Algunos de mis memorias favoritas...

These are the sites that I miss more than words can express...






Anyone who knows me knows that I adore Los Mochis, Mexico. I believe it will always be my home away from home. Through all of my time spent there, I learned so much about myself in so many ways. God blessed me with some incredible and lasting friendships with natives of Los Mochis, as well as some pretty wonderful people all around the United States. I will forever be thankful for my time spent in Mexico. God used my time there and the people I met there to shape my self, my walk with Christ, and my faith in many, many ways. I long to return SOON! I can honestly say that many of my most favorite memories come from my time in Los Mochis and time with people I met there. For example...

One of the best moments of my entire wedding weekend was going to dinner the night before my rehearsal. I rode with my dad to meet my two favortie Los Mochis men, Marco and Abner Vallejo (two of the most amazing men that I know) for dinner at a Mexican restaraunt here in Birmingham. These two men have played such an important role in my life and have demonstrated the love of Christ to me in so many ways. I could not get married without them there and considered it such a blessing when they said that they would come read scripture at my wedding. We walked into the restaurant and right before I turned a corner, my dad said, "So there may be more people here than you were expecting..." I look up and see two large tables filled with my Mexican family! Marco's family, Abner's family, and my precious friend, Danitza, were all sitting IN BIRMINGHAM and had surprised me for my wedding! I have tears in my eyes as I write this and just think about it! It was the best wedding gift I could have asked for! Of course I started crying then...and later during dinner...and again before we left! I could not believe it! After getting over the initial shock of seeing everyone, I began drilling them on how they got to Birimingham, where they were staying, how they got to the restaraunt, etc. I soon learned that the AMAZING people in my parent's small group at Brook Hills had pulled their resources together to bring the Vallejos up to Birmingham, and house them for the weekend. I was speechless. They knew how special these people are to me and they knew just how much it would mean to have them at my wedding. Praise God for these people and their hearts! It was incredible :)

Changed...

This past fall I had the privilege of teaching a Personal Development class for ladies who are in the process of receiving their GED. M-Power Ministries, here in Birmingham, began a Christian Womens Job Corps program a couple of years ago...and after lots of hard work, training, and preparation, M-Power held its first CWJC graduation this week! Six ladies, ages 23 and up, worked diligently over the past year learning how to read, comprehend, set goals, schedule, manage their time wisely, accept change, be a better parent, respect themselves, and most importantly, these ladies spent the past year learning who Christ is and who they are in Him. What a joy and privilege it was to get to know these ladies, hear their stories, and watch them grow over the course of this year. My eyes were opened in so may ways through conversations with them and helped remind me of just how blessed my life has been. I cannot even begin to tell you how proud I was of these ladies as they walked down the aisle, dressed in cap and gown, knowing that they were experiencing what each of them called their first accomplishment. Throughout the graduation ceremony, each of the ladies had the chance to give a speech about what M-Power and the CWJC means to them. As I sat there and listened to them to talk about how far they have come over the past year - spiritually, personally, emotionally, academically - I was overwhelmed at the amazing grace and faithfulness of our Lord. What He has brought them through is truly unbelievable.

Marilyn, Jovanda, Sharon, Wanda, Danielle, and Tamika are changed women and are now not only my friends, but also my sisters in Christ. Praise God for His faithfulness!

The weekend before the graduation, these 6 ladies, their mentors, and their teachers all went on a retreat to Camp Dawson. What an experience that was!!!! I was able to lead them in a painting activity - it was a blast! I love painting and trying to be somewhat creative, so it was fun getting to share that with these ladies.

Now I cannot talk about M-Power without mentioning my amazing mother. She has worked so hard over the past couple of years and dedicated the majority of her time to pulling the CWJC together. She has impacted the lives of not only these ladies...but the 8 others who were in the program this year as well. I am beyond proud of her and so thankful for the example she has been to me!

Being a part of the CWJC is such an incredibly rewarding opportunity. If you are interested in volunteering with them, or with the Christian Mens Job Corps, let me know and I'll be happy to get you some more information :)

Quick update...Melanie is doing well with her pregnancy. Thank you so much for all of you who continue to ask about her and be updated on her progress. Please continue to pray for her health as she has had a rough few weeks... Her first trimester will be over soon...I know she is ready!

Announcement...

I AM GOING TO BE AN AUNT!!!!!

Melanie and Reynolds found out about two months ago that they are expecting a precious little one in November :) I could not be more excited and cannot wait to love on this child! What a BLESSING!!!

Live Love...

