Emma's Summer Serve

W2? More Like Woohoo!!!
Man, oh man, you guys, I seriously cannot give God enough glory for how he has been working this week!!! As you know, I've been coaching CrossFit with Sam this week, and honestly, I was a bit worried about it. I was thinking that the kids might not buy into it. I was constantly wondering if they thought it was boring or not fun... so my challenges this week with Sam have been to make it as fun, challenging, teamwork-building, and exciting as humanly possible. The kids have graciously confirmed that we were able to do just that!!

I had a sweet girl named Erika who came in this week super stoked because she has been training CrossFit for about a year now. As the week went on, we got pretty close, and it was so awesome to see her growth and how she encouraged the people around her to continue working as hard as they could. She would speak affirmations to those around her and take her wins and her losses happily and humbly. Every time I looked over at her, she had a smile on her face, and at the end of the week, we got to have such an encouraging conversation about the gospel and about what she hopes her cousins and her friend group respond to as she goes back home. This sweet camper was such a bright light to me, and it occurred to me that God knew she was exactly who I needed in my major to push me to continue to show up every day week with all the energy, wisdom, patience, love and endurance needed to love our campers well.

God has been so gracious to us. He has allowed me so many ways to stay on mission and truly be an enduring vessel for Christ. I am amazed by how God has not only sustained my physical well-being but also continued to grow my spiritual community with Him and with the Red River Ministry team here at Wadi.

To God be the glory forever and ever!!!

Till next time,
-Em.

We got new campers!!! Whoop whoop!!! These campers are middle school age, so they're a whole different breed of kids, and it's been so fun to see the differences between this week's kids and last week's! This week, I'm coaching CrossFit with Sam, and man, it can be hard to get those kids moving, but once they start and you keep them going, they truly have a good time. It's been cool to encourage them to move their bodies, not just because they have to but because it's a way to honor our God, who created our bodies to move! I'm still learning kids' names and trying to feel out the more introverted kids since it's only our second day with them, but I can tell this week will be super fun!

Over the weekend, we said goodbye to our last group of campers, which was bittersweet because I've learned so much from them. They were a challenging group of kids, but God is doing amazing work in many of their hearts, and I ask y'all to continue to pray for them!!

Sunday, we were able to go to the Nile and see the pyramids, which was such a surreal experience. I still don't think it's sunk in that I've literally seen and set foot on the pyramids, let alone sit on a camel and taken a boat ride down the Nile! (P.S. - I don't recommend ever riding a camel those things are taller than a horse and super top heavy so you feel like you're going to fall off at any moment!) I'm thankful for this past week and praising God for such a strong team here in Egypt, which allows us to serve the campers and one another in monumental ways.

I can't wait to see what this week brings with these new younger kids! Please pray for us as we make new relationships and strengthen the ones we've already had. Also, for me specifically, please pray for endurance, abundant rest, peace of heart, and peace of mind as we venture on!

I love y'all so much and couldn't do this without your prayers and support! I also want to thank my family for loving me so well and checking on me daily while I'm here, and to all of my friends and church family who have sent me random checkups, I cannot even begin to communicate how needed and how timely each of those were and I am forever grateful and thankful to and for you.

Till next time!
-Emma

We got new campers!!! Whoop whoop!!! These campers are middle school age, so they're a whole different breed of kids, and it's been so fun to see the differences between this week's kids and last week's! This week, I'm coaching CrossFit with Sam, and man, it can be hard to get those kids moving, but once they start and you keep them going, they truly have a good time. It's been cool to encourage them to move their bodies, not just because they have to but because it's a way to honor our God, who created our bodies to move! I'm still learning kids' names and trying to feel out the more introverted kids since it's only our second day with them, but I can tell this week will be super fun!

Over the weekend, we said goodbye to our last group of campers, which was bittersweet because I've learned so much from them. They were a challenging group of kids, but God is doing amazing work in many of their hearts, and I ask y'all to continue to pray for them!!

Sunday, we were able to go to the Nile and see the pyramids, which was such a surreal experience. I still don't think it's sunk in that I've literally seen and set foot on the pyramids, let alone sit on a camel and taken a boat ride down the Nile! (P.S. - I don't recommend ever riding a camel those things are taller than a horse and super top heavy so you feel like you're going to fall off at any moment!) I'm thankful for this past week and praising God for such a strong team here in Egypt, which allows us to serve the campers and one another in monumental ways.

I can't wait to see what this week brings with these new younger kids! Please pray for us as we make new relationships and strengthen the ones we've already had. Also, for me specifically, please pray for endurance, abundant rest, peace of heart, and peace of mind as we venture on!

