Early last fall, I received an email from a friend in Austin. She wrote to tell me about an upcoming trip she was taking to the island of Grenada to disciple and equip the women in the local churches there. Her email included a “crazy” request: Would I like to go with them and be their conference speaker?
My response was polite. “Sounds like an amazing experience! I don’t think this is the right season for me to be traveling, but I’ll pray about it.”
I hit “send”, said a quick prayer (because I said I would), and went on my merry way.
Two days later, I emailed her back. “I’m in.”
…
This Thursday I will be traveling on my {first ever} international mission trip to the island of Grenada. There I will join a team of six women to teach, encourage and equip the women of Grenada.
If you are unfamiliar, Grenada is an island country located in the southern end of the Caribbean Sea.
In Grenada, our group will be hosting a one-day women’s conference. In the days that follow, we will lead several additional small group training sessions. Each of these sessions will be focused on more intimate discipleship and training for the leaders as they set up their own women’s ministry.
Will you pray for us?
God has certainly been at work every step of the way as we’ve prepared for this trip. He’s pulled together an awesome team across three different cities and put a plan in motion that we are thrilled to walk out in a couple of days.
But we need your prayers.
Friends, I need your prayers!!
My Schedule
Here’s a loose schedule of our time in Grenada so you can know specific ways to pray:
Thursday, January 26: My Travel Day
I’ll be traveling by myself both to and from Grenada. I’m not a big traveler (understatement) and would appreciate prayers for navigating airports, customs, etc.
Saturday, January 28: Women’s Conference
We are praying that God will awaken in the women a hunger for God’s Word and a passion to pursue Him like never before. I’m praying specifically that they come with hearts open to more of Jesus – that they feel sought after and cared for both by the Lord and our team. Please pray that the Lord comes in power and speaks clearly through me in a way that connects to each woman personally.
Sunday, January 29: Teach in Sunday school class at local church (day) and speak to youth group (night)
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (January 30-February 1): Meet at local schools (day) and lead break-out sessions at different churches (night)
One of the things that drew me to this trip was the opportunity to equip the ladies to begin their own women’s ministry through these break-out sessions. There are many unknowns at this point as to what these times will look like, but I have two specific teaching responsibilities that I’m super passionate about:
- Teach about our identity in Christ
I will be using the nesting doll analogy for part of this. If you’d like to hear a little about how I use the nesting dolls, you can watch this short video by clicking here.
- Teach them how to study the Bible for themselves
Yall, I get to teach these ladies how to open their Bibles and learn from Jesus personally. This is exciting stuff! I’m going to teach them two different methods: the SOAP method for studying a single verse, and a PRAY.READ.ASK method for studying a passage of scripture.
(If you’d like to see what the SOAP method is all about, click here. We will provide this worksheet for them to practice. If you’d like to see what the PRAY.READ.ASK method is all about, click here to see the bookmarks I made that walks through each step.)
Thursday, February 2nd: Travel home.
I cannot tell you how much I value and appreciate your prayers. This is by far the longest time away from my family, so please pray for Erik, the kids and me to thrive while I’m away. I’m expecting to see the Lord work in mighty ways in all of our lives through this trip.
Thank you so much in advance for partnering with me!
Can I pray for you?
I pray for you guys often, but I’d love to pray for you personally while I’m away. You can reply to this email, message me, or leave your requests in the comments. This will make great use of my flying time, so don’t leave me hanging!
Have a great week!
P.S. My husband is currently at home with what we’re calling the flu (because he didn’t go to the doctor for an actual diagnosis). I’m pretty sure he’s turned the corner and is on the back end now, but will you pray that I don’t get it? Pretty please?
Theresa Boedeker says
What a great opportunity! Praying for you and the other women and the success of the trip. May your teaching and mentoring and friendships inspire these Grenada women to grow in Christ and bless and mentor their sisters around them, creating ripples that never stop.
admin says
Yes!!! Thanks so much for the prayers Theresa.
admin says
Praying for your mom right now.