Hello Again!

Hey Y'all!

Wow! It has been a while since I have written a blog! Sorry bout that! :)

My sophomore year at Co-Lin is in full swing, and the semester is halfway over already! Around 5 more weeks of school left, then Christmas break! That's insane. It won't be long until I'll be graduating!

Backing up a little bit, y'all know that I spent the whole summer in the Philippines loving on babies and discipling staff members there, and sharing the Gospel at local places there like a hospital. It was such a new and amazing experience for me! God showed me so much this summer, and I was so blessed by the experiences.

I've learned to truly study the Word to not only know myself, but to teach others.
I've learned more about sharing the Gospel.
I've learned that missions is not just going overseas, but sharing the Gospel wherever your feet go. 
I've learned that I am beyond blessed to have an aunt and uncle to take care of me in my situation, when there are babies and children who have no one...
I've learned that I am blessed to have the nourishment I need to survive, when there are children who can't have that, and may not live to be 5...
I've learned to pray more and more during each day.
I've learned (and still learning) how to be content with what I have.
I've learned this life is not about me, but life is about knowing God and making Him known to others and to live for Him; doing everything for Him.

I am so thankful for the opportunity that I was given to serve in the Philippines.
Since I've been back, there is no denying that I left a piece of my heart in the Philippines. The staff became like my family, the other volunteers I met there were absolutely amazing and became great friends, and I fell in love with a child there who I probably will never see again. It was so hard adjusting back to everything in America. Now I look for opportunities on campus to share the Gospel, as well as mission opportunities. I want to do things for God now more than ever before.
IT IS NOT AN ACCIDENT THAT YOU ARE WHERE YOU ARE TODAY! LOOK AROUND! SOMEONE NEEDS GOD!

Below I have a video of just a glimpse of what I experienced this summer. Fill free to watch! :)

So school! Let me tell ya about that a little!

I am interning for my youth pastor at my church this year and I love it so far! Getting so much experience that I'll need in the future and I'm so thankful for this opportunity! I'm on the BSU (Ministry on campus here) leadership team and I serve as the Missions coordinator which is so cool because I get to talk about missions and encourage people to GO! Which as y'all know I can't get enough of! I'm still the bible study leader for the junior high girls at my church and they are so sweet and I love them so much! I'm busy with church and BSU activities majority of the time, but it's so awesome and fun! So blessed! I can't thank God enough for the new opportunities that He's given me.

Here are some pics from this semester!

^starting being back in the states off with helping out my church with the back to school retreat.

^first BSU of the year with my roommate.

^some new friends!

^teaching youth one night

^having the opportunity to share what God did this summer to the BSU, my church, my youth group, and another youth group. God is awesome!

^ I'm an intern!

^Trailblazing it up!

^Promoting missions and leading a missions bible study with some students on campus!

God is so amazing and I'm so thankful! Thank y'all for praying for me this summer, and please continue to pray for me during school!

Show Love. Be Love.

Tonya, :)

Summer is Here!

Hey Everyone!

So, I've been out of school for about 2 weeks now, and I have been bored, entertained, sad, happy, just about all of the emotions you have when you get out of school for the summer.

I miss Co-Lin, I miss my friends who graduated this year already, and I miss the same routine. After staying at the dorms for 10 whole months and the only time you ever came home was on holidays and weekends, and not to mention during the holidays I was never really home-I always was either away doing something with the youth in my church or on mission trips or spending time with my best friend who lives in Yazoo City. 

So now being at home all the time and not really being busy like I was during the school year, it's hard to not get a little aggravated when I'm not doing something all the time. But I know it's good that I'm not doing much because I leave a week from Thursday to go to orientation in Rainsville, AL (which is training for the mission trip we go on), then on June 3 I leave from there to serve in the Philippines! It's the time that I'm preparing for my trip and taking time to pray and reading some material to get me prepared for my trip. 

I ask that y'all please pray for me for the rest of my time here at home that I'll stop getting so aggravated and that God will help me prepare my heart in the right way.

However, I will be leaving tomorrow to spend a few days with my best friend in Yazoo City one last time before I leave for the summer. I'll come back Saturday, have church Sunday, have 2 days to pack, then go to my church one last time that Wednesday night before I leave. 