"By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." -John 13:35

For the past month, Graham and I have been traveling from Charlotte, NC to Atlanta, GA to Oklahoma City, OK witnessing thousands of teenagers come to know the truth in this verse. Student Life's spring conference this year was based on the theme, Live Love. For eleven weeks, a production and customer service team from Student Life traveled all around the country hosting conference events each weekend. Every three conferences, a different event director and event coordinator would lead the team in these events. Graham and I were able to lead the team in the last three conference events not only for this year, but for good, as this is Student Life's last year to do the spring conference. What a fun time this was! All three weekends were wonderful - but I have to say that getting to see one of my best friends, Lauryn Lane, in Atlanta was a definite highlight :) The conference events were led by Francis Chan, Stuart Hall, JR Vasser, and Kristian Stanfill. These men have been blessed with the incredible gift of sharing the Word of God in such an amazing and effective way. It was a blessing to be able to serve alongside them during this time!

If you have not heard Kristian Stanfill before, I strongly encourage you to check his music out. He and the guys in his band are some of the most genuine and solid guys I have seen lead worship. Nothing they do from stage is about themselves, but soley about the Lord - I believe that anyone who has been led in worship by them would agree with this statement. Take some time to visit his website...it will be worth it! www.kristianstafill.com

There is nothing more powerful and moving for me than to stand in a room full of teenagers worshiping the Lord. Being able to do this week in and week out is an incredible experience and the exact reason that I love my job. It is my prayer that every student that comes to a Student Life event will walk away understanding more about who they are in Christ, and for this event in particular, understanding what it means to truly live out God's greatest commandment: to Love.

Each week I was blessed with the opportunity to share about Compassion International. Seeing how this is already my heartbeat, it was such a joy and privilege to be able to tell thousands of people about an opportunity for them to live love by sponsoring a child through Compassion. If you do not sponsor a child through Compassion, I strongly encouarge you to look into this opportunity. After seeing it first hand, I can tell you with 110% confidence that Compassion International is truly living out the Gospel. There are over 5,000 references in the Bible to caring for widows and orphans. This is not an option for followers of Christ - this is the Gospel. Compassion is making it possible for people all over the world to live love in the life of a child who is living in poverty. For just $32 a month Compassion is providing children with food, clothes, healthcare, education, Christian development, and most importantly, the hope that can only come from Jesus Christ alone. $32...though it may seem to be a sacrifice for us to give this money up each month because we will not be able to eat out as much, drink as much Starbucks, go to a movie, or whatever else we do with our money...it really is not a sacrifice when you think about the fact that it can provide life for a child. You can read more about it at...www.compassion.com. Please do :)

Some pictures from the Live Love Conference...

Kristian leading worship...

AT2AP (All Things To All People) - Student Life's drama team - performing "The Red Man Group"

Room full of teenagers in Atlanta...

The Live Love set...

Compassion International...

Graham, myself, and 8 others from our office recently returned from a trip to Nairobi, Kenya with Student Life and Compassion International. Student Life partners with a ministry called Compassion International. Compassion is a child-sponsorship ministry, based out of Colorado Springs, that exists to end the cycle of poverty around the world. I know the stigmas that often go along with "child sponsorship programs" and the questions of how legit they are. You can throw all of that out with Compassion - they are the real deal. Each year Compassion takes the Event Directors and Event Coordinators at Student Life on a trip to one of their projects around the world. In previous years, they have been to Honduras, Tanzania, Uganda, the Philippines, Haiti, and now Kenya. The goal of these trips are to give us the opportunity to see how Compassion works, and have a first-hand experience with the projects. Graham was on the Uganda and Philippines trips, but this was my first hands-on experience with Compassion. It was incredible.

The first day we went to an HIV/AIDS project with the Kikuyu tribe. We were presented with a drama by children in the Compassion program, as well as testimonies from ladies who are now HIV positive. These ladies have begun a support group in their community that not only supports and encourages women who are HIV positive, but also encourages women and men to be tested for HIV. It is rampant in Africa - I could not believe the statistics I heard. One area that we went to, it was believed that 1 out of every 5 people are HIV positive. Compassion is working to increase awareness and educate people in these communities of HIV/AIDS and methods of prevention. The amazing thing about this project was to see the joy in the faces of these beautiful people and the hope that they have in Jesus Christ. The women that we met had several things in common, but the main one was that they did not find out that they were HIV positive, until their husbands died from AIDS. It is very common for men to have many wives in these communities, which is why the spread of HIV is so rampant. These women did not dwell on the fact that they were victims, though. They recognized that this is the hand of cards they have been dealt and they have chosen to step out and encourage others to find the same hope in life that they have found in Jesus Christ. There are so many stigmas that go along with being HIV positive - this was something that these women talked about so much - but the courage that they have to break free from those stigmas in order to educate and help others in their same shoes blew me away. I will never forget this day - it was so special to me for so many reasons. Here are some pictures from this day:

