It was that time of year again: time for me to hop on a plane from Houston and cross the Atlantic to the Tees Valley. This was my second trip to the Tees Valley, and little did I know that this plane ride was going to change my upcoming year and plans for the rest of my life. Little did I know that this was just the beginning of my journey with Tees Valley Youth for Christ.

My church back home in Houston had been going on spring break mission trips to Tees Valley for the past four years. I had heard about them my sophomore year of high school when Mike Taylor came to come and talk about this growing program in the Tees Valley. From that minute I knew I wanted to go one day.

I ended up going my junior and senior years of high school. Those two spring breaks changed the way I viewed ministry and the way in which I wanted to do ministry in my own life, but it also left me with 'want' of more time to further develop the relationships I had built. During these mission trips we had hiked this hill that overlooked the entire Tees Valley called Roseberry Topping. When I went up the first time it was the beginning of my heart breaking for Teesside; the second time I just wanted to ask God what he wanted for me. I remember praying, “God what do you want me to do?” All I heard after that was, “Gap Year.”

Some time had passed and I went through the application process and interviews; what was next was the funding. It was around the middle of June, and I remember my dad saying, “We have to get a significant portion of this funded by the middle of July.” I had to raise at least $5,000, I raised $10,000 by July 31st of 2015. I was fully funded. For me this was just solid backing as to whether this was the right decision.

People tell you so much about how you will be changing the lives of those who you invest into, but in my first four months here one of the only lives I had seen changed had been my own. I am outside of my comfort zone; I've had to grow in every way possible, whether it be my relationship with God or letting go some of the things I've been holding onto that have held me back from becoming more like Him. Those four months reminded me of this drama skit I saw, it was called “God’s Chisel” by the Skit Guys. God was chiselling away at Tommy (the actor) to get down to his perfect masterpiece.