Steph & Ben {E-Session}

I have known Steph for a long time.  I don't remember when we first met but I know it was sometime after my family began to attend the same church as Steph's family.  There were a bunch of girls that were around my age that attended the church and Steph just happened to be one of them.  All of us girls loved to hang out and became close friends over the years. We have so many great memories together!  So now onto Steph and Ben's story.  Steph and Ben began to date a little over a year ago, and they are such a fun couple.  They love to joke around and have a good time!  And best of all they both love Jesus which makes their relationship so much more awesome. A couple weeks ago, Ben took Steph for a little picnic in the mountains and he proposed to her. They then asked if I would like to take their engagement photos and of course I said, "yes"!  We took the photos a couple Saturdays ago and were blessed with awesome weather!  Here are a few of my favorites from the session!

The Reeder Family

So a couple Saturdays ago I had a photo session with the Reeders.  I love this family they are always so fun to take photos of and Ava is such a cutie.  We were originally thinking that we would do the session in the studio but there were just too many fun looking things to distract Ava, thankfully it was a gorgeous day so we went outside.  Ava found a little yellow chick on the shelf while we were in the studio and she remained attached to it when we went outside so you may be able to spot it in a few of the photos! ;)  I got quite a bit of exercise during the session because I was constantly running to keep up with Ava, she is pretty fast for only being a little over a year.  It was a lot of fun, so without further ado here are a few of the photos!

Eric {Senior Session}

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to photograph Eric's senior pictures.  His mom and I had been scheduling the session for over a month and we kept having to change the date, so we were thrilled to finally meet and do the session!  Eric is a senior at Fannett-Metal High School and is considering going to college for Golf Course Management. A few of my favorites from the session are posted below!

Eric's girlfriend Megan came along so we took a few photos of them together!

Matt & Kristi {E-session}

On Saturday, I had the privilege of meeting Matthew and Kristi.  We met at Hagerstown City Park to take their engagement photos and in exactly 3 months from the day we took the photos, they will be saying "I do" and I also get to take their wedding photos too! Yay!  

Matt and Kristi are such an awesome couple and we had so much fun getting to know each other a little bit and taking pictures was fun too of course! A little bit of background on Matt and Kristi is that they met at the church where they will be married and they have been together for about two years, they actually went to the Hagerstown City Park on their first date. So it was a special place to take their engagement photos!  So with that brief background, here are a few of my favorites from the day! 

 Ahh! Seriously they're so cute!

 We decided to take some photos on the playground equipment!

The Start of Something New...

I'm always brainstorming new things to do with my business. One of the things that I have been musing lately is the idea of blogging my recent photo sessions.  I'm going to try it out and see how it goes.  At this point in my life blogging has never been a high priority to me, but I feel like venturing out and trying it from the business perspective.  Yay, for a new adventure! I love new ideas and trying new things so hopefully this will just become one more thing that I enjoy!  I like the idea of blogging after each photo session because first off it gives me an opportunity to brag a little bit about the awesome people that I just had the opportunity to meet and work with and it also lets whoever may be reading this to get to know a little bit more about me! Check back soon for photos from my recent Engagement Session with Matt and Kristi!

I am obviously not much of a blogger...

So as you can see I am not so great at updating this.  In fact I didn't even post about our last few days in Africa, and I have yet to post my photos on Facebook!  So yes, needless to say I am a little behind!  Looking back on our trip to Africa, I have a few thoughts that summarize what God has shown and reminded me of through the experience:
                 1.  We are incredibly blessed in America
                 2.   When there is a hunger for more of God, he is going to meet the expectation with his presence,                   he won't ignore our needs!
                 3.  Our actions often make more of an impact than what we say.
                 4.  No one, and no ministry is perfect.  
                 5.  When you think about the future,  expect great things because God loves to blow up the little box that we put him in.

So those are a few of the main things that I have learned through this incredible journey.  We are still hearing reports from Africa about people who were healed and about churches becoming dead to religion and on fire for the King of Kings.  In a lot of the reports we are hearing back, they keep saying we can't believe the authority and fire that us women carried.  They were so amazed that Natalie and I could minister to people and weren't afraid.  It is typical for them to think that women do not have the capacity to minister, but we were able to shake that mentality up a bit.  It's funny because we thought of it as being as normal thing for us to be involved in the ministry  when there it was something extraordinarily.  We will never be able to know how much of an impact we had, but it's exciting to be used by God and anticipate what he has in the future!

