever been. We went to "Dollar-Rama" and I got MORE Canada stuff: stickers, luggage tag, frisbee, etc. When I go home, people are going to think I'm from Canada. I wouldn't mind living here.

You know, I haven't encountered one rude person. And not just that, everyone speaks to you and is very pleasant. We were walking to our car when a woman was trying to park and she rolled down her window to make a funny comment about women drivers. That was the moment I was filled with so much love and kindness and it felt so, so good to see complete strangers acting like family or like someone you've known for a long time. Why don't we love everyone? Why don't we accept people like they're our family. I could say, being from the states, that maybe it's because you haven't experienced it and we don't know what it's like.

Believe me when I say it will put the biggest, most rewarding smile on your face."

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SUNDAY, JUNE 15, 2008 - 12:34PM

IN THIS ENTRY:  "I went without darkness for a week and at first I didn't
realize it, didn't notice how long it had
been since I had been in darkness..."  - Amber

Bein' a kid again 
"Shyanna's birthday was on Friday the 13th! She turned the big 1-2. Her party was fantastic. She had three guy friends and one girl friend and that was enough to set the house on fire. We cooked hamburgers and chowed down. I straightened Shy's hair and curled Rhiannon's hair. They looked so beautiful. They always do. I was proud that they didn't wear makeup, and not even a mention of it either. The girls dressed up in nice dresses and they guys went casual, with the exception of Dillon. He has a huge crush on Shy, so he put on a nice suit. They danced till 9 p.m. and came home sweaty. It was so nice to see girls and guys being close friends without any drama about cooties. It reminds me of older movies and stories that I've seen and heard about, how the neighborhood kids played together, not being bothered by sexism.

As if we hadn't eaten enough already, we made a fire in the backyard and made S'Mores and roasted hot dogs. Shy opened her gifts and her friends were very generous. We put on Elvis CD's that she got and danced around. Time for cake and man, was it pretty. Pastor Al decorated it himself. Can you believe it? No one ate any... we were too full. But not too full for coke floats! I made all the kids strawberry root beer floats.

This was the latest I've stayed up and I saw the brightness of the sky at 10:30 p.m. The sunsets here are miraculous. I stayed up till 11:30 p.m., playing around with the kids and it was still light outside. I think there is always light in the sky here. It was the first time I had seen darkness in a week. We go all of our lives seeing something every single day of our lives and it's taken away from us. I went without darkness for a week and at first I didn't realize it, didn't notice how long it had been since I had been in darkness. But suddenly, when I had experienced it up close, I realized how long I had been going without it. It's like us, as Christians or as anyone, living in a state of darkness for so long. We don't know it, we don't realize it, and soon enough it catches up with us. When it hits, we realize how much we have missed and we wish we would have seen where we were more clearly. I will certainly take from this and keep my eyes wide open to the light around me while basking in God's glory more clearly. I hope you can too...

We had the intentions of going to Canada's biggest mall on Saturday, but the family wasn't feeling well so the plans changed. It was a nice day, though. The girls and I walked around town and stopped at a real Canadian Garage Sale. How cool?!?! I didn't find anything I liked, but Shy - the puzzle addict - bought 3 puzzles, one of them being a 3000 piece puzzle that I will have nothing to do with! I discovered an arcade in the video store and something called pizza nachos. I don't know what pizza nachos are, but I know they have them here.

They have something called the farmers market and from the sound of it, you would think it was extravagant. However, it's just a few wooden huts where people sell handmade products and only about three or four sellers were out. I made the girls leftover hamburgers in the oven when we got home. Yes, in the oven, not the microwave. Not that they don't have microwaves in Canada, but the Litchfield's don't use one. I find myself turning around to put some maccaronni and cheese in the microwaves and suddenly come to the realization that I have to do it old style. At first I was impatient and was somewhat aggravated, but I realized how awesome it was to experience a new way of living and I enjoy it very much now.

The day ended back in the front yard once again rolling around in the grass and making flower confetti. I love getting dirty! I don't mind being outside all day here. The weather is the definition of PERFECT and the kids never have a problem finding a way to have fun. I love that Shy listens to Christian music with her friends around. She knows all the word and I've heard some of them start to sing along. Not all of them are Christians and I'm so proud of Shy for being such a great influence for her friends. I pray that she stays strong and pursues God's ministry full force. I know if she does, God will gladly use her in miraculous ways.