Here on some pics from the ending of my freshman year...

^Bro. Bruce (our BSU director) had a BSU party at his house for this year's and next year's leadership teams. It was so fun and I can't wait to serve next year!

^this pic was from my last day at Co-Lin with the best friends that I made that this year. They all mean so much to me and I'll miss them next year.

^These 3 girls graduated and are leaving me next year. I'm so proud of them, and I'm going to miss them very much.

^material I have been reading. 2 down, 1 to go.

I'll try to squeeze in one more blog before I leave for the summer. Love y'all.

Show Love. Be Love.

Tonya, :)

Freshman Year is About to End!

Hey y'all!

I haven't wrote in over a month, so I thought I'd update y'all on what's been going on!

So on March 29th-30th, the Will Graham Celebration was held at Mississippi College free of charge and everyone was welcomed! They had 6 bands that played that weekend: Matthew West, The Afters, Paul Baloche, Rhett Walker Band, Canton Jones, and Tedashii! Speaker was Will Graham (Billy Graham's grandson). Altogether of those nights, 200+ people received Christ into their lives! It was an such fun time of worship and a great coming together of Christ. The last night, Matthew West was  going to be leading worship, so I brought along some youth girls from my church and they had a blast and we were able to meet him! Such a great weekend!

^the youth girls and I

^Matthew West!

I had he awesome opportunity to meet Callie Cole, a girl who has an amazing testimony, and her family helps sponcer students going on mission trips. I'm very thankful that I was one of many scholar recipients! They helped me get closer to the Philippines and I'm very blessed for that!

^Callie Cole and me!

^I received a certificate from Callie's Missions for serving, and it was presented to my by my youth pastor and Zion Hill.

On April 5th, Zion Hill youth went to go see Kari Jobe and Rend Collective live at Pinelake Baptist Church in Brandon! It was such an amazing time of worship. Kari Jobe is such an inspirational person and really gets into the Word. Rend Collective was very entertaining!

April 11th-13th was LTC (Leadership Training Conferenece) and Missions Orientation weekend! All of the BSU summer missionaries and this years/next years BSU leadership team were required to go to this event. LTC was so fun and we learned so much. My favorite part about the weekend was missions orientation! (That's not too surprising! Haha!) That Saturday, all the BSU missionaries (130+) were all being commissioned to serve this summer. We had to stand up and say our name, where we go to school, and where we were going that summer. After that was over, all the summer missionaries went to Camp Garyway for orientation. We learned so much about what to expect when we all go to our mission locations, and we had time to really reflect and remember why we are going to where we are going. I got to meet one of the girls that will be serving on my team this summer, and she is also the team leader! Her name is Katie and she is a junior at MSU. We were able to get to know one another, and talk about the Philippines together. I am very excited to serve with her. I met some amazing new people, and I get to see many of them again when I go to orientation in Rainsville, AL on May 29th! 

^this years and next years BSU leadership teams for Colin!

^being commissioned!

^me and Maura! Colin summer missionaries!

^Katie!

Colin just had Spring Fling! So here's some pics from that week!

This past weekend, we had a girls night out at the church for the youth girls at Zion Hill. It was a great time of worship, fellowship, and unity. I love these girls.

I only have 5 more class days here at Colin, and I've gotta say, I'm not loving it too much! My freshman year in college has went by wayyyy to fast, and I have made so many new friends who are graduating and leaving us. It's going to be so strange not seeing them every single day next year, but I know that we have made friendships that will last a lifetime. I have truly enjoyed my first year here. When August comes I'll be in my last year of Colin! A sophomore! I can't believe how much time is flying by!

Just a little over a month, I'll be headed to the Philippines! I'm so ready for God to use me! I'm ready to serve! He has been preparing me for months now for this trip, and I'm ready to GO. 

I ask that y'all will pray for me as I finish out these last few days here at school. Almost there!

Thanks!

Be Love. Show Love.

-Tonya, :)

Can I Just Say, God is Absolutely Amazing?!

Hey guys!