Our Journey Thus Far: March 12th

This morning we didn't do a whole lot, there was not a morning service because they ended yesterday.  We ended up only going to one the whole week, well actually Mom and Dad went to two.  I didn't mind not going because the benches were so incredibly uncomfortable, and it gave us extra time to sleep.  It is weird how our bodies react to jet lag, it is going to be interesting coming back because we will gain 5 hours.  If it wouldn't be daylight savings time in America we would gain 6 hours.  They don't have daylight savings time here.  So we walked to the seamstress to check on our dresses but she didn't have them done yet, so she told us to come back later in the afternoon.  She called then and told us that she would have them ready at 6:30 tomorrow (Sunday) morning since we wanted to have them for church.  Then a man from church picked us up and we went to his house.  I still haven't learned his name!  I feel so bad for just referring to him as a man.  But anyways it was a very, very bumpy ride there.  I don't know if I have mentioned yet but the roads are in awful condition here.  The ones that are paved have potholes half the size of cars everywhere.  Which results in weaving all around the road to avoid them. So often times people are driving on the wrong side of the road..or the middle of the road.  They don't really pay any attention to the lines either, in America a road that we would use for a two way road, they use the same size road for 4 or 5 rows of cars weaving everywhere.  Sometimes you hit other cars but you just keep going if it's not too bad.  It's kinda like bumper cars at the fair, or at least that is what it reminds Nat and I of. haha  The roads that aren't paved can be even more fun because they are mostly on hills and have deep ravines carved into them from the heavy rain.  There have been quite a few times when we have been going to church that our bus has slid around in the mud.  So back to going to the family from church's house.  So we arrived at the house (they have open sewers here by the way) and we walked back this little alley over some sort of liquid...water? sewage?  I couldn't tell, either way it smelled bad.  Then the man's wife came running out and hugged us all as well as their one daughter.  They welcomed us inside to their living room.  They had a couch and a few tables there.  So we sat down and then they gave us some fruit salad and crackers to eat.  Their hospitality was amazing, in America people would be so ashamed to have people over if they lived in a place like that.  We have barns and tool sheds that are way more elaborate.  But, these people were so thrilled that we came, and we were thrilled to have been invited!  The father told us that he wanted us to see what the inside of a middle class African house was like since we have been staying at the missionary compound.  It was definitely and eye-opener.  Then he took us to the evening service at church.  It was once again very awesome!  Probably about 300 more people came to Jesus! Yay!  Then the Bishop spoke, his message was called The Second Wave.  It was about what happens after people begin to press in for more of God, and about expanding the vision for the church, as well as the times and seasons of God.   I took 3 notebook pages front and back of notes, so it is kind of hard to just summarize in a few sentences.  But just to explain, the first wave carries a breaking anointing and opens new territory, it makes a way where there is none.  Then the second wave redefines the vision of what God has begun, it accomplishes more than the first, it renews the burnt-out and the next generation takes the front line.  The changing between the first and second wave marks the beginning of a new season.  People can't be satisfied with where they are in God, they can't be happy with just the way things are, if they want to grow!  So I don't know if that makes sense to you reading it, but it really was an awesome, challenging message.  God is doing huge things in this church here! I can't wait to come home and see what all he does in our church!