She makes me proud. I love her a lot."

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2008 - 10:32AM

IN THIS ENTRY:  "I was excited about going upstairs to experience,
for the first time, a Canadian church service. Since it was Father's Day,
we started off by recognizing the fathers with small gifts." - Amber

God's Day was spec-TACULAR!
"Sunday church was fabulous. After studying my material for Sunday school class, I felt overwhelmed and unready. However, when class began and we started talking, it ran really smoothly. I made sure to pray before starting and asked God to fill in the gaps. He did! I had Shyanna and Rachel in my class. I hadn't spent any time with Rachel before, but was excited to meet her. She is a very sweet and interesting girl. She likes to talk (like most girls) and seems interested in learning. As I said, we started off in prayer. We read the story about the Holy Spirit speaking through Peter and saving an additional 3,000 and baptizing them. I am so glad that not only do I get to teach them, but I also learn with them. We learned about how much power the Holy Spirit gives us and if we us it, we can be very strong. The girls seemed very much into it and I was very pleased. I told them to tell me what they liked and didn't like about my teaching and what helped and what didn't. It's their class and if something is not working, well, we need to change it, right? We only had an hour, which went by quickly.

I was excited about going upstairs to experience, for the first time, a Canadian church service. Since it was Father's Day, we started off by recognizing the fathers with small gifts. Franz told father jokes and we moved on to worship. Tom, the worship leader, asked me to come up on stage to sing with the normal three singers, so I did, but I dragged Rachel with me. We sang a few hymns and all went well. By the time we got to Franz's preaching, there was only 20 minutes left. It was a good 20 minutes. I finally got to meet the faces behind the phone calls and I was pleased to see many sweet and pleasing people.

Yvonne asked me to come over for dinner, so I hopped on that fast train and yelled YEH! Her kids Nicole and Kody, came by and picked me up after lunch. They live out on the farm, so it's a few minutes from town. They have a beautiful place; small pond, horses, cows, four wheelers, and tons of farm equipment. Nicole showed me her yard and took me to see the horses. Man, were they beautiful. We both like taking pictures, so she showed me some of her work and it was GOOD! It even looked professional. She's very talented. We talked about places we had been and road trips she had went on with her family. She's been to more states than I have and I live in the States. When Yvonne got home, she, Nicole and I sat around the table eating chips and salsa and yummy cream cheese and talked about a bunch of stuff.

Yvonne, Nicole and I went to Nicole's cousin's cottage to pick up her tent from camping the night before, and I got to meet her cousins and Aunt and Uncle. They had some friends over so I got to meet them too. They were all delightful. I got to see her cousin's horse get his nails clipped. It looked painful, but they assured me otherwise. We got back to the house and Nicole took me for a ride on the four-wheeler. We went....hmmm....really fast! I took some cool pictures and saw deer hopping across the road. She took me down the road until her property ended and then went back.

Dinner was great. I had a mushroom and onion hamburger. I stayed a little longer and then Nicole took me home. On the way back, she "stole me" and took me to the Pimbina River. It was beautiful, but very chilly. We got cute pictures and I risked my life walking on the edge of the bridge. Bad me!! I know we will be good friends and I can't wait to do more stuff with her. She is a good influence on me."

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THURSDAY, JUNE 19, 2008

IN THIS ENTRY:  "Also, here in Canada, it is proper to take your shoes off
before entering a home. The ladies here at the house
had cute, hand-made slippers for when
they take off their shoes." - Amber

143 years ago today...
"Shy graduated from the D.A.R.E. program at school and I was able to go watch. Of course, I took pictures. It makes me proud to know that kids her age are learning about the effects of drugs and signing off to be drug free. Of course, those aren't always kept promises, but I know Shy is strong and she will make me proud. She's different from the rest. She's independent. She knows who she is and she's proud of it. I'm proud of her.