It's been a while since I've written a blog! Last time I talked to y'all, it was in January all about Passion Conferenece 2014! Well since then, so much has been going on and Gos has been keeping me blessed and busy for sure! I couldn't thank Him more for that! 

February 17th, the BSU held a Missions Banquet for the missionaries going away this summer! It was such a great time of fellowship and entertainment! It was a success of raising money, and all the proceeds go to myself and the other two summer missionaries in this pic you see below! Their names are Maura and Doug!  It would be awesome if you would keep them in prayer as we all prepare and get ready to leave for our missions in 2 months!

Maura-India

Doug-Indonesia

Me-Philippines

We also had an awesome Disciple Now (D-Now) this year! It was all of the Copiah County area! February 21st-23rd, our D-Now was takin place at First Baptist Church of Hazlehurst, and it was an incredible weekend full of fellowship, worship, and having fun together as a huge group of Christians! We had Landon Dowden as the pastor for the weekend, and also Jared Smith as the worship leader, and they were amazing! I had the awesome opportunity to be a D-Now leader for the very first time! Me and a girl I met named Reed were the junior high girls leaders for that weekend, and we had a blast serving! That Saturday, we had a time of missions, and for our missions, our church helped go and clean an elderly lady's (from our church) house! Our group came together in an awesome way that weekend, and I believe it helped us grow a lot more closer! That Sunday morning, our group finished off D-Now at our home church, Zion Hill Baptist, and it was all youth lead!  This D-Now was definitely worth going to!

^Reed and I with our junior high girls!

^Zion Hill Baptist Church group!

February 27th was Shine A Light On Slavery Day! 

((If you don't know much about that, visit www.enditmovement.com ))

That day, we all put huge red X's on our hands, and help build awareness to the slavery issue when people ask what that red X means. The night before, I showed the youth group at my church a short movie about slavery. Once I explained to them what the plan was for the 27th, we all put X's on our hands and took a pic, to show the world that we were "In It To End It!" Building awareness to the situation. Pic below!

The next day, lots of people were telling me that putting X's wasn't going to stop slavery, and I do understand that. But building awareness to let people know about the issue, helps them to become known to the fact, and will encourage then to give financially to any of the organizations who are able to go and rescue these slaves trapped. We can't help them, but the organizations such as End It Movement, IJM, Poloris Project, Love 146, etc., can help free these slaves all around the world when we can't! Awareness helps people know!

Also that day, me and 3 of the youth and my boyfriend traveled to Tupelo, MS to go to WinterJam! WinterJam is a tour that had 10 artists, and 1 speaker! They were absolutely amazing! It was an awesome time of gathering together with other Christians!

The awesome thing about that night also, we saw so many people wearing the red X's on their hands! WinterJam helped let everyone know about slavery that night! Here's a pic they posted that night!

Recently, something awesome happened! In the beginning of this year, I applied for the BSU leadership team for the year 2014-2015! So many people applied, and I honestly didn't think I had the chance to get a spot. I just tried to keep thinking, "God, if You want me to be a part of this, You'll have Your way. But if not, it's not part of Your plan for my life. You've got this." When the BSU pastor messaged me that night asking me if I would be the missions coordinator for next year, I almost cried. My passion for missions, is expanding even more! Of course I said yes! God blessed me with this position, and I can't wait to serve! I can't wait to talk to students next year about missions and why they should go!

Finally, spring break! For spring break this year, I traveled with the BSU for a mission trip in Martin, TN to help a church called Hope Church! (I'm traveling from there now!) all I can say from this week is wow! God is so amazing! At the church, we helped repaint walls, redo flooring, replace some parts of ceilings, added new additions to to he sanctuary, built a railing for a balcony, repaired stairs, fixed the kitchen, and dining area called the "Kill A Cow Cafe", and so much more!

We finished all of our work in 3 days! Thursday, we went door to door inviting people to the church for free BBQ, worship, and fellowship! It was an awesome turnout! I couldn't have been more blessed to have met the people at Hope Church and their love for Christ. They truly are a real church who welcomes anyone and everyone! Along with BSU people, Clear Branch Baptist Church joined with us, and we all got along so week! We all had so much unity and God was just working in awesome ways with all of us! I wouldn't have traded this week for anything!