Our Journey Thus Far: March 11th

So once again this morning we didn't go to the morning service, this morning we didn't go because a family from church wanted to take us to a restaurant for lunch.  So we slept in and then our driver arrived to take us to the restaurant.  We arrived at the restaurant and it was surrounded by beautiful gardens and was an outdoor type restaurant.  I can't wait to show you all some photos!  We waited, and waited, and waited a while longer for the family to come.  Eventually they did, it so happened that our driver had taken us to the wrong restaurant!  We ate there anyways.  It was extremely nice, even in American terms it was a nice restaurant as far as atmosphere.  The food was alright, but not anything to brag a whole lot about.  We tried some ginger juice, which was the most interesting tasting stuff ever.  It would be good for someone who was sick but I don't know why anyone would want to drink it for enjoyment.  If any of you have ever tasted pure ginger root, it taste exactly like that only in thick liquid form.   I think the family who took us out was a little disappointed our driver had taken us to the wrong place because the other restaurant had much better food.  Oh by the way the family members who took us out were Jack and his wife Christine and then their son Israel who I am guessing was probably around Nat or I's age.  We also finally learned our driver's name!  His name is Matthew! Tomorrow we have been invited to go visit a family from church's house, the man(I can't remember his name!) is very excited for us to see it. He says the live like the Chinese in very small quarters with people and children everywhere.  After we got back from the restaurant we got ready for the evening service and then off we went.  Pastor Robinson preached the first half of the service and probably almost 200 more people came forward to accept Jesus!  Yay! So that was once again very exciting.  Then Bishop Jack got up to preach (I'm not really sure why he is called a Bishop?  Or what that even means?) he is so full of the Holy Ghost and he gave an awesome message on spirits that influence the church as a whole.  He spoke about; the Jezebel spirit,which is the spirit of witchcraft or control, It removes you from the place that God has assigned to you.(1 Kings 19 & 21)  The Absolam spirit, which the spirit of pride that cuts you off of God, it is a spirit of having false humility. (2 Samuel 15)  The Ahithophel spirit which is a critical spirit and has more faith in self than in God. (2 Samuel 15,16 & 17) The Shimel spirit which is a tribal spirit that is envious of leadership. (1 King 2:8, Genesis 38, 2 Samuel 5-7)  The final spirit that he spoke on was the Adonijah spirit which is the spirit that takes advantage of passive leadership and  excludes the prophetic giftings. (1 King 1) It was such an awesome message!  God is really moving in this church here, it is so exciting to see the transformation even in the little time that we have been here!   I can't wait to see what God continues to do!

Our Journey Thus Far: March 10th

So today we once again didn't go to the morning service.  We thought someone was going to come pick us to go shopping again, since we didn't go long yesterday.  But, Elizabeth tried to call the guy and couldn't get a hold of them.  Christy came over, I don't know if I have mentioned her yet in these posts but she is from Michigan and with Wycliff Translators and she is a long term missionary here.  She has been living here for over 7 years, she is fairly young and people keep mistaking her and I for sisters because we both have blondish curly hair and are white!   Anyways she came over and then we (Nat, Elizabeth, Christy and I) walked over to the Missionary Kid school here in Yaounde.  It was pretty nice, especially considering it's surroundings.  It is run by the same people who run where we are staying so it is very safe and is surround by a wall with a guard.  There were only two classrooms, because it is just Elementary children and the classes are small because there really aren't that many missionary kids.  Christy was telling me that I should think about coming back over here after I graduate and teach in the MK school for like a year or something.  But that is something that I would have to pray A LOT about before making a decision! It would definitely be quite the experience!  After looking around at the school we hired a taxi and went downtown.  We had said that we wanted to get traditional African dresses, and Christy told us that she could take us to the material store and then maybe we could get someone to make us  a dress from the material because she does it all the time.  So we went and picked some material, some for Nat and I and then some for Mom and Dad.  Later we took it too a seamstress who lives right down the road from where we are staying. We got to pick what we wanted the top and the bottom of the dress to be like and then she measured us.  It was a fun experience! Mom and Dad were sleeping while we got fitted so then later we walked down with them and they decided on what they wanted.  I gave the seamstress candy and she was thrilled, she asked me if I had more.  She only spoke French so that made the experience more interesting!  Thankfully Christy was along the first time and Elizabeth was along for the second.  The evening service was as good as it normally is, I counted about 85 more people who accepted Jesus! So that was exciting.  Then Pastor Robinson prophesied over a bunch of people.  Tomorrow a pastor is coming from Nigeria who we heard at Pastor Robinson's church a few months ago.  We are excited to hear him again!

