God encounters

Let me share with you a few encounters that have been clearly orchestrated by God...
Last spring, when I was just looking into student teaching overseas, God allowed me to meet a wonderful lady named Becky DuBois. During missions emphasis week here at Liberty (the best week of the semester), Mrs. DuBois was assigned to come and speak on my dorm hall. Little did I know that she had previously taught at Faith Academy. She encouraged my to look into it, and even suggested I go to the Mindanao campus (since I'm not used to big cities like Manila). Little did she know that I would take her advice.
The entire process of getting accepted to go has been very long and slightly complicated. I have dealt with Faith Academy, CrossWorld, and Liberty. When I figured out I had to student teach at Faith as an intern under an organization, I went first to Liberty's internship director. He immediately suggested CrossWorld and gave me contact information for a man I already knew, Glenn Kurka. I have known Mr. Kurka since I was a freshman and have even travelled with him and CrossWorld before. It was really awesome that God allowed me to work with an organization I was already familiar with.
Mr. Kurka suggested that I visit his daughter who lives in the Philippines with her family and runs a preschool, soon to be elementary school. The family also works in a church and various community outreaches. I hope to take a visit to learn about this ministry and help however I can. Such a small world!
Oh and my church, Fellowship Chapel, already supports a missionary in the Philippines, who I hope to visit as well.
Just a few weeks ago, a few CrossWorld staff including the Kurkas, invited myself and other CrossWorld affiliated people over to their house. It was a sweet time and I was excited to meet the President of CrossWorld and the Director of Mobilization. It was especially neat to meet Dale Losch, the president, because his daughter is currently at Faith Academy student teaching! She has a blog as well, which I have been keeping up with. She is not at the Mindanao campus where I will be, but it is still beneficial to hear her stories; and meeting her dad was an added bonus!
Still at the CrossWorld get-together, I was blessed to meet two freshman here at Liberty who attended Faith Academy. It was so cool! These two guys were super excited that I was going and really boosted my spirits. They gave me all kinds of advice about the school and the Philippines. Such a crazy small world!
This past Sunday night after I spoke in church, I had another God encounter. After talking with many fellow church members, I met a gentleman who had just returned from Mindanao. He just got back from the same island I'm going to! He travels there frequently, working at a church in the northern part of the island. It was very exciting to hear about the ministry, and I hope to visit there as well.
God is so amazing! These encounters are further evidence to me that God has his hand of blessing on this trip. He is orchestrating all the plans, I'm just following along! Aren't God encounters awesome?!