A Family for Christ

During my second week back in New Orleans, Dustin's family came to serve with TouchGlobal.
I've really been blessed by the Moshers in the past. They've welcomed me into their home and made me feel like part of their family. The week they were here opened my eyes to see their hearts even more so.
What's awesome is how they came down as a family and were lights for Christ together. Dustin has been coming to New Orleans for 3 years now. They recognized his passion for the city and for TouchGlobal and decided they wanted to see what it was like for themselves. The way they worked together, at the same job site, prayed together, ate together, and even toured the city together, displayed Christ.
Along with the Mosher family, Trinity International (a university from Illinois) came to serve. I'm so thankful for the teams that keep coming down! Seeing the Moshers serve that week made me realize how involved I want my future family to be in missions.

The Moshers, Trinity International, and the interns

Today today I live for one thing


To give You praise


In everything I do


Yeah all the praise goes out to You 

-The Time Has Come, Hillsong United

Back in NOLA!

Merry belated Christmas!

First of all, let me just note that being home for Christmas was absolutely perfect. I loved seeing my family again and we had a blast!

Me and my sister-in-law, Jamie

God continues to amaze me with the blessings he lavishes on me, both with my family and friends! For example, Jen Jones and I drove 19 hours to New Orleans yesterday and we arrived safely at 10 pm last night. Also, today I was reunited with my fellow former intern Ronnie!! :)

Ronnie and I hugging in the street. Of course, we would!

Today, driving over the causeway and into the city just reminded me of how much I love New Orleans. To be honest, this weekend I was not feeling ready to return to Louisiana. But now that I'm here, I'm so excited to get back to working and blogging! :)  This week will be great as all the interns will have a little reunion. They will all be here by Sunday and we'll be working together all next week!

God is good and I pray that Christ's love is shining through you as you go throughout your day. What an amazing privilege it is to be called by a living God and serve Him! Thank you for your prayers and support.

Love, 

Chelsea :)

Jesus, Friend of Sinners

I'm at the point where I know airports like the back of my hand. Like, just now, I looked up from what I was reading and realized I was in an airport...again. Sometimes, that's a little discouraging. I'd really like to stay in one place for more than 2 weeks. But then again, I realize that a year ago I never would've imagined that I'd be working for a ministry like TouchGlobal. When I think of that, I thank Christ for putting this call on my heart.
Back to the airport! I'm on my way to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania again. I'm blessed to be able to spend Christmas with my family, and I am very excited!
I covet your prayers and am very grateful for them. One way you could pray for me is that I will be looking for opportunities to show Christ's love in Pennsylvania. That God will bring people into my life who I can invest in.
If you haven't listened to the song "Jesus, Friend of Sinners", by Casting Crowns, please do. The Youtube link is right here. Enjoy! Here are some lyrics to it:

Jesus, friend of sinners, we have strayed so far away
We cut down people in your name but the sword was never ours to swing
Jesus, friend of sinners, the truth's become so hard to see
The world is on their way to You but they're tripping over me
Always looking around but never looking up I'm so double minded
A plank eyed saint with dirty hands and a heart divided

Oh Jesus, friend of sinners
Open our eyes to the world at the end of our pointing fingers
Let our hearts be led by mercy
Help us reach with open hearts and open doors
Oh Jesus, friend of sinners, break our hearts for what breaks yours

Keep these lyrics in mind as you encounter sinners like you and me throughout your day! I'm praying right now for the those of you reading this, that your lives will be living testimonies to the great work that Christ has done in you!
Love,
Chelsea :)

Recruiting, recruiting, recruiting

Hello everyone!

First of all, I am so thankful for the work of salvation that Christ did on the cross and the grace that we are able to receive because of it!
Second of all, I'm so grateful for the opportunity to recruit in Pennsylvania, Missouri and Arkansas. In Pennsylvania I visited Messiah College and Lancaster Bible College and I was able to spend some much-needed time with my family.

My brother, Ryan, and I

Now, I'm currently in Missouri staying at Southwest Baptist College. My fellow (and former) intern, Dustin has been driving me around to the different colleges I need to go to. Last Friday was spent at College of the Ozarks, yesterday was spent at John Brown University in Arkansas and tomorrow and Friday will be spent at Southwest Baptist.

Recruiting has gone well so far and has been an awesome experience! Thank you so much for your prayers and support.

