Late one night last week, my friends and I went to a little fast food place here in New York – they wanted me to try a Garbage Plate. What on earth is a Garbage Plate, you ask? Well, it’s a big plate piled with everything you would usually order separately. Home fries and macaroni salad on the bottom, two burger patties and cheese on top of that, and then onions, hot sauce, mustard, and meat sauce (the meat sauce tastes like the chili at Skyline Chili!) on top. They provide bread to eat last to make sure it stays in your stomach. I thought it might be nasty, but it turned out to be surprisingly decent! My friend and I shared one, so we didn’t have the stomach-wrenching experience of eating an entire Garbage Plate and trying to keep it down – half a Plate stays in your stomach pretty well. It was definitely an experience, and one of my last in the States for the year.

We were all so hungry that night because that day was our day of fasting. We didn’t eat all day, asked that God would prepare us more for our trip, and listened to some people who came in to help us recognize things in our lives that might keep us from being all we can be for God this year. It provided a lot of insight for us and broke down many strongholds in our lives. It was intense, but great – He really revealed important things to us!

I am so excited to go now! I have a far better idea now of exactly what I’m going to be doing once I get there, and I am almost ready to go! God has provided so much support for me – it’s amazing to see His faithfulness, even in spite of my doubt and anxiety. I thank all of you who’ve supported me so far! Please keep praying for all 60 of us – we have about a 45-hour trip ahead of us (including buses and trains and sitting in airports) before we finally get to Asia. And then we’ll all have jet-lag and culture shock, so also pray for energy for us! We take off at 10:40 PM tomorrow!

I hope you all have a great week!