This week I started working on my Sunday school room and organizing it. It was a mess!! I pulled everything down from the shelves and everything out from under the table and separated it. That almost took me all day. I put on a Hilary Duff CD and I went through every bead, every glitter container, every tiny sticker and organized it. After two days of working on it for hours, I got it done. It looks very nice and neat. Now, I have to decorate. That, I will do another day!

I've had horrible back pain since I've been here. It all started when I was in Italy for a study abroad class for two weeks, walking and standing all day. When I got home, I helped my mom move houses for a week and that was rough on my back, also. Now that I'm in Canada, it's taken over. I would wake up in the night in excruciating pain and was not able to sleep. The Litchfield's regularly go to the Chiropractor, so they took me and I had my first exam. I was scared because I didn't want him to break me or my neck. He popped my back and put this clicker thing in my back for some important reason. It was painful. I felt better when he was done and hopefully I can sleep better.

Tuesday nights are Bible study here at the house. We had 5 elders come and join us. Pastor Al led the study on Galations 5:12 - the fruit of the Spirit. He pointed out interesting things like: fruit is singular even though there are nine "fruits"- all of these need to be together to make one good fruit; fruit is the benefit for others, not for ourselves- we are to have love, joy, peace, patience, not for our own good, but for the good of others. We are to be the fruit that others feed on to know the Spirit. Also, here in Canada, it is proper to take your shoes off before entering a home. The ladies here at the house had cute, hand-made slippers for when they take off their shoes.

We have VBS (Vacation Bible School) coming up at the end of July, so we asked for volunteers to come to a meeting. We had one very gracious woman, Tracy, to show up and I am so very thankful for her. She is always willing to help others. She has 8 kids in the home and obviously works hard. She seems like a good mother. I am feeling overwhelmed by the amount of things we need to accomplish for VBS when we have very little people to work with us. I'm not going to worry, because God said not to. We have plenty of time to get the work done and God will not let his children down. This VBS is going to be so GREAT!

143 years ago today, President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation that stated that all slaves are free. This day became known as "Juneteenth". Just like the slaves who were set free in 1865, when Jesus died for our sins, we were all set free from sin's bondage. "Salvation actually means a change of bondage" (Our Daily Bread). We have been set free from all earthly things when we take up the cross and accept Jesus as our Savior. He saved us from all sin and we are not slaves of it. Jesus signed our Emancipation Proclamation that is stated in Romans 6:6-7, "For we know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that sin's dominion over the body may be abolished, so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, since a person who has died is freed from sin's claim." Take up your freedom and live no longer in bondage. Be set free from your Savior and you will live a free life."

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FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2008 - 9:02PM

IN THIS ENTRY:   "I had French fries and they asked me if I wanted
it with gravy and, of course, I said no. That's how they eat
them here - with gravy." - Amber

Time has been stolen...
"I thought that once I had gone through a past time of finding my priorities and putting life in order, that it would stay focused, run smoothly, and stay on course. Yeah, right! I'm in the slump again of finding the places that need my attention and seeing the places that need my time. I have messed up, lost attention and stolen time from not only the people around me, but also God. I am getting focused and am setting my time in the God-needed-places. I have to say thank you to God who is so merciful for not only providing me with infinite chances, but also help - help to find my place and to bring me closer to Him. Thank You.

This blog seems to include a lot about my Canadian sister Shy (Shyanna), but that's because a big part of God's plan for bringing me here was for her. I enjoy being around her all the time. I know where she has come from and who she is, is something so beautiful. I enjoy every moment of watching her live and respond to life's circumstances.

So, we did a lot of things together this week. I watched her have baseball practice while the wind blew at -20 degrees. We went swimming with some friends of hers at the public pool, which is heated. Amazing, I must say. We ate dinner together downstairs in the basement in front of the TV and watched Eye of the Dolphin. We took an adventure to Wal-Mart and had a blast. We took turns in the buggy picking out random food items. At the house, I had to move downstairs so that Shy could move into her new room, but there was something we had to do before she moved in. We painted Shy's new room bright blue and green! She lives a life of true boredom I must say!

