Hey friends! I thought for my first blog I would tell you a little bit about myself! My name is Bethany Gross, but most of my friends call me Bethie. You can probably find me at Chick-fil-A on most days. I love and live off of iced coffee, family, friends, and Jesus. I am absolutely in love with my church and the people that God has placed in my life there. The friendships that I have made there have been like no other and it has honestly been an answer to prayer. One of those friendships lead me here. You might be wondering in fact what I am doing here, with Adventures in Missions. You see, I was always the person that thought missions were great...for other people...definitely not for me. I was NEVER going to go on the mission field...like EVER...let alone live in another country. I freaking love America, but I also realized I really love my comfort zone. It’s pretty cozy here. One day my friends, Johnny and Christin started talking to me and said “You know, you should come to Costa Rica with us. We could really use some help with the girls, and it would be fun. You’d also get to connect with people your age, so you’d be plugged in to automatic community. Just something to pray about.” Immediately when they said that I knew it was something that I was supposed to do, but I took a few weeks to talk to my parents about it and really seek God on it. When I talked to my parents about it they immediately said YES. I remember riding in the car talking about it with my dad and he said “Bethie, this is something that you cannot not do.” So I got the go ahead from my parents, and then one day I decided to go to a local coffee shop to pray, read my bible, journal, just looking for a clear answer from God...and then as I was praying guess who walked in? It was Johnny haha. I thought that confirmed it for me...but I’m kind of stubborn and did that whole human thing when you literally analyze EVERYTHING that could go wrong. I’m that that kind of person that always over analyzes...like a whole lot. A little while after they had asked me I went on my first missions trip, and I loved every single minute of it. I was constantly hearing a yes from God. He was constantly confirming my never ending questions. Pretty sure He laughed at me at one point and said “You thought you weren’t going to do missions...but you were so wrong. This is going to be the best adventure ever.” All that to say, coming in January I will be a Costa Rica base intern, serving others in whatever way possible. Also, I get to go with my favorite people, so that’s pretty rad. Please be praying for me in these next months as I prepare for Costa Rica! I could not be more excited for this new adventure!

- Bethie Gross