October Florida Trip!

This October I took my first trip to Florida!  As I left the fall colors in Oregon, I wondered what Florida would be like.  I knew there would be palm trees, and moss, but there was so much more.  I tried to enjoy the fall colors, but there was only one tree that changed colors, and it wasn’t even the leaves, it was a flowery looking thing.

The big reason why I traveled to Florida was to see my co-worker Amy Heckman!  We were invited to share at a missions conference at Hopeful Baptist Church in Lake City, Florida!  We had such an amazing time sharing in this 5 day missions conference.  We loved sharing about our desire to be involved in tribal church planting in Mexico!  Amy & I shared with: a homeschool co-op group, a Christian club at a High School, Adult Bible Study, teen girls from the youth group, at our display board, with a group of kids, an adult Sunday school class, families in their homes, and an adult Bible study.  But I think one of the most fun groups we got to share with was an Awana Sparkie group!  The reason why that is so exciting, is because that’s where Amy & I met each other when we were little kids!!  I had a great time meeting all these new people in Lake City & I came away from the time extremely encouraged!

Then the second week that I was in Florida, Amy & I spent a lot of time at NTM Home Office!  Some people wonder if the missionaries here in the states are “real missionaries“?  I would have to say YES!!  My next article is going to share more about that!

We also took a trip with the whole Heckman family down to somewhere around Fort Lauderdale to visit Amy’s grandparents!  We got up on Saturday, went to a craft fair, and then to Wal-Mart.  I don’t think I’ve ever been to Wal-Mart so many times than on my trip in Florida.  We went almost every single day.  Which is very different for a girl that lives 42 miles from the nearest Wal-Mart!  And while I was at Amy’s grandparents, I was able to go swimming in their pool!  Awesome!  That’s something that doesn’t happen in Oregon especially in October!

And week three found us doing a couple more tourist things.  I was able to visit Downtown Disney,  go to the Holy Land Experience, the Wycliffe discovery center, the beach, and also an Orlando Magic Game!!!

The Holy Land Experience was great because we got to see some of Jesus’ Life & Ministry acted out.  I got to see the miracle that Jesus performed at the Wedding Feast in Cana, which was great because we’ve been going through the book of John in my Bible study group!  And we got to see the Passion play acted out!  Oh my goodness, it amazes me every time I think about what Christ went through physically & emotionally to redeem the whole world back into a right relationship with God.  Another part of the Holy Land Experience is called the Scriptorium.  We got to see how the Bible went from being written on stone, and the transformation through the centuries that eventually led it into being made available today in English!

Then the next day we went to the Wycliffe Discover Center, which is great for hands on learners!  It shows that while we have the Bible in our own language (English), there are over 4400 languages without any Scripture!  Which is amazing since the complete Bible has been around for almost 2000 years!  Actually in the English language, we have the option of choosing a Bible from over 500 different translations!

The Friday before I left, Amy & I put on our own version of a Mexican Fiesta for a youth group!!!  It was awesome.  We made lots of Mexican food, played some games, sang some songs in Spanish, and we were able to share about Mexico and how we’ll be involved in communicating the Truth of God’s Word to people that won’t ever have a chance to hear!

I stayed extremely busy at the Heckman home and so much living with them!

Florida was fun.  I didn’t expect it to be, but I met amazing people, and was able to reconnect with lots of friends.  And I suppose, that one day I will travel back to Florida.  But when I go back, I want to go fishing and see an alligator!