Our Journey Thus Far: March 9th

So we were going to sleep in this morning and not go to the service but some guy from the church showed up to take us shopping, we had talked about going but then we thought that we weren't going to.  So anyways we rushed around and off we went.  First we had to get our money exchanged, that was an interesting experience in itself.  We drove up to this store, which really wasn't much of a store.  All the "stores" here are like storage sheds all set beside together.  So they are very tiny.  Well we went there and we gave the guy who was driving us,  the money we wanted to exchange so he took it in.  He had to barter to get an exchange price, which we thought was strange.  So after some other person from church came and picked up Dad to take him to meet Pastor Robinson so they could go to the hospital to pray for a lady who had cancer.  Which they ended up not going to anyways because it was going to take to long to drive there in traffic.  The guy who was driving Mom, Nat and I asked what we wanted to buy and we said maybe some African jewelry.  So we drove around for a while looking for a place that sold jewelry.  Some of the places were kind of scary that we drove through I would have been afraid to get out.  We drove around downtown for a while which wasn't too bad, we saw the Hilton hotel which is one of the very few things they have that is American.  If we weren't staying here at the Missionary compound we would stay there.  But, we are much safer here.  It's weird there are no fast food restaurants here not even downtown.  We figured they might have a McDonald's but they don't.  They have places that are equivalent to fast food in America, but I wouldn't really say they are too equivalent.  They look kinda sketchy to me. haha  We finally ended up at the section where the Artisans sell their things.  As soon as we stepped out of the car people were yelling "Hi!" and "Come over here!"  We just stayed with the man who drove us, I really wish I knew his name! haha It was nice to have him because he did all the talking and bartering.  While we were in the downtown area we saw a lot of crippled people along the roads.  It was so sad.  Some were on little pieces of wood with little wheels moving around by pushing with their arms.  We also saw a man begging for money who had a huge growth covering half of his face.  It was awful.  You could only see one eye, half his nose, and half his mouth.  The evening service was good, like normal. Probably about 80 more people came to Jesus! Praise God! and Pastor Robinson's sister tried to teach Natalie and I how to dance like Africans.  Each tribe in Africa has a different dance and they were doing a bunch of them last night, it was so cool!   Almost everyone came to the front at the end for group deliverance, it went well and more people were set free! yay Praise God!  The services are supposed to end in the evening at 9:00 but we didn't get home till 11:30.  So we ate dinner after we got home. My family hasn't been eating a whole lot because the past few days for a few different reasons.  The one morning we had a meat, potato, and vegetable stew for breakfast and then they left it set out on the table all day long and they served it again for dinner.  Needless to say we didn't eat any of it.  They also have been eating a lot of this green shredded stuff that is cooked, they say it is like cooked spinach but I think it smells and looks like chopped alfafa. haha The pineapple is really good here, so we have been enjoying that.   One day we had peanut soup over rice, that was actually pretty good.  There has been a lot of rice in general, which has been good too.

Our Journey Thus Far: March 8th

We went the the morning service this morning.  It was really long and we had to sit on wooden benches with straight backs, not really the most comfortable seating ever. haha It was kind of hard to understand what the speaker was saying because the translator kept getting confused.  The crowd kept having to correct the translator which was pretty funny.  It would be so nice to understand french!  Maybe someday if we come back, I will be able to learn till then!  After the service we came back the compound and rested.  

The evening service was a lot of fun.  Worship was really good, and there was a lot of dancing.  Nat and I even danced some! haha Pastor Robinson finished his message on the resurrection.  Which I must say was very good, he definitely emphasized how it applies to us today.  Then there was an invitation for people to who wanted to accept God to come forward.  I haven't tried to count the people in my pictures yet but there were probably 125 at least!  Yay!  It's so exciting that so many people are committing their lives to Jesus!  My guess is that somewhere between 475-575 people have accepted Jesus!  I love the way they follow up the commitments here; they have counselors from each of the sections of town come to the front and then call the name of the section and then the people go to that counselor and they will have them as a mentor.  I think its so cool because the point of sharing Jesus isn't to just get a big number of converts, it is for people to have transformed lives living having a relationship with the one who loves them more than anyone in this world!  The counselors really have the opportunity to help along the new believers.  After that Pastor Robinson called forward those who needed prayer for healing.  It seemed like everyone in the place tried to come to the front.  A bunch of people were healed, a few came up onto the stage and shared about what they were feeling.  One girl came up who had malaria, she said that she has been feeling really sick recently and that she had just accepted Jesus the night before.  When we prayed for healing she said the pain left! So Praise God!  Another that I remember was that a girl had an infection in her legs and couldn't walk without a crutch.  She also had just accepted Jesus and she shared that she wanted to get on her knees when she accepted him, but it hurt too much when she tried.  Well she walked the whole way up onto the stage without her crutch.  She was jumping around! It was so awesome!  At the very end of the service there were a few girls in chairs who couldn't walk, so we went over and prayed for them.  I'm not sure why they couldn't walk, the one girl regained strength in her legs and was walking around and standing by the time we left.  Natalie also had the opportunity to pray for a little girl who had AIDs and a heart condition.  It is so sad seeing all of the sick children here, we are so blessed in America to have vaccines and good medical care.  It's hard to not feel guilty about what we have in America.  We have so much excess.  For example, they don't have any sort of grocery store here.  There are tons of little food vendors along the road and that is it.  One lady who is on the ministry team with us is from Nigeria and she was asking me about America and what we normally eat there.  I honestly had trouble thinking of one thing that is in a majority of our meals because we have so many options and can have whatever we want.  When we were coming home from the service this evening, we were in the bus and Nat was sitting by a window and it was open.  We stopped and some guy reached in and touched her arm and said something in French.  We were like what?? and then the bus kept driving.  So that was interesting, it may sound really scary but it was actually more funny than scary.  I have been taking a lot of photos and can't wait to share them.  Our internet here is sort of slow so I will wait till we get back to the states.