Sundays are always good. After teaching the kids about how to receive the Holy Spirit, we all went to "big church" and had a word about the truth of God. Again the Richter family invited me out to lunch, so we went to the Lighthouse (not a real lighthouse, but a restaurant) and ate lunch. I had French fries and they asked me if I wanted it with gravy and, of course, I said no. That's how they eat them here - with gravy. I tried it, but it was completely tasteless. So, I kept to my ranch dressing.

Nicole stole me again and took me to Seba Beach which is part of Lake Wabamun. It was beautiful. People live on the beach and have long decks that lead to their colorful boats. It was nice and quite and birds came down and flew across the water. We walked back down the pier and I went to check out the temperature of the water. Yep, it was freezing. So, Nicole came down and felt the water and said, "This is perfect for swimming." I tell you, these people here are crrraazzyy!

Yvonne called me Monday and asked if I wanted to go shopping with her at Wal-Mart. So, we went and bought a ton of groceries. I ended up pushing the cart but I actually hurt my ankle trying to turn it. It was packed with food. I love how the people here are so "green" and use their own bags and buckets when they shop. So, all that shopping made us hungry - breathing makes me hungry… We went to Canada's own TIM HORTON'S - the new love of my life. I had a chicken salad sandwich with God's hand-made tomato parmesan soup. It was heaven! Tim Horton's is like the States' Starbucks. But Starbucks lacks in what Tim Horton's exceeds in. Tim Horton's has donuts, ice caps, sandwiches, soups and salads - and it costs half as much. Tim Horton's will soon take over all America!

When Yvonne dropped me off after shopping, I started to work on Abby's welcome sign. I got a call from Nicole asking me to stay over for the night. I took the poster that I made for Abby and got them to sign it. It was the best time ever. I slept on heaven's couch and woke up on a cloud of Jesus love. It was that nice! Ryan and Nicole took me home early the next morning so I could get the family to sign Abby's poster. They did and it ROCKED! Mrs. Connie from church, Sara, and I went to the airport to get Abby. We waited for an HOUR and she finally walked through the door and it was her FACE - the face that God made and sent to us from heaven. She is my angel. We had a blast that night. We watched that new show WIPEOUT! and cried, it was so funny. Abby, Shy, and I took silly pictures. My pictures can be found on Facebook."

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FRIDAY, JULY 4, 2008

IN THIS ENTRY:  "July 4th was a little different for
us. Instead of honoring the constitution,
we honored four policemen who fell
in the line of duty." - Amber

 Canada Day
"On this weeks agenda....we had FUN! To start, we vacuumed the church, not because we HAD to. Abby did a great job. When I took my turn, the vacuum rebelled. It broke on me five times. The cord would come undone, a piece on the vacuum kept falling off, and it fell down the stairs a few times.

Sunday we learned about the fruit of the Spirit. The girls made hanger tags to remind them when they get dressed to remember the fruit. They did a wonderful job.

I mowed our lawn and the neighbor's lawn. It was great weather!

Abby and I hung the sign for Vacation Bible School on the roof of the church. It was dangerous, but someone had to do it. It was a lot of fun, but Abby tried to kill me… I have proof!

We had the MOST fun having a water fight. I felt like a kid again. I never did things like this when I was young. It was wild! We were supposed to clean the wagon to use in the Canada Day parade, but I sprayed Shy with the hose and it began. She did the whole, scream "I'm-not-in-the-mood-to-get-wet-but-I-am" thing. So we all got wet and had a ball!

We went to see fireworks in Entwistle the night before Canada Day.

Canada Day was so much fun! We got to be in the parade and pass out fliers for our VBS and Youth Week! We met the RCMP=Royal Canadian Mounted Police and they were in their formal dress. We walked along with a couple who own and herd sheep. They had a sheep dog that herded them and it was a sight to see. I couldn't believe that a dog could herd sheep like that. We met so many people on the street and passed out almost 300 fliers. I really think this year will be big. So, the parade was fun and I, as an American, got to be in a Canadian parade, which not many people can say.

After the parade, I took the girls to the pool for free ice cream and prizes. We met a sweet girl there named Sara. She has two other sisters and we talked about how much we all loved Hannah Montana. We are also Hilary Duff and Jonas Brothers fans. We told them we would go over and play with them and that we could listen to Hannah Montana and watch movies with them in their playhouse. Being a kid is AWESOME! We got to visit the girls at their place and they showed us their playhouse which is two stories!

