Meet Amanda Lepper-Our Leader

My name is Amanda (one of 3 on the trip... we are going to have to come up with code names... I've got to think of a really cool one... and if not cool, then at least highly memorable and entertaining) and I'm 32 years old.  I teach 2nd grade and am loving my job right now as it is summer vacation.  I really do love my job the rest of the year, too.  I get to love on and build relationships with kids and pour out into them as they grow with me for almost a year.  A long time ago, years actually, God pressed into me a calling to "go" wherever He called.  I struggled to fully say "yes" to that, mostly out of fear of what exactly He would ask me to do.  I know that I have been given a gift in my job... not with inordinate amounts of money, but with chunks of time; time that I can go, teach, serve... or whatever He asks and wherever He leads.  I was extraordinarily blessed to be a part of a trip from 12Stone to Mozambique over our school's Spring Break and now get to be a part of this team to Guatemala.  I'm humbled and overjoyed by the doors God has opened when I finally said "Okay, Lord... I surrender.  Where and when?" 

I am looking forward to serving alongside these amazing people on our team.  I can't wait to get to know them more.  They have already brought tremendous joy and laughter into my life and I am looking forward to taking that joy with us and pouring it out to the people we will meet in Guatemala.  Our God had definitely given me a heart for children and I am looking forward to getting to just love them and play with them and tell them about a God who thinks they are amazing and wonderful and loves them abundantly.  I am looking forward to seeing the power of God at work.  Can't wait to see what He does; for the people we will meet, for us as a team, and for me.  Thank you in advance for your prayers.  Please pray for our safety, for things to run smoothly, for the people of Guatemala... that God is preparing our hearts, and for our team... that God will move mightily in each of our lives.