Our Journey Thus Far: March 7th

Natalie and I were exhausted when we woke up this morning, so we didn't go to the morning service today.  The morning services this week is actually a school for people to learn more specific things about deliverance, healing, generational curses etc.  So Nat and I slept for a while and then we finally were able to find the person who is in charge of giving internet accounts! Woohoo! We are so thrilled to have internet and be able to keep people updated on some of the things happening here!  It poured the rain in the afternoon, and when I say poured I really mean poured!  It didn't really last that long though.  Around 4:00 we headed off for the evening church service.  Pastor Robinson told Nat and I yesterday that he wanted to us to share our testimonies at the evening service tonight.  We knew prior to coming that we were to share but we just didn't know which day.  He also asked if we wanted to sing. We said that we would.  So we arrived to church and the ground was so muddy from the rain.  The dirt here is more like clay and it is very red.  Our bus got stuck in the mud on the way up the hill to the church because the road isn't paved or anything.  So we had to walk a little ways from the bus to the church.  Our shoes got covered in the thick mud, thankfully they had an outside facet that we used to scrub most of the mud off.  Worship was fun like usual, I love watching everyone dance.  They get like really really into it.  It's so fun!  Nat videoed some of it, so maybe once we get back to the states I will post a video for you all to see!  As soon as Pastor Robinson got up to preach he called Nat and I up to do our song.  We did The More I Seek You, and Nat played the church keyboard.  We sat down and then Pastor Robinson called me up again, cause he wanted me to pray.  I think the church was a little surprised that a young, American, white girl could pray so loudly...I don't say that to brag in any form.  Those of you that know me well, understand what I am saying.  That is just how the Holy Spirit moves on me. God is so good, and I love him so much and he never ceases to amaze me.  Eventually Pastor Robinson preached on religious strongholds and the power of the resurrection.  God  continued to lead the service and Nat and I ended up not sharing our testimonies.   But, we definitely will sometime! I think over 50 people came to the Lord last night which was awesome! and then everyone came towards the front and we did group deliverance.  So that pretty much sums up a lot of what happened here today!

Our Journey Thus Far: March 6th

So I am trying to keep these posts short and to the point that way you all can stay updated but we will still have plenty to share when we return!  This morning breakfast was at 7:00 because we had to be at the church at 8:00.  We arrived at the church, and I can’t say that I have ever felt so white in my life!  People just stared.  It was kind of funny.  We were the only white people in the service, except we did see one other white man. There were of course people everyone, the church itself was a cement building that seemed very unfinished on the outside.  Inside different parts were finished but others not.  It is very different from a typical American church.  Even a plain American church is more ornate that here.  The seating consists of plastic lawn type chairs and wooden benches.  The church holds about 7,000 people and there were people standing.  It was so packed today!  That is where we will be having the rest of the week’s evening services, they wanted to rent a stadium or sports complex but the president wouldn’t grant them permission because it is a religious function.  A Sunday of church is much different than in America, there was much more prayer but many different people and it lasted from 8:00-4:00.   It was an awesome service today and God really showed up in powerful ways.  Pastor Robinson preached and a lot of people came up to the front for salvation.  I am guessing 400-500, it was hard to guess because they were all standing so close together and the stage is fairly large.  Many people were also delivered and set free from bondage.  Our God is an awesome God!!!  I can't wait to see what happens at the services during the rest of the week!  It was extremely hot in the church, we were so hot and sweaty.  Most people here don’t wear deodorant or perfume so you can imagine the aroma...

