Empowered for a Purpose

After my 18 hour journey I finally made it to Cameroon! And so the journey begins... But first, I want to thank everyone who helped to get me here. Without you (my family and friends) I wouldn't be living my dream! It was a nice last few days in America ..visiting with family and friends before taking off from D.C. My flight was uneventful to Brussels and I had a 3 hour layover before heading to Douala, Cameroon. Both plane rides totaled about 7 hours each. So it was at least broken up nicely. Luckily I met some fellow Mercy Ships crew members on the second plane so I didn't have to go through customs alone. It was a bit intimidating but after about an hour we all made it through to find our representatives waiting for us. As soon as we left the airport locals were coming up to us, saying "mercy, mercy" -they knew what we were here for, and they followed us all the way to the car (children included). Even at 7pm the air was almost unbearable! It is quite hot h...

Hello all and welcome to my blog! I figured it was about time to start this as I gear up to head across the Atlantic to Douala, Cameroon! I hope you will follow my journey and hear my stories. Feel free to share my blog with your friends and family-and stay in touch while I'm away! So a little bit about my story... I was raised in good old Blackwood, NJ- one of five kids (I like to joke I'm the favorite). My mom and dad raised us all in a cute brick house where there was lots of love to go around! I love that house-and miss it so much. I grew up playing soccer-that was my first love. If I wasn't at school or hanging with friends you could probably catch me on a soccer field. That's what helped me get to college-and was a huge HUGE part of my life. I used to dream about playing soccer in Africa with the kids who couldn't afford as much as a ball. I don't know why but Africa was put on my heart from a very young age. When it was time for college, I picked La...