Greetings! My name is Becky. 

I am from Tampa, Florida and I am a sophomore at the University of South Florida here. I am doing a double major in Music Performance (oboe) and Classics (Latin). I don’t work because I am a double time student (literally) as an attempt to graduate in less than six years. Actually, I’m not really set on graduating at all. I’ll be here until God calls me elsewhere. If that happens before I graduate, all the better. I lead a musician’s Bible study and I am a leader in Intervarsity Christian Fellowship. I am really busy with school so I don’t really have much, if any, time to kill. When I have spare time I usually sleep because I am always ready for a nap. When I do have the time I like to have comic book reading parties and analyze books and movies extensively with my twin sister, Kirby. My hobbies often revolve around catching up with her. I love reading (especially Harry Potter and comic books), drawing, painting, making pizza with my friend Kim, talking about Jesus and grace, worshipping with my friends and playing my oboe. But playing the oboe is not at all a hobby. I do not know how I am going to get through 8 weeks of not playing my oboe. It will be interesting if nothing else.  Something interesting you might like to know about me is that I teach archery. I can’t really shoot anymore because I dislocated my elbow a few years ago. There are 18 official archery awards, the last of which is American Archer, and I have only 3 left. I should be able to shoot again eventually. I also love Robin Hood. Another interesting fact: I am a beast at playing Ninja. 

As far as missions experience goes, it depends how you define missions. If we’re talking strictly going away from home for a few weeks for missions then I’ve been on three trips. But I would hardly count any of them as real experience in the mission field. Yes, when I went to Suriname for three weeks I learned a lot about evangelism and how to share the Gospel and yes, Jesus changed my life when I went to Wimauma for a week but I don’t consider any of those places the mission field to which God has called me. For the last 2 summers I have been a counselor at a Christian camp for three weeks. Everyone on staff works exhaustively to do everything we can to show the love of Christ to every girl who comes in and to make sure every one has heard the Gospel. I have seen the incredible difference made in these girls’ lives after spending just one week experiencing the love of Christ and I have been blown away countless times by the fact that God has somehow used me in that. I am going to miss camp for the first time in 13 years this summer but I am confident that God will bring me there again. The whole process for going on this trip to Africa has shown me that, more than anywhere else, God has called me to USF to minister to my peers. God has called me to Africa this summer but He is making it crystal clear that one of the main purposes is to teach me to be His witness right here at school. However, being a missionary at school can be rather difficult and frustrating. There have been a bunch of times when I have been talking to people and wishing I could tell them the Gospel but I felt the Holy Spirit telling me to wait. I am really excited to be doing nothing but straight up sharing the Gospel all day while we’re in Africa. I’m sure it will be difficult and exhausting at times but when I get sick of being at school all I want to do is drop out and be a missionary so I can tell people about Jesus all the time. As it is, I wish I was in Africa at least 3 times a week. The other day when I was walking home I was imagining that I was walking in Africa. I am bursting with excitement and anticipation to see what God has in store for all of us!

Grace and Peace be with you!

Becky