Shyanna went with her mom to Ontario so we drove them to the airport. It will be sad without Shy here, but we have lots of VBS work to do. Speaking of VBS stuff...we had to decorate the church board for VBS. It turned out wonderful. Abby and I worked really hard.

July 4th was a little different for us. Instead of honoring the constitution, we honored four policemen who fell in the line of duty. There was a big memorial celebration and a park opened in their honor. The Prime Minister of Canada was there and spoke. They unveiled the statues and had little kids do sign language "Love can build a bridge". Abby and I got a picture with the Prime Minister. His photographer gave us his card to email him to get the picture. It was taken by the Prime Minister's photographer. How cool?!?

To end the day and to end the week, we picked up some ice cream and went to Brielle's house to play. We dressed up as princesses and had dinner. We have had such a great week. Abby is amazing and I'm learning so much from her. I am so blessed to have her in my life."

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MONDAY, JULY 7, 2008 - 10:32PM

IN THIS ENTRY:  "We got to go to the nursing home and
sing hymns with the seniors. Not only that, I played my
first performance with my guitar." - Amber

Fellowship: Opportunity Knocks
"Abby and I had the opportunity to bring a little of our home to Canada. The church had their annual picnic and we came up with the idea of cooking something southern for our church members. What better to cook than fried pickles? It had to be something fried to be southern, right? Well neither of us had ever made them, but we sure had eaten them, so we knew how they should taste. We got a recipe off the Internet. We mixed milk and eggs and dipped the pickles in, then dipped them in flour. They turned out yummy. We had so much fun making them and the people loved them.

Sunday, I got to keep Brielle during the church service. Since she is two, she wouldn't really sing the song with me, so I sang it to her. It was just a little Bible song. So, I got her to say, "Thank you, God, for loving us." It was amazing. I am so proud of her. She is really a genius. We played with play dough and made a mini Brielle, a pig and a princess star. I made a head that looked like Jesus, but to her it was her daddy. I got her to make a giraffe and she proved her intelligence. She put dots on it, shoes, nose, tongue, and even gave it a purse.

Another opportunity came about later that night. We got to go to the nursing home and sing hymns with the seniors. Not only that, I played my first performance with my guitar. I just started learning late last year and I was able to play a couple songs for them. It felt so good. I love seniors. I worked once before at a nursing home back in the States and I was hoping to start working with them here. I had so much fun and everyone was friendly and lively. We sang great hymns. Abby spoke for a few minutes about why we were here and where we were from. She did a wonderful job and spoke very clearly for them to understand. I got to meet them personally after the program. We didn't get to talk much, so I hope to get back soon.

You know how I've said that I've seen the most beautiful sunset or sunrise? Well, forget it. Last night was the night; it was God's glory thrown right in my face! Nicole took Abby and I to the movies. We were driving back and we were stunned by this enormous black cloud that stopped and dropped straight down. There was lightning right on the edge of the cloud. The moon looked like it was only a few feet from the cloud. I couldn't take my eyes off of it. The colors in the sky were brilliant and my camera just couldn't do it justice..."

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*** AMBER GOODWIN, originally from Mobile, Ala., is a senior at Judson College, studying Psychology and Voice. She will graduate in 2009. Amber has been a member of many groups at Judson, such as Choir, Hand bells, SGA, Science Team, Honor Council, Campus Ministries, and FCA. In the upcoming school year, Amber will be active in Honor Council, Campus Ministries serving as the Campus Ministries President, and FCA.

Before her mission trip to Canada, Amber had never traveled north of Tennessee. With encouragement from her campus minister, she chose her mission destination from 100's of places listed online under the North American Mission Board's (NAMB) website.

In the future, Amber hopes to continue mission work and, after graduating from Judson, hopes to move to Birmingham and find mission work with an organization. No matter what she does, however, she will continue her love of singing and learning how to play numerous instruments.

"I started in missions after my 9th grade year in high school. However, my involvement with Judson College was and is the help I needed, the push I wanted, to move myself closer to fellowship and evangelism. Because of the passion in my campus minister and my fellow students, I have been taken to new heights for God!" - Amber