The HIV/AIDS support group:

Agnes, a lady from the support group, who invited Graham and I to visit her home:

The second day we visited a project with the Masai Tribe. The Masai are the brightest, most vibrant people I have ever come across. Not only in their dress (which you can see from the pictures) but in their eyes, voices, and precious personalities. When I have always thought of Africa, these are the people I have pictured. Bright clothes, bright beads, the stretched earlobes, long necks, shaved heads - absolutely beautiful. This was such a fun day and so insightful. I love learning about other cultures - it has always fascinated me so much - the Masai culture definitely did the same. Fascinating. Men have up to 20 wives, women do everything including fetching water, building the homes, cooking, cleaning, taking care of the children. Children are often married off by their families by the time they are 14- this is indicated by lots of bright, beaded necklaces and rings around the necks of these precious little girls. Houses are made of cow dung, sticks, and grass, and the doors of the houses are only about 4 feet tall. On the way to our home visit for this project, I saw what looked like a dog being cooked over a fire...a feeling ran through me that it just might be our lunch for the day. I was wrong about one thing...it was a goat, not a dog. I was right about the other...it was lunch. Graham quickly informed me that the goat we were watching cook would be the same goat that we would later eat! What an experience! They brought the goat in for lunch - legs, head, everything still attached. No worries - a few hits with a Masai man's knife, while on the lunch table, and you are served your portion of goat. Although we joked about it and found the experience a memorable one in so many ways, the fact that these wonderful people had sacrificed one of their goat's for us, truly was so generous and kind of them. It was a wonderful day :) Here are some pictures:

Lunch...

The Masai women sang for hours...literally...just like this:

The third day we visited the Methare Valley Slums. This is the second largest slum area in Kenya, and the most dangerous in all of Kenya. As we were driving through the area to get to the Compassion project, I could not believe what I was seeing. Shack on top of shack on top of shack. Space issues is what causes the tension and danger in the Methare Valley. I clearly see why. Raw sewage, trash, chickens, goats, dogs, dirty water, children - all in the same area. The water that runs through the dirt, filled with sewage, is the same water that is used for cooking, drinking, bathing, and washing clothes. It runs into a big river at the back of the slum area...when we walked up to this river the smell was incredibly overwhelming, but more than that was the sight of children swimming in this river. Children with the biggest and brightest smiles I have ever seen. They know no different. Fighting back tears this day was near impossible. This was the day I was able to meet the little girl that Melanie and Reynolds sponsor, Esther. What a PRECIOUS little girl - I loved every second with her and her mom! Mel and Reynolds had sent a bag filled with toys, clothes, crayons/coloring books, bubbles, dolls, socks, a jump rope - all of which Esther was thrilled to receive :)

With Amy and Leigh - the other two Event Coordinators that went:

Esther :)
The Methare Valley Slums:

The last two days of our trip were spent at the Masa Mara game park, located in South Kenya, right on the border of Tanzania. We went on an evening safari and early morning through afternoon safari. Amazing!! Here are some pictures of what we saw:

Wedding Pictures...

MY WEDDING PICTURES ARE FINALLY IN!!!!!!! You can see them at:

http://phillipdupree.zenfolio.com/p878424940/h1ce1d8e3#h124b9ca1

The Start Of Something Good...

Happy 2009! I hope that everyone's holiday season was wonderful and that lots of quality time was able to be spent with friends and family. Graham and I stayed in Birmingham through the 25th and spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with my family. We boarded a plane at 6:00 am the day after Christmas and headed off to Oklahoma for the next week. Our time there was wonderful - lots of fun time with people so special to the both of us - we were very thankful for the opportunity to spend a week in OK!

For New Years Eve we went out with a lot of Graham's friends from home and found ourselves in an airplane hanger at quite the dance party. Really my scene.... ...wait... It was tons of fun, nonetheless :) Here are some pictures from that night:



Since we have returned home we have been able to spend lots of time with our friends here in Birmingham which has been wonderful! Between the National Championship game (Boomer Sooner anyways :)), friends' weddings, and The Bachelor...I've loved getting to see my friends so much! We are constantly reminded of how blessed we are to have a home to host our precious friends in.

At Gretchen's Wedding :)

With all of the fun that has been going on, we have also been spending lots of time in the hospital with Graham's grandfather and my grandmother. Both are very ill right now, which has called for some tough times over the past few weeks. We appreciate and covet all prayers for our families during these times. We trust and believe that the Lord is in control.