I love y'all so much and couldn't do this without your prayers and support! I also want to thank my family for loving me so well and checking on me daily while I'm here, and to all of my friends and church family who have sent me random checkups, I cannot even begin to communicate how needed and how timely each of those were and I am forever grateful and thankful to and for you.

Till next time!
-Emma

Woah, y'all, we're already at the end of week 1 here at Wadi, and it's been so awesome!! We've had a really challenging group of campers. I was told some of the toughest ever, but through that, God has been monumentally gracious to me and our team! At the start of the week, my co-coach Jaci and I had 20 kids, but by the end, only seven remained... pretty crazy, but through that, God has allowed for a group of boys to spread out among the majors and have much more fun and intentional time away from each other so that they can focus on their sport and growing in their relationship with Christ!! It has been amazing to see how God has softened and molded the hearts of these campers to love each other well and to use their competitive playful sides to strengthen their team.

I'm struck by the idea of only having one week left with Geoff and his team, especially all the girls who have quickly become like sisters to me, but I'm excited to see what God will do and how we will be used as we will be the only Americans on camp.

Please continue to join us in prayer as we love on these kids and serve as coaches, refs, and friends to those around us. Please be praying that I continue to find ways to be an enduring vessel for Christ and healing, as I've been wrestling with shin splints for most of our Summer Serve and would hate for that to be a reason to slow me down!! Also, please pray for these campers in W3, that they would not leave God at camp but instead be a huge bright shining light in their communities and in this world.

I love y'all, and I am praying and praising God for each and every one of you!

Till next time!!
Emma

Hey!! It's day two, our first full day! We have been hard at work keeping these kids as fit as can be in Majors and reffing it up in Sessions!! God has been so good to us in equipping us with a staff that truly wants to love these kids well and do that by supporting us during our time with them! I can speak only to the wiffleball major, but in the past two days, the only time we've truly gotten the kids to tune in completely has been during our end-of-major devos!! Of any time of day, this is the time we, of course, want them to tune in. A time to reflect on our God and how we can serve Him through sports and throughout our daily lives!!


I'm still learning a lot of the kiddo's names, but it's been awesome to see them come up to each of us wanting to show us skills they've learned, funny stories from their years past, and moments with their counselors. We're truly blessed to be here and couldn't do it without you guys!


Man, oh man, God is good, and man, oh man, is He faithful to answer prayers! Speaking of we could use some prayer for sustained strength, patience, and grace as we coach and ref and embody the five attributes of WSC: fun, teamwork, discipline, challenge, and I am third.

Goodness, where do I even start? Our time in Moldova was full of 'Wow God' moments, worship, and play. We truly couldn't have experienced any of it without y'all's support! 



One thing God sprinkled throughout my time in Moldova was being comfortable in uncomfortability. Not in a scary or bad way but more of an "okay, it's time to trust God in this moment” way. Ministry through the game of basketball was our main strategy since we partnered with the Admirals Basketball Academy. If you know me, you know I haven't played basketball since I was in third grade. To say I was out of my comfort zone was an understatement.

Every day, we went to the gym where, around the game of basketball, we hosted different camp days featuring one of the stories of God through other sports like soccer and handball. 

While out of my zone, it was some of the most fun I've had in a while! God showed me that I didn't need to be able to play basketball to connect and support these kids; I could use what He gave me: a loud voice seasoned with Texas pride. Boy, did I cheer on those kids as they played! Let me tell ya, they were not all for it at the start, but eventually, they got used to it and then began responding to it. That's when things got really fun! 



Later, when we shared the Bible stories with the kiddos after practice, I shared a fun fact about myself: I've broken seven bones in my life, only four of which were my own. I hadn't known it, but this would be the best get-to-know-me fact I could've chosen. From then on, after I shared the stories of God, the kids asked me to share one of my stories about how I broke a bone. It was a peculiar and unconventional bonding experience. Still, it was what God had put in place, and He used my uncomfortable moments of inexperience to turn them into crazy stories that connect in a way I couldn't have imagined!


I am so beyond grateful for our time in Moldova and for the coaches who spent their free and rest time coming to our house to get to know each other and to be in each other's presence more. I'm thankful for Eugene and Nona Postolache and the Morari family for opening up their homes to us in such a radical way!! I am forever grateful for them. I ask that you join me in praying for the Admirals Academy, for Euguene and Nona, Nick and Uliana, Nichita, Viktor, Natan, Iarik, Alex, Danik, Dan, and each of the precious souls they touch daily as they bring together basketball and Gods Word for the glory of God alone.


Nothing without Him,
Emma