Daniel Stillwell

I was born in Ft. Worth, TX, moved to Michigan, Georgia, back to Texas, and to Lexington, KY. Lexington is what I consider home because I spent most of my life there and my family still lives there. I am the oldest of four children to two fantastic parents. My dad is a Southern Baptist minister so I grew up in the church. I went off to college at the University of Virginia and loved nearly every minute of my brief time there. Isn't it amazing how brief things look from this side of them? I became a Christian at the age of 12 and have spent my life pursuing Christ and the Truth He is.

As a first year counseling student at LPTS, I often feel like there is tradition and protocol to be followed in nearly everything I'm a part of here. Fortunately, that is not the case for this trip to South Africa. Since this is the first year we are doing this, new traditions and ideas are floating around and creating hopefully a wonderful and different environment for many. This blog is itself testimony to that. Thank you Johnny and Frances for encouraging such creativity and embracing the flow of newness.

I LOVE traveling and as such am looking forward to going to not just another country and continent, but an entirely different hemisphere! I have road tripped to 46 of the 50 states by now, a small portion of Mexico, and some of Canada. I've been to Guatemala a few times and but there isn't really any jetlag for that (central time zone). I'm looking forward to water spinning the opposite direction, to hear people speak in Afrikaans, and to see two oceans at once. I'm excited to meet people, talk to them, and learn how faith works in their contexts. I am aware separation of faith and secular doesn't work the same there as it does here in the states and am fascinated to see it in action.

As I mentioned, I have been to Guatemala a few times and one of those trips was a summer long. This more than anything has confirmed my desire to follow God's call on my life to be an international missionary, perhaps long term. I have some idea of where I am to go, but the time is not now and I only pray God will grant me wisdom to know when that season of my life will begin. Experiencing God's work in South Africa will undoubtedly open my eyes even further to the great plans He has for this world and maybe what small and gracious role I might play in it.

Anyone who reads this that might think about supporting us, just stop and pray. That more than anything is what we need. If you are able your monetary contributions will of course help us tremendously, but this world lacks serious prayer warriors. Only when our hearts are set to receive God's blessing can we use it to in turn bless others. That begins and is maintained through prayer. Thank you so much for everything you do and mean to each and everyone of us.