Missions Minded

The other day I was goofing around on facebook with one of my son's friends at Northwest University. Keshia Whitthuhn is a quirky gal, but I've learned behind all that silly, weird facade...okay it's not a facade, but under all that nuttiness is a young woman with a heart and passion to follow the call of God in her life. 

When I learned that Keshia had opportunity to go on her long sought after dream...a missions trip to Africa, I spent time pondering what I could do to help her. While I plan to do something in the monetary form I also realized I could help by promoting her and decided to do an interview. Please take the time to get to know Keshia and pray for her up coming trip. And if the Lord urges you to do more, I know He will bless you for it.

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Let’s get to know you first. Give me six adjectives that best describe you.

Meet Keshia

Spontaneous, positive, go getter, positive, logical, dreamer.

So it’s safe to say that you’re an optimistic person. How about six adjectives that DON’T describe you?

Unproductive, unintelligent, uncreative, girly, grown-up, quitter.

You attend Northwest University, a Christian college with the Assemblies of God.  Did you go to college elsewhere before attending NU?

Yes, I went to Everett Community College (EvCC) for three years. I grew up so much during that time. I      didn’t know what I wanted to do at first, that’s why it took me three years. J My initial major was Studio Arts, I love drawing with charcoal! However, I knew I wanted to do missions work and studio arts won’t make me needed in Africa.

I took a year off, and during that time God told me to be a doctor. I started that next year at EvCC in their prerequisites for nursing. I still took art classes like pottery and design in the mix with Anatomy, Physiology, College Algebra, and microbiology J

I also completed one more year of prereqs at NU before I could go into the nursing program.

Why you chose NU for your nursing education?

I chose NU because of their study abroad trip they do for a month in the senior year of the nursing program. I will be going somewhere to do my clinical work overseas next February in 2012. I also felt the effects of not being in a Christian environment.

So, you’re going on a mission’s trip. Where are you going? Are you going with a church group or an organization?

I’m going to Monrovia, Liberia June 18th - July 4th and will be working with an All God’s Children school through Serve the Children organization based in Gig Harbor, WA.

Did you specifically target Africa?

Yes. I’ve wanted to work and live in Africa since I was 9 years old. The African Children’s Choir came to my church then and touched me forever. After I hung out with them I was changed forever. I started to cut pictures of people in Africa out of magazines, and I would tape them to my closet door and pray for the people. I also realized that these people may be dead because their country doesn’t have a lot of food and in place of food it has a lot of disease. So, I would also pray for the families of these people, just in case they were dead.

When I was 13 I started fasting for the people of Africa; I would do Daniel’s fasts or just straight up not eat for at least 3 days. I would pray for the people relentlessly. I have pursued Africa trips before this one, but God kept saying “no”….. oddly. But, this summer, I knew was my summer!

That is amazing, Keshia. Your passion at such a young age blesses me. What kinds of things will you be doing while in Liberia?

Lots of playing with the kids at the school we will be at. But also, as a team we are going to be building at a few different locations including churches. I’ll be going with one of the other team members, who is a nurse, to the nursing school in Monrovia, a couple of the clinics in the area, and the schools own clinic. We are also looking at administering immunizations.

We all can be partners in this adventure for you by praying. What specifically would you like us to pray for?

Our sanity.

Also, we are going into a place that is so impoverished; however these people are going to treat us with so much respect it is going to be overwhelming. They give so much of themselves to us Americans that I’m not going to know what to do. We have so much here and aren’t even willing to share our stuff, yet they have nothing and are willing to give us everything while we are there. There are stories how they’ve fixed meals with the last of their food just to treat us in their homes. We don’t ask or expect this of them; they do this out of their love and hospitality. We’re staying at a school where we are basically supplying our food with the money we are paying to go over. I wanted to say that, because we aren’t taking from them if we don’t have to! 

Pray for the weather that we can all grow accustomed to it. We are going to be in 80 to 95/100 degree weather with 100% humidity…. And it is in the rainy season. Basically, we will be in a sauna daily.

Pray for our safety, that we can be where we need to be and do what we need to do, when we need to do it.

I know that it will take support in many forms for you to go on this Mission’s trip. Besides praying for the above mentioned items, how can people help you prepare for this trip?

There are supplies you can give. I have a whole list on my blog under the Missions Trip page.

 

Also, I need to raise $2,700 dollars and I need $800 of that by April first…(Wow, that's soon!)  Then I have to pay the rest before the trip. Where there is missions involved, there is the need for money. The airfare alone is ridiculously expensive!

People can send the checks to me by mail (I’ll pay Serve the Children in one big check from these), I’m working on paypal on the Facebook page and my blog page, or they can send a check with my name in the memo to Serve the Children.

Keshia A N Witthuhn

5325 113th Place NE #4

Kirkland WA 98033

Serve the Children 

4423 Pt. Fosdick Dr. NW, Suite 202

Gig Harbor, WA 98335

Serve the Children - Liberia

 (Click the link to donate online)

                                


Any extra funds will be going to purchasing supplies for the kids!

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Hi, I'm Keshia. Named after a black girl, born to be in Africa, and striving to get there. I'm a nursing student, wife, weirdo, and awesome all in the same potato. I play basketball with schizophrenic patients and am completely comfortable; go to dinner with my husband and am completely uncomfortable. I'm an oxymoron, different, and quite proud of it. Learning is my hobby. I always try to see flaws in myself and see how they can be fixed or enhance other portions of my life. Remember, imperfections are perfect when paired with their opposite.