 Pray for:
-My boss, Katie, and my friend, Alison, as they are working in Haiti this week
-My friend and coworker Ariealle, and her grandmother who is very sick and in the hospital right now
-That God will raise up a generation of young people who want to be involved with TouchGlobal

Praising God for:
-The blessing of family and having a place to go home to!
-Safe travels around the United States thus far :)
-Using me in a way that glorifies Him!

Love you all!
Chelsea :)
"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit."
2 Corinthians 3:17-18

Planning My Course...

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." - Proverbs 16:9

Me and George, one of our construction site leaders

This verse keeps coming up more and more in my life, especially in the past few weeks.

For those of you who do not know, I'm currently in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I got here on Saturday and I spent today sitting in meetings with some awesome people who do a lot of behind the scenes stuff. Tomorrow I'm going to a writing workshop with some other communications people from our national office.

Two weeks ago, I had no idea that I would be on a plane to Minneapolis at 6 in the morning this past Saturday (Shout out to Jen who drove me to Mississippi at 4 a.m.!). Again, the reoccurring verse: Proverbs 16:9.
I'm learning more how important it is to have Christ as my solid foundation, the steady person that I can lean against. He blesses me in amazing ways! And He is literally determining my every step, and I am happily following!
The past week was great with teams from California, Maryland, Missouri and old friends from Pennsylvania! During our block party, one of the team members helped to lead a person to Christ. Still praising God for working in the city I love!

Please pray that:

• I'll travel safely as I am going to Pennsylvania, Missouri, Arkansas and Kansas in the next month
• I'll continue to give God the glory when He creates amazing opportunities for me!
• God will recruit interns when I travel to different colleges in the coming weeks

Praising God for:

• The unique opportunity to learn more about communications in Minneapolis
• Being able to go home to Pennsylvania for 2 weeks!
• His faithfulness and steadfastness

Praying for those of you that are reading this, that God is working in your life too! Thank you so much!


Chelsea :)

New Orleans: Round 2!

There is something inexplicably satisfying when you know you are right where you belong. That's how I feel right now.
I'm  in Louisiana and thanks to the generosity of my friends and family, I am at 100% support!
Let me tell you about God's faithfulness: one month ago, I had a total of $200 per month promised to me. This past weekend, I reached $1,100 per month and I can only give Christ the glory.
My first week back in Louisiana was spent with other staff from Crisis Response. We had meetings to discuss the past year and look forward to this next year. I am so excited to be a part of this ministry!

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for me! I'm so blessed by the people here and back home :)
Please pray:

• That I will establish a good routine between classes and work
• That this year will be productive and that God will continue to bless Crisis Response

Love,
Chelsea
"The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him." Exodus 15:2

So Thankful!

I just want to thank everyone that made it possible for me to come to New Orleans. This summer was life-changing and I learned so much about God, other people, ministry and myself. I spent my last night with all my interns last Friday, staying up til 2 in the morning laughing with Katie and Ronnie and Keri. I also want to recognize the staff in New Orleans. We had an intern send-off party last Friday and I realized how much each and every one of them have touched my life. I have truly found a home and a family in Covington, Louisiana that will always welcome me and treat me as their own. Saturday morning, as I watched Ronnie drive away at 5 am, I realized how grateful I am for people like her and everyone else on staff here. The accountability and just the feeling of being home is amazing.

The interns and Katie on our last night!

I have such a peace about coming back to New Orleans in September. This past summer was the first step to something incredible that God is doing in my life. I'm so excited to see what it is! As I'm writing, I am sitting here in my parents living room so thankful for them, the rest of my family and their support as I embark on a new journey. I've been officially accepted by ReachGlobal to return to New Orleans and serve for 11 months! I'm praising God for how steadfast, faithful and sovereign He is! What an amazing God we serve!
As for returning, the projected budget is about $1,100 a month. I need to find supporters willing to give financially on a monthly basis, so I will be spending the next month doing that. I plan on leaving September 10th in order to make it back to Louisiana in time for the annual meetings that the Crisis Response staff holds.

Praise:

•   Jesus Christ is sovereign, mighty and worthy to be praised!
• I made it back to Dauphin, Pa safe and sound! So happy to be surrounded by my family :)
• I've been accepted to ReachGlobal for an 11 month term

Prayer:

• That Crisis Response will have more and more teams volunteer to serve
• God will provide the people who are willing to support me financially this year
• That I will remain diligent in building a team of people who will support me through prayer

Once again, thank you to everyone who has kept up with my blog this summer and has prayed for me! I'm looking forward to writing more when I return to New Orleans in September.
God Bless!
Chelsea
"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him." 1 John 3:1