1 Corinthians 15:58 NLT
"So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless."

God has been showing his faithfulness to me so much lately! It's crazy! I couldn't be more thankful! I've been learning that if I stay faithful to God, and follow His way, He will lead me in the right directions in life. Pray for me as I continue to learn this!

Thanks!

Show Love. Be Love.

-Tonya, :)

Passion 2014

Hey y'all!

So last weekend (January 17-18), I had the awesome opportunity to go to the Passion Conferenece 2014! For you who don't know what that is, it's a Christian conference for college students! 

I went last year for 2013, but it was for four days whereas this one was only 2 days. At Passion 2014, we had 20,000 college students and leaders at the Phillips Arena in Atlanta to gather together in God's name! Just wow! I don't know what it is, but there is something about gathering with other Christians and only worshipping 1 God. And the students come from all over the world! It's amazing! 

We heard many new songs off of the new Passion record that will come out maybe in the spring. 

Do Something Now is a project that Passion puts on every year at their conference, and it is always something different. Lat year it was End It Movement, a movement to stop human trafficking, and this year was raising money to send bibles to Iran! The goal was to raise $250,000 to send at least 25,000 bibles to families. Well because so many students were inspired by this, Passion rose $335,000! So over 33,000 bibles are goo to families in Iran! God is so amazing! 

One thing I got out of Passion Conference, was realizing how deep it is for Jesus to had died for us. Yeah I always knew that Jesus died for us to save us from our sin, but I never just took time to really sit and meditate on it. And it seemed that's what the whole conference was about! Almost every song was about that, and 2 sermons were about that. Just to sit and think how it was OUR fault that Jesus died. It wasn't just the cross it was OUR cross! It's just so hard to think that He didn't deserve our punishment, but He took it anyways! Think about it!

Passion was amazing this year! And I can't wait for next year! 

Here are some pics from Passion 2014!

That Sunday, we were able to pass through Birmingham, AL and go to The Church At Brook Hills where David Platt preaches! It was absolutely amazing to hear him preach and was also a pleasure meeting him!

^David Platt and I

^our group visiting The Church At Brook Hills!

Thanks for reading! 

Share Love. Be Love,

-Tonya!  :)

Christmas Break and a New Year!

Hey y'all!

So my first semester of college ended, and Christmas break was here! 3 weeks away from school! Where most people would be happy about not going to school and going home to their families for the holidays, I was thinking, "Home? I love it here at Colin and I don't want to go to back home!" I love my family, but I see them every weekend and they don't live hours away like many college kids do. So staying at Colin all the time isn't a big deal, I love it here! It's pretty much my home away from home! 

Christmas time isn't such a big deal to me anymore. It's great getting together with the family, but ever since my daddy passed away when I was 15, Christmas just hasn't been the same. The feelings aren't the same. I'm sure some know what I'm talking about.

The whole time I was home, I was thinking, "Man! I just want to hop on a plane and go do some missions somewhere!" China was an option for me, but the time I had heard about it, I only had 3 days to decide to go there or not. That's not a lot of time for me. So I knew that there was always next year, and I do plan on going!

For New Years Eve, my church's youth leadership team traveled to Xtreme Winter in Gatlinburg, TN for 3 days! It was an amazing experience! We say 8 amazing bands, and 4 speakers! I was also able to meet 2 different band members! AT&T he conference, we kicked off the New Year worshipping Jesus with the band Skillet band! Also as the youth leadership team, we got together to talk about things that we could do differently in the youth group and what type of missions hat we could do throughout this new year!

^the leadership team!

^one of the lead singers from the band Unhindered!

^oneof the lead singers from the band For King and Country, Joel!

^the first night at Xtreme Winter

Now I'm back at Colin, and I couldn't be happier to be back! I have a new roommate, and her name is Carlianne, and we get along great! I'm ready to see what God has in store for us! 

^me and Carlianne!

I getting ready for Passion Conference  next weekend, and getting ready to raise money for my trip to the Philippines! Mission trip over spring break, then ending the last semester of my freshman year here at Colin, then off to summer missions in the Philippines!

It'll be here before I know it!

Show Love. Be Love.

Tonya, :)