My name is Whitney and I am from Richmond, Virginia.  I am currently living in Lynchburg, Virginia because I go to Liberty University.  I am studying early childhood education and family and child development.  I really enjoy the atmosphere at Liberty because it is a Christian University.  I went to a public school my entire life, so being here is such a tremendous blessing.  However, I am extremely grateful that I had the opportunity to be around a lot of nonbelievers and I think it was to ultimately prepare me for the future. 

I love being able to spend time with my friends and just talking.  As you can tell, I love children, so I go to a local school and help with a kindergarten teacher.  I like almost every vegetable and hate almost every fruit. I love seeing new places that I haven't seen before, it continuously reminds me of how incredible our creator is.  Unfortunately, I have never been on a missions trip before nor out of the country.  Last semester I was talking to some friends about mission work and I felt God calling me to it.  I was still wanting to know if this was exactly what God was calling me to and He showed me completely.  A few days later I was talking with my RA and somehow the topic of missions came up and she told me about a trip she went on with a group called AIM a few years ago.  After that I knew I was supposed to go with this group somewhere, I just was not sure where.  As I was reading about the places, two stood out to me, Uganda and New Zealand.  I prayed and talked with my parents about where I should go and the Lord made it clear to me that I was supposed to go to New Zealand.  Now that I know this is where I am supposed to go I am so excited to see what God has planned for me!   I am honestly not very nervous about anything for this trip, which I am not sure if that is a good or bad thing (:  I am most looking forward to two entire months of growing in my relationship with God and learning so much from everyone.  I cannot wait until June 3 to meet all of you!