Our Journey Thus Far: March 5th

So after leaving the airport we rode to John and Hannah’s house.  There we had breakfast and met a bunch of people.  Hannah has been preparing all of our meals so far. Most of which haven’t been that different from American.  Or maybe I shouldn’t say different from America but different  from things that I have tried before.  Like we have had French bread for breakfast almost every morning, only here they eat bread which chocolate sauce on.  And we have had a lot of rice with vegetables and fruit.  After breakfast we drove a little ways and arrived at where we will be staying for most of our time here.  It is a missionary compound, with little houses on it.  It has a wall surrounding it and has guards that watch, so it is very safe!  Which we are grateful for! I would be afraid to stay in many of the areas that we passed through.  There is a lot of unfinished architecture here; especially big houses.  They are the only big houses around though.  They have the mentality that once is livable or usable that there is no need to continue doing anything like painting etc.  Driving on the roads is interesting but that can be expected with most foreign countries.  Just honk the horn and it’s ok to pass on both sides.  There are people always walking everywhere on and around the road.  After settling in here at teh missionary compound, Nat and I went in search of some internet service here, and after talking with the guards Olive and Ramon several times we finally figured out that you can only sign up for the internet in the office on weekdays.  The rest of the day we rested and caught up on much needed sleep.

Our Journey Thus Far: March 4th

Brussels, Belgium was a pretty dreary place, or at least from what we saw of it.  The weather was kind of foggy and cold.  Our flight for Yaounde, Cameroon was scheduled to leave at 10:50 am, But we boarded the plane and sat there for several hours.  We could not take off they said because there was a problem, it wasn’t till almost 3:00pm that they told us we would be switching planes.  The plane that we originally were on was having a major computer malfunction.  It is a miracle that they discovered the problem before we took off or we would have been stuck in the air with no way to land.  We got off and had to go back through security and then our flight was scheduled to leave at 5:00pm.  We didn’t board our next plane till after 6:00, and didn’t leave till after 7:00pm.  The plane was to make two stops the one was farther South than Yaounde, and for some reason we stopped there before coming to Yaounde.  We arrived here around 2:30 in the morning.  It was definitely a moment of rejoicing after our long ride here!  But we thank God that we remained safe and in his good hands.   When we arrived in Cameroon there were a lolt of people waiting for us.  Everyone was so welcoming and wide awake at so early in the morning!  The weather was amazing and so warm! 

Our Journey Thus Far: March 3rd

So We headed to the airport around 1:00, Uncle Robin drove us.   Chevy ended up coming along even though he hadn’t been planning it, but it was nice to have him along.  So we were about to the airport when we all started to notice signs for BWI when we were going to Dulles.  I thought maybe Dulles was near BWI?  We soon realized we were at the wrong airport, so we re-routed and headed towards Dulles. We actually arrived there before Pastor Robinson and Elizabeth.  It turned out that the vehicle with their luggage also went to BWI rather than Dulles! It was pretty obvious the enemy was trying to discourage us.  But we remained optimistic.  My family checked our bags and went through security, boarded the plane and we waited a while because Pastor Robinson and Elizabeth didn’t come.  We were kind of afraid they might have had some trouble in security.  A few minutes before the plane was to take off, they boarded.  We were very relieved, we didn’t want to be flying to Africa not knowing who we were meeting or anything.  Our flight left at 6:02 and we arrived in Brussels at 1:25 American time and it was 6:25 am in Brussels time.

I couldn't have imagined...

that I would be going to Africa a few years ago.  Especially on a missions trip, isn't Africa scary and dangerous and for like lifetime missionaries?  That isn't for me.  But, things have changed since then...majorly.  God has transformed me and my family forever.  It was in March almost 4? years ago, that God made himself so real to me.  He delivered me from so much.  Now here we are March 2011 and about to leave to go to Africa with the same Pastor that came and ministered at the services that changed my life forever.  Who could fathom what has transpired from a few evening church revival services?  Who would have known that we would become such friends with the Fondong family?  Who would have guessed we would be ministering at a conference with thousands of people in Cameroon Africa?  Well, I certainly couldn't have guessed it.  But I know someone who did, God knew when we were created the plans that he had for us.  Through every trial that  has came and gone, he has known the plan that he has in store for each one of us.  And its not particular to just my family, or pastors, or people that go to church.  God has a plan for each and every person on this planet, its just our choice to accept him and walk in plan.

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."