grow

two of the most awesome refuge leaders ever, just left this morning to live in africa for a year. (well actually they are going to visit some other churches in the u.s. before heading to africa)

i am so excited for them. i know that God is going to bless them for their willing hearts. they really are giving up a lot to live over there and serve. God has already used them to minister to tons of us “refugees”. kristen actually led a life group at my house for a while- wonder woman! that was really cool. charles would always help kristen get everyone cookies or icees or something.

charles and kristen both are really really awesome people. i look up to them a lot. their hearts are so willing and ready to hear God’s voice. just this past week they heard about my trip to mexico (actually, i was still planning on going to peru then) but when they heard that i was going, they immediately offered to help. they provided a huge chunk of the money that we needed. i was blown away that they would do that, even as they’re preparing to go on the mission field themselves. few people would have had the eagerness that they did to help me while they’re still raising money for themselves. i was talking to charles about it, and he said that you can’t be blessed without being a blessing. he said that i’m like a little sister to them. aww. i’m gonna cry.

that was so cool of them. i’m still in shock that they did that for me and my dad. they’re so cool!

i hope that i learn from their example. i am so blessed to have them as my “big brother and sister”. i’m going to miss them so much. God is going to use them in africa. they’re going to grow even closer to God through this experience. He’s going to bless them beyond anything that they can imagine. although it will be hard at times, the reward of seeing souls won for God will be worth it.

i’m going to miss you guys!!!!!!
thank you so much for all that you’ve done and are doing. y’all are truly amazing.

love ya.

*vicTORIa*

well i’ve changed my mind about going to peru. now i’m going to mexico instead. i’m not going into all the reasons, but the biggest one is that i wanted to be with all of my friends. (this is where you say “awwwwwww”)
and as you think about it, it may sound like sort of a selfish reason not to go to peru, but my dad told me that if weren’t about being with friends and people that you know, then why not go to russia with a church from ohio. makes sense, huh?

so now my dad and i are going to mexico. God has blessed us incredibly and now the funds are covered. so i just need support from you through prayer. pray that our team will be able to minister to the people in mexico, that we will be safe, and stay healthy, that we will make a difference in the lives of everyone we encounter, and that God would prepare our hearts for this opportunity, and that i would learn things from this experience that i will be able to use in the future. (and for anything else you can think of to pray for:)

i’m so excited!!!

also…
reminder: $100 deposit for camp due tomorrow. yikes!
but i’m so excited about that too!!

chick night was awesome saturday. most of the people there were from pathfinders, but that’s awesome. i’m glad that they were there. i found my friends holly and stephanie there, and lacey and mickey were models for the fashion show. so i had fun hangin’ with them. crystal’s message was great. really made me start thinking about my life- by beliefs, my home, boys, and so on. the phrases that she said that stand out most in my head are “stand up. stand out. and change the world.” i know it doesn’t sound that great when i just type it, but you sort of had to be there to get the full effect. the whole “stand out” part reminded me of what i said at amplified about being “set apart”. i probably already posted about that, but i basically said that i should want to be set apart for the holy life that i live. so that was really cool… and the tee shirt that they gave us is really sweet. and the magazine was great too. it was kind of like an our life magazine, but it had little articles about this summer’s styles, a do’s and don’ts page, a few stories about missions or about how to get along with your parents, and a really cool thing that pastor tyler and pastor jason wrote called males 101. it was just saying what a girl should look for in a guy. simple, but cool. the main points were like-look for a guy who loves God more than you do (’cause he should be the leader), who would rather be at church that be somewhere else with you, who treats his mom with love and respect (that’s how he will treat you one day), and they were a few more than i can’t think of right now.
so sunday was my friend’s birthday. i called her and we started talking about her old boyfriend. (old boyfriend sounds better than x-boyfriend) she was telling me that she had been feeling like God wanted her to break up with him, but she wasn’t sure. so she asked God to give her a sign, which He did. but she still didn’t want to do it, so she told God that if it was really what He wanted then He was going to have break them up Himself. so He did. (well through her dad, but He did it.) of course, she was sad, but she knew that it was the right thing. and after the whole situation was over, she came across something she had written before she started dating that guy. it was her standards for her future husband. as she compared that guy to her list, she realized that he didn’t even come close to any of the things that she wanted- not even the big stuff. (he ended being a jerk, too. liked another girl or something) so i just thought that it’s really cool how involved God will be in your life if you just ask Him to be. My friend didn’t have to do anything but pray, and God took care of it. yeah, she got hurt, but she learned that she really can rely on God and that He knows what He is doing. He is really real. We just have to trust Him. also- i’m so proud of my friend!!! you know who you are (if you even read this). she’ s the best.
well, anyway, after i talked to her, i decided to write out my own standards for a guy. it may be important one day. i literally wrote like a page and a half of things that i wanted out of a guy. but most of the things on there are like duh’s, but still. i guess the main thing is that i know what is essential out of the list versus what is just a want. i’m not writing things like he has to have brown curly hair, play the guitar, and sing. i’m just writing down the important stuff. (the reason it took a page and a half to write it all is because i write pretty humongously and i put cute little collage cut-outs on the pages. lol. what can i say?- a girls gotta personalize!) don’t really know where i’m going with this, so i’ll just stop there.

another thing that i’ve been meaning to post about is…

WHY DO THE PEOPLE AT MCDONALD’S ONLY PUT 1/2 OF A PIECE OF CHEESE ON THE FILET OF FISH SANDWICHES?

WHY, BRANCE, WHY?

(brance works at mcdonald’s, but he can’t come up with a good explanation as to why anyone would put half of a piece of cheese on a sandwich. if i’m going to eat a sandwich i would love to have cheese on the whole thing, not just on four bites of it. [that was an estimate. i don't really count the bites i take. thank you very much])
sorry about that little outburst, but it really bugs me. i would understand if the sandwich were folded over, but not if it’s laid out flat like that. it’s stupid.

that’s my tick, pet peeve, whatever you want to call it.

sorry for putting out such a long post. i’m making up for all the times that i missed. lol.

*vicTORIa*

hey my ferns (friends),

as some of you may know, i’m planning on going to peru this summer. here’s the info. (the letter is prettier, but it has the same text. lol)…

Healing Place Church’s student ministry, Refuge, is going to Peru this summer.

My dad and I are part of a team that will be in Lima from July 16 through July 24, working with Jordan Durso and the minstry at Camino de Vida (Robert Barriger’s church).

Some of the ministry opportunities we’ll have will be visiting children’s homes and shelters for abused women, doing street evangelism, and helping serve at a soup kitchen.

My family has been a part of missions enough to understand that there are two things that we need to make this trip what it needs to be. First we’ll need a ton of prayer support. Your prayer will open the doors for us to show God’s love to hurting people.

We also need financial support. The cost of the trip is $2,000 per person, so we need to raise $4,000 (the first part of it is due April 30).

Please keep us in your prayers, and if you are able to help with the financial support, here’s how:

You can give online through the Childrens’ Cup’s website, www.childrenscup.org – and select “Tori Ohlerking – Peru” in the designation box.
You can send a check payable to: Children’s Cup, P.O. Box 400, Prairieville, LA 70769 – be sure to designate your check for “Tori Ohlerking – Peru.”

Thank you for helping me be a part of this missions trip.

*vicTORIa*