Everywhere is home when you’re a missionary

That’s what I unintentionally said to my teammate, Alexina, as we unpacked into our new home in Fort Meyers, FL. Which might I add is pretty easy when you carry all your belongings in a 50L backpack. But honestly it’s true. Coming onto this journey I knew we would be moving around at an unusual rate, however, I didn’t realize how quick these places would feel like home! You really enjoy the small things when you’re constantly moving around.

Yesterday we packed up our tents, and today we made the drive down to Fort Meyer, FL and moved into the dorms here at the Harlem Heights AIM Base which not only are decorated with bunk beds (with mattresses), but also adorned with a flushing toilet and running water sink! Any missionary’s dream!! This is quite the change from a month of our humble abodes, and porta potties…

Today started with a symphony of every girls alarm going off at 6:00… quite the wake up call. We said our “see you in a week” to the boys as they got ready to head to Kentucky, piled in the vans at 7:00 am and hit the road. Our drive down to FL was truly blessed with an abundance of new things. Team Harvest joined team Abide to which we are known together as Abide in the Harvest. They claim we only harvest chaos, but we believe that’s our role in this squad! Our first stop was about an hour and a half into the drive… Buc-ees, which is like a Kwik Trip (for my Wisconsin peps) but times 100! Claire, one of my teammates, was our tour guide as this wasn’t her first rodeo… she’s from Texas. I experienced the world famous bathrooms, their coffee bar, and the abundance of food that is branded with Buc-ee Beaver. I’d say it met all expectations! A couple hours later we stopped at this hole in the wall truck stop that was Bigfoot themed, which personally I think felt a little more what I’m used to. The stalls barely closed, you could tell it hadn’t been renovated since the 90s, and it was stocked with Bigfoot themed hats and stickers. Our last stop was Wawa. Which, since week one of training camp has been part of our team motto. One of the boys on our squad, Ben, is from Pennsylvania and is self proclaimed Wawa’s biggest fan. With his constant rave about it being the best gas station there was a lot of hype, and in my opinion… it met the type. Their pumpkin chai is 10/10! In case you’ve never been to a Wawa, let me fill you in. You order on a kiosk, then they make your food and call your number. But it also has all the regular gas station basics. Personally, I prefer Wawa despite the majority favoring Buc-ees. 

This week we will be serving in Harlem Heights, an area near Fort Meyers that got destroyed by the hurricane last year and is still in the recovery process. We will be installing dry wall, laying laminate, putting in cabinets, etc. to help the ministry restore this community. Even just a few hours into being here, you can tell the heart of the long term missionaries that live and serve here are so on fire for the Lord and want to work through him to provide healing and restoration to this area!

Please pray for the people we will encounter this week! That we can serve them well and that Jesus would shine through us to them! I would also love if you commented any prayer requests you are in need of so I can be praying for you too! I am beyond excited to tell you all about this adventure next week!