Hey all, my name is Debbie Bishop and I'm sending you some love from San Diego, California.  Currently I'm here going to school at San Diego Christian College, but I've been here all 19 years of my existence and while most of the time I'm itching to get out, I keep on having to remind myself, "WHOA, Debbie.  God loves you SO much that He let you live in one of the most beautiful cities EVER." And He did.  There's pretty much every kind of terrain within 45 minutes max of my dorm, and that is nothing short of awesome.

As stated before, SDCC is currently where I study and sleep, and in my first year here God has already taught me so much about His love and will for my life. He's blessed me with incredible, Christ-centered friends that genuinely care about my honest relationship and growth with Him and I can't even express what a gift that truly is. I'm majoring in Biblical Studies with a goal of a long-term mission work in my heart. Where or what exactly? Good question, not quite sure yet...

When I'm not working with my best friend as a Children's Ministries intern at my church (there is a lot of curriculum writing and Sunday School teaching and laughing involved), you can find me crocheting (I'm still learning this one), eating chocolate, laughing, exploring, and getting lost with my friends, and most importantly spending time His Word. While I'm not too athletically or technically gifted, God has blessed me with an overwhelmingly loving family and the Father's love has just been overflowing in my heart, making this passion for relationships and fellowship come alive in my heart.  

I've never been on a long-term mission trip before, but being so close to the Mexican border, I have definitely made quite a few day or weekend trips over to Tijuana to build houses, to work on other construction trips, to help out orphanages, or, my personal favorite, to throw Christmas parties for the orphanages.  Currently I'm involved in an outreach ministry on campus called SALT, which based off of Matthew 5:13, "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men".  In this ministry we do a lot of work downtown and God's just really so present down there and has opened my eyes to how huge of a need there is for urban ministry. 

Ladies, I am SO STOKED for this trip and I am praying for you all as we prepare for this journey.  As the enemy tries to discourage us from doing God's work and obstacles come our way, just know that God has us here in this position for a reason, and I am so excited to get to know each of your hearts better and I can't wait to see what God has in store for your life, both in these next few months of preparation, this summer, and afterwards.

Have a wonderful day and may God bless you in full :)