So this is the door

Freshman year: I was riding to NRB (National Religious Broadcasters' Convention) with a bus full of strangers, overhearing excited conversations about an upcoming trip to Thailand from all the cool video people in the back. That was my first introduction to NGU's biennial media missions trip. I knew that once my junior year rolled around and the trip came up again, I wanted to be a part of it.

Junior year: I am riding back from NRB with a bus full of friends, trying to get my thoughts sorted in preparation for my upcoming trip to Amsterdam in less than 48 hours. It's crazy to think that a dream that began two years ago is about to come true. 

It's not been easy to get to this point. At the beginning of last semester I had almost talked myself out of even considering going on this trip for financial reasons. Even after witnessing time and again (for one example, see my post below) the Lord providing money to accomplish His calling, I still wasn't willing to trust His provision. But during the last service of global missions week, God confirmed He was going to send me somewhere over spring break, and I was pretty sure it was going to be this trip. 

That night, I wrote in my journal, "Thank You that You will show me how to best spend my spring break, even by closing doors. So I ask that You'd help me not to get attached to any particular door, but that I'd be more and more passionate about serving and proclaiming You no matter where You put me. And You will provide. And You will answer..."

And answer He has. My parents were able to support this trip financially, which was a completely unexpected blessing. I also was able to save up and purchase a new camera and lens which will be extremely beneficial for this trip. 

But what exactly is this trip, you might ask? In short, three groups of students will be going from March 8-17th to different locations in Europe: Vienna, Bratislava, and Amsterdam, to work with TWR (Trans World Radio) to produce short videos for their missionaries on the ground in those cities. Our goal will be to connect these missionary's work to one of TWR's main goals, equipping the church. The missionaries we'll be serving aren't your typical pastors or church planters. They work behind the scenes at radio stations that broadcast the gospel to closed nations and fill administrative roles that enable the church planters to remain on the field. It's so important to show to these missionary's supporters how what they are doing is directly related to the spread of the gospel.

This trip is so special for me because it will give me an opportunity to gain practical experience in something that I want to do long-term after I graduate. I'm so excited to get the chance to partner my love and talents in media with the Great Commission. It's like I was made for this or something.

So how can you pray for us?

• Strength will be a big one, since over half the people on my team have been at NRB all week and are already worn out from this trip. The others have been working through midterms, so we're going to need a lot more energy than we currently have to serve the missionaries well.
• Film is hard. I've only been really learning and practicing with it for about a year or so, and I'm the person on my team with the most experience with it. So, there will be a lot of learning as we go. Pray that we'd be good learners/teachers and will be able to produce some great videos for the missionaries.
• Pray for unity among the teams. None of us on my team have really worked together or been around each other for an extended period of time. Add into that the fact that we'll be tired and pushing to get work done, and you have prime conditions for arguments and ridiculous drama. Pray that we'd represent the body of Christ well and would intentionally seek to serve each other in addition to the missionaries. 
• Amsterdam is a city far from Christ. The first few words that came up in Google the other day when I typed in "Amsterdam" were "pot" and "red light district." Basically, anything goes. It is a very post-Christian city. My team and I are praying for opportunities to love and serve and share the gospel with the people there, so pray with us that we'd recognize those opportunities and be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's leading. 

I'm required for class to keep a blog of this trip, but this is something I wanted to do anyways. I'll probably post an entry just about every day, in addition to random things on Facebook (Elizabeth Pirkle) and Twitter (pirkey_pirk). I'd love to have you guys join me in my adventures!