Hello 2016

I honestly feel like it is still 2010.  Not because I want to go back to being 15 years old but more because my mind refuses to acknowledge the haste with which time has moved in recent years.  Now as I look forward to the New Year, I am filled with anticipation.  This is the year that I will become a senior.  This is the year that I will somehow put together a regional mechanical engineering conference.  However, the main source of my anticipation is my upcoming trip to Sacramento, California.

I thought that this was the year that I would take a back seat for missions.  I would help my friends with fundraisers and be a prayer warrior instead of a traveler.  Yet for some reason that didn’t quite sit right with me.  I knew that I needed to leave my summer open this year, but I still had a strong desire to be able to invest in a team as well as reach out to another part of the world.  One trip that I have always admired is the all women trip to Mercy Multiplied.  The women on this team have always come back with incredible stories and clear changes in their hearts and attitudes.  They also have displayed a bond that can only be achieved by a group of all women.  Amazingly, ORU Missions is allowing me to lead this trip that I have longed to be a part of for years now.

This semester is going to be absolutely insane.  With a full class schedule, loads of activities, and now a mission trip that I couldn’t be more eager to embark on, I cannot help but feel a bit nervous about it all.  However, I am blessed in the knowledge that I am following my calling and am doing what brings happiness to my life.

So now dear readers, all I ask is that you pray for a few specific areas.  First and foremost, pray for the women that enter Mercy Multiplied’s multiple locations.  They have each faced incomprehensible battles yet have made the remarkable leap of seeking healing.  Also, please pray for the ladies of my team.  They too have areas in which they need healing and growth.  Pray that they find where they can thrive.  Finally, pray for the Middle East.  My lack of plans to travel there this year has not lessened my heart for its inhabitants nor lessened the need for God’s revelation and His love in this region of the world.

For more information about Mercy Multiplied, you can visit their website.  Here is a link to one of their success stories about a woman named Sophonie:  http://mercymultiplied.com/2015/08/sophonie-2012/

Thank you so much for walking through life with me.  There is one more thing that I hate to be the focus but that I need to mention.  If you would like to donate towards this trip, you can visit missions.oru.edu and put my name (Christi Sleiman) as well as my team (Sacramento Mercy).  Every cent that is over the $1,099 that I need for the trip goes directly to making sure that the 12 other women on my team get to join the journey too.

I hope that each of you enters the New Year with anticipation.  It would bless me so much if you would email me with any prayer requests at christisleiman@gmail.com.  I would love to be a part of your life in that small way.  Thank you all for taking the time to read this.  I will do my best to keep you updated in the days to come.