Dobro Yutro, SUNSHINE.

That's good morning in Bosnian

This weekend I went to Santa Barbara for STIM training. It was amazing. I learned so much about social injustice, God's grace, and cross-cultural differences. We did a lot of stimulations that reminded me of leadership games I played in Student Council =]
I also got to meet my teammates that are also going to Zenica with me. There's a total of 6 people going to Zenica, one staff and five students. The staff and the other three students are from UCSB [University of California Santa Barbara] and then Scott and I from UNLV
I don't have the pictures of the whole Zenica team, but that's me and scott =]
I also learned a lot about my trip in general. I need to raise $2000 by May 26 which is in a month! We already have our air plane tickets confirmed but need to pay for them by then. I'll include more details as the trip gets closer.

After our weekend of learning and getting know each other, team Las Vegas became tourists! We went to a park with baby turtles and then went to the Beach.

Ben, Ryan, me, Carlos, Will, and Scott

Ryan isn't going to Bosnia but he's going to a Fresno Urban mission trip where he will spend 6 weeks in one of the poorest parts of the west coast. He came to the training with us.

Jumping for joy

Can you tell we're excited for this summer?

Overall, this weekend trip was a great experience. It got me even more pumped for my trip to Bosnia. =]

hardcore team bonding time

We are going to Santa Barbara this weekend for our training! 

I'm really excited because I'm going to learn more about what I'm going to be doing there as well as get the needed information to be successful in Bosnia. 

It's called STIM, student training in missions. 

All five of us are going to fit in my small ICAR so it'll be a long 6 hour car ride there, but it'll be SO worth it. It's a good thing I've got shotgun! =]

a venti latte

I went to the starbucks I used to work at a couple of weeks ago. While I was talking to the Assistant Manager, I mentioned that I had to raise $4,000 for my trip to Bosnia. 

He was telling me that he wanted to help out. 

I went back this week to see if he was still interested and he mentioned that the company can probably give me some money since as a team we're raising $20,000.

I dropped off my letter on Wednesday. =] Hopefully Starbucks can pull through and help me out. 

as of today, I am 15% funded to go to Bosnia

A little bit more information

So I definitely left out a couple of details about my trip:

My trip to Bosnia will be from June 26 - Aug 4

Our team actually needs to raise a total of $20,000 to make this possible. I'm responsible for $4,000 of it. 

I need to raise all the funds before June 25

Today, we're having a team meeting. We're going to start making copies of our letters and stuffing them in envelopes. Hopefully we'll send most of them out tonight. 

I went to my high school last week for donations. I was able to collect $600

=] I think that a strong foundation in starting my fundraising. 

As of today, I am 15% funded to go to Bosnia. 

And the Journey Begins. . .

Hello friends, 

So hopefully you have ended up at my blog curious to why I am going to Bosnia. 

Let's start at the beginning: 

I was first introduced to Christianity in 6th grade at Faith Lutheran, a private christian school. During the seven years, I built a strong understanding and belief of the Gospel, Jesus, and the Bible. At UNLV I joined a college ministry organization where I was able to redefine my faith. InterVarsity has challenged me to grow in my identity as a Christian and has taught me how to live out God's will. Through this process, I was called to be part of the team going to Bosnia. 

I will be spending six weeks during the summer in Bosnia, building relationships with the Bosnian students, teaching english and helping plant churches.

I will be going with 4 other UNLV students: Will, Carlos, Ben and Scott. I'm super excited to be going with them. Will, Carlos and Ben will be going to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. Scott and I will be going to Zenica which is 40 miles north of Sarajevo. 

There's a total for 15 students going to Bosnia. 10 to Sarajevo and 5 to Zenica

Now, you may be asking: Where is Bosnia? 

Bosnia is in Eastern Europe, across from Italy near the coast of the Adriatic Sea



Here you can see where the two teams will be going: Sarajevo and Zenica

In order to make my trip possible I need to raise $4,000

Would you please consider giving towards this ministry to send my to Bosnia. Please giver and pray towards my goal as you are led. 

Any amount of donation is helpful =] 

If you are interested in helping me out, please let me know. 

I will be using this blog as an update on how my fundraising is doing and will be using this during my trip. 

thanks!