Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to you! May this season be focused on the real meaning of Christmas – the celebration of Jesus Christ! Born as a babe to the virgin Mary and brought into this world for you and for me, to learn more and more about our Creator’s love for us through His life on earth, His death on the cross and His gift of an even better life after this, an eternal life with Him in Heaven.
Thank you Jesus for creating a path for us to join Him on both now and into glory! AND thanks be to Jesus for His faithfulness through YOU over the last year to support and to give and to go with me on this missional journey! I can’t believe how long and how short this past year has felt. Last year at this time, God gifted me the best Christmas gift I could have asked for, a man wild at heart yearning for a love like mine named Mykola (aka Nick). More updates on that to come soon! Stay tuned!
Along with a new relationship, in 2024, God blessed me with so many incredible opportunities to be a part of preparing the way for others to serve others and to grow in their faith, as a practice of discipleship. Throughout January and February I participated in a Disaster Relief Training, helped lead our Mission Leader Training with a focus on the More God had for us in 2024. Ending out February and going into March, I led a high school mission with our disaster relief team in Ft. Myers, FL. During March I helped lead two additional mission trips in Manchester, NH and Jaco Beach, Costa Rica. During these trips I saw the love of God brought forth to the communities we were serving through prayer walks, work projects, beach clean-ups, homeless outreach opportunities, foster care programs and so much MORE! I was even blessed with the opportunity to baptize a participant in the Pacific Ocean during our time serving in Costa Rica.
In April, I was able to attend our first World Race Wedding Reunion for Claudia and Jake Labus! They ended up moving to southern Maine after their wedding and I am so grateful to have another World Racer in the area. By the end of May, entering into June, I was off again to lead another mission in Chinle, Arizona. Here the team and I were able to restart summer VBS missions for a small church nestled into the fields of the Navajo Nation. It was so great to watch neighborhood kids who have maybe never heard of Jesus come to learn some foundational truths about him throughout the week through puppet shows, song and dance, short films, games, prayer times and conversations with the team.
I wasn’t home for long after this trip before I was able to travel with Mykola and his mom to meet his extended family and attend his cousin’s wedding in Washington state! This was my first time traveling to Washington and Oregon and it was beautiful! I remember falling asleep to fireworks all over the hills on the 4th of July. The wedding was beautiful and the food was mouth watering! Ukrainians surely know how to meet the needs of the mouth!
At the end of July, I was able to lead a Maine Mission in my hometown area. It was a dream come true to bring a mission team to Maine and I never anticipated it would come so soon! Now, we already have another team on the schedule to come in June 2025! This Maine trip was extra special because some of my previous students who attend the host church were able to participate throughout the week, another answer to prayer! I’m looking forward to so many MORE opportunities to partner with the local churches in this community and to bring MORE of Jesus to Maine through missions.
When I wasn’t leading missions, I was helping to organize 25+ missions to Florida, Costa Rica, Romania, Colombia, Guatemala, Arizona, West Virginia, Maine and North Carolina. As an organization, we had 70+ short-term missions launched in 2024 (50+ from June 1st through August 15th). I was able to have over 100 My Kingdom Journey books sold. My book is still available on Amazon if you haven’t had a chance to give it a read, share it with someone, or leave a review, I would love it if you could! I also attended our end of summer Staff Summit in Gainesville, GA at our Adventures in Missions hub. In September, I hosted a World Race Reunion in New England as friends from Colorado, South Carolina, and Oregon traveled to visit with me in Boston, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and of course, go rafting in Maine!
In October, my grandfather got in a severe car accident and my father and I travelled to Ohio to visit with him, help care for my grandmother and visit with other family members during our time there. My grandfather will finally be returning home just in time for Christmas after finishing up multiple surgeries, care routines and rehabilitation for his arms and legs. Upon returning home from Ohio, the theme team and I settled on the Adventures in Missions theme for 2025 – Alive in 2025 centered around Ephesians 2:4-5.
But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)
Our disaster relief team braced as hurricane season came this fall. Following the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and prayerfully considering where God would want us to help rebuild and bring restoration, we felt called to Black Mountain, Swannanoa Valley and Old Fort, North Carolina. By the end of October, I was travelling to lead 32 Mainiacs on mission as we began laying the foundation for our base, distributing goods and donations and reaching out to homeowners to share with them about our plans for a long term recovery mission. Our goal is to share the love of Jesus by helping rebuild homes over the next 2-3 years in this area. Following our Maine Disaster Relief Mission, I’ve helped organize all group registration and calendar scheduling for the project. I’ve been helping signup all teams & individuals – Over 30 teams are already booked to go serve in North Carolina for 2025! That’s over 1,600 people over the last 6 weeks signed-up to serve in 2025!
All of that to say, NONE of this would be possible without God’s guidance AND your support! Together, your contributions to Adventures in Missions have allowed me to continue to equip, empower and lead groups as they go and serve as the hands and feet of Jesus! I’m looking forward to all God has in-store for 2025 and I am praying for new opportunities to arise that will continue to grow me, teach me and encourage me to lean in, ever deeper to the heart of God.
I would love to connect with you to hear how you’re doing, to be able to pray together! Send me a message if you’d like to connect!
Lots of Love,
Savanna
P.S. I can’t believe January is almost over! EXCITING NEWS coming SOON in the January update and a little more about ALL I’m praying 2025 has in store!
