In about 22 hours I will be on a plane flying over the Ocean to Cali! I will then spend 11 hours in LAX chillin there, enjoying my last in n out burger for the next 3 months. From LA we will be flying out to London where we'll have a day and a half before our next flight, which will be to Kenya. After spending about 7 hours there we will finally fly to our destination!

Freaking A. I'm so stoked. It's finally here. The last 3 months have flown by like crazy. I can't believe we're doing it! All of the preparation is about to be applied. All of the ways that God has completely destroyed me and rebuilt me are about to be used. All of the ways that my life has been changed are about to be shared with people. Man, it's crazy to think about.

The more I think about outreach, the more I realize how faithful God is. Had you asked me 8 months ago what I would be doing around Christmas time I woulda responded "nothin special." Man, would I of been wrong. I'm 20 years old and moving to Africa. This is getting real. I'm not going on a missions trip. This isn't a trip out there to help people and then come back...I'm moving there. For the next 3 months it will be my home, it will be my culture, it will be my life. So crazy.

God is so faithful to come through on things. It's funny to look back on all of the little things that have happened that I never really thought about but have led up to this moment. From me losing my scholarship within days of getting accepted to DTS to God telling me that it wasn't the time for a mission trip (last summer) there have been so many ways that he's prepared me for this upcoming trip. There have been so many ways that he's molded me in such a way that has made me ready for this.

Had I tried to go out and do this being the person I was 3 months ago I have no doubt in my mind that it would have tanked. God's done so much in my life to prepare me for this. Some examples:
-Wrecking the religious mindset I had on my relationship with God.
-Blowing up the box that I had him in.
-Breaking off fear of man
-Breaking off anxiety
-Destroying my frustrations with the church as a whole
-Humbling me.
-Bringing me to a place of complete surrender to him.
-Actually relying on him, not myself.
-Teaching me what simple obedience looks like.

All things that were completely different in me before I came.

It's absolutely insane to think about. Since coming to DTS, I feel like I've become a completely different person. I'm 100% different from who I was on arrival day, yet I'm still the same. My mindset has completely shifted, but I'm still the same me. I'm still the same Josh Morrison. That hasn't changed. My outlook on life may have changed, but who I am didn't change.

I think that's one of the biggest ways that God has rocked me. For the longest time I looked at going completely and 100% in on the whole christianity thing would make me turn into someone I'm not. I felt like if every area of my life was revolving around Jesus then I would turn into someone who was so religious that they never had fun, that they never told jokes or laughed at things, that people wouldn't be able to relate to them. Man, was I wrong. God's totally wrecked me and captured my life, yet I'm still me. He's not in the business of changing who we are...he's in the business of using the person he designed to do amazing things. God made me the way he did for a reason. He made me to be musical...he made me to tell stupid jokes that, 90% of the time, aren't funny. He made me to be super sarcastic. He made me to have all of the qualities that I have because he is a creative God. We are all completely unique...and he's made us to all be our own person. He doesn't want to form us into something we're not, which is so awesome because that means he wants to use what he's made. Man, that's rocked my world to realize that. It's rocked my world to realize how much Jesus wants to use me. I know this may sound like common sense, but it's one of those things that we can claim to know for our whole lives but once it actually clicks it radically changes you. Man, God's so good.

I just wanted to write this one last message as an encouragement to all of you. God wants to do amazing things with you that you can't even imagine. He wants to absolutely demolish the box you have him in on what he can do and do crazier things than we can even picture. He wants to run with you and your passions, afterall, he put those passions in you! He wants to partner with you to create amazing things. Simply let him love you and love him back and the craziness can ensue!

I probably won't be able to post very much while we're over there. From what I hear there are some internet cafe's so I will try to get on every once in a while to let everyone know I'm still alive and maybe share a couple of stories. I may be able to check my email every once in a while so if you want to shoot me a message that'd be awesome! joshmmorrison@yahoo.com is where you can send that!

You all mean so very much to me! I am incredibly thankful for all of the prayers and support that you've given me. I can't wait to sit down with each one of you and tell you about the craziness that went down over there!

Much Love