International Travel Announcement!
I’m excited to share that in June I’ll be going to ISRAEL with Celebration Church!! 🇮🇱 This trip is different on just about every level — my first ministry trip, first time in the Holy Land, and my first time fundraising.
I've always wanted to go to Israel. I’ve loved Jesus for a long time — but my faith journey really started to GROW when I set out solo across the globe … just me and Him. Most of you know about my adventures — traveling to 29 countries, driving 150K+ miles cross country by myself, getting strangled on the streets in Amsterdam (Oh, Timmy) — but a lot of what has not made it onto the pages of social media, is my spiritual growth and overwhelming appreciation for God.
I’m not the same person I was 10 years ago. In 2016, while working a job that was stable and great - but also a bit soul crushing - I was struck with an epiphany to GO. It was a panicked convergence of my past, present, and future … and a realization that I was stuck in the middle. And it lit a fire underneath me. Over the next nine months, God showed up in a BIG way, validating, strengthening and enabling me to do exactly what He’d put in my heart … to GO. Every Single Step of the way, He was with me. Often times … JUST Jesus and me. Millions of steps without rolling an ankle (which for this old gymnast, is a miracle within itself!), countless empty countrysides with no car troubles, and a handful of back alleys (day and night) shrouded in menacing vibes. ALL traversed safely ONLY because of God.
You never know the power and true strength of your faith until you’re up against an impossible obstacle. For me, that defining moment was when I left my phone in the back of a Casablanca taxi cab. The phone that held 8 THOUSAND photos and videos of my recently concluded Moroccan adventure. As the horrific realization washed over me, I watched helplessly as the unmarked cab merged into the torrent of traffic in a city of 4 MILLION people. It was gone. It had everything on it .. and nothing had been saved to the cloud! But somehow, there was a glimmer of hope. I felt it. I felt the tug. “Go back to the train station.” And so I prayed … and I acted. I scrambled to get into another cab. At this point, my head was uncovered, hair unkempt, blue eyes on full display — in a Muslim country where I’d just somberly experienced the customs, culture, and importance of a blond haired-blue-eyed single-Westerner … staying quiet, hidden and covered. BUT GOD. I was later told people could hear me praying out loud … “Jesus, ONLY YOU can do this. I know you can do this.” It was a needle in a 4 million ton haystack. And you know what, HE DID IT. I was MIRACULOUSLY reunited with my phone! I call it my “modern day miracle.” And it was. I returned home two days later, literally skipping through the Newark airport with a newfound love and passion for Christ.
My faith turned a page that trip. I started reading the Bible, consuming sermons, seeking connection to God and His people. My upbringing wasn’t built with VBS, small groups and Christian friends. I might’ve attended the largest Baptist university in the world, but I wasn’t raised in church. My faith really grew in graduate school. I wound up finding the perfect church for a misfit like me, Church Under the Bridge, where I could love God alongside the homeless, addicted, and the helpless, while learning from an amazing pastor and appreciating the basic necessities of life. I even got Baptized in the Bosque River. But the Morocco trip was a game changer. It led me to Celebration. It led me to read through the entire Bible in a year — the year 2020 — which in turn, kept me grounded in the chaos of covid and tethered to Him when my dad died in November of 2020.
That trip to Morocco opened doors to my faith I didn’t know existed. And I know this trip to Israel — in it’s own unique way (hopefully without the loss of a phone) — will grow and enrich me in ways I can only imagine. He’s allowed me to see and photograph the epic beauty of His creation across the globe, and I’m excited to embrace what He unveils for me on this next journey.
I invite you to come along with me, once again — this time, as a prayer partner, a financial supporter, or as always, an encouraging friend. All the details of the trip can be found HERE — from our serve projects (we get to clean up the beach of the Sea of Galilee!!), to the Biblical and archaeological sites we’ll be visiting. I’ll also be giving signed & matted 4x6 photo prints to anyone who donates $50 or more, (SAMPLE), an 11x14 signed print for $250 or more (SAMPLE), or a 16x20 custom metal print for anyone who donates $500 or more. You’ll have a choice of anything I photograph in Israel — or, in honor of my spiritual growth trip— any beautiful image from my trip to Morocco.
The cost of the 10-day trip is $4400 and everything’s included — truly, a very reasonable price for a once-in-a-lifetime journey of this magnitude. All of the trips God’s enabled me to take in this crazy adventure, have been a mix of my own savings, gifts from grandparents, credit card points (shout out to Chase Sapphire!), trade work with wonderful travel partners like H&H retreats, and God-gifted paid opportunities like BLE and PHG. This time, I’ve been commissioned with fundraising. I’m growing and learning to ASK for help, LET people help, and TRUST God will provide (as I know He does). The most impactful bit of encouragement I’ve ever received — that still picks me up from the floor through tears and fears while His hand is upon me … “Julie, go out there and do it for those of us who can’t.”
Donate Today: https://celebrationchurchtx.gomethod.app/!/54008/israel-2026/participants/541296/donate
I've always wanted to go to Israel. I’ve loved Jesus for a long time — but my faith journey really started to GROW when I set out solo across the globe … just me and Him. Most of you know about my adventures — traveling to 29 countries, driving 150K+ miles cross country by myself, getting strangled on the streets in Amsterdam (Oh, Timmy) — but a lot of what has not made it onto the pages of social media, is my spiritual growth and overwhelming appreciation for God.
I’m not the same person I was 10 years ago. In 2016, while working a job that was stable and great - but also a bit soul crushing - I was struck with an epiphany to GO. It was a panicked convergence of my past, present, and future … and a realization that I was stuck in the middle. And it lit a fire underneath me. Over the next nine months, God showed up in a BIG way, validating, strengthening and enabling me to do exactly what He’d put in my heart … to GO. Every Single Step of the way, He was with me. Often times … JUST Jesus and me. Millions of steps without rolling an ankle (which for this old gymnast, is a miracle within itself!), countless empty countrysides with no car troubles, and a handful of back alleys (day and night) shrouded in menacing vibes. ALL traversed safely ONLY because of God.
You never know the power and true strength of your faith until you’re up against an impossible obstacle. For me, that defining moment was when I left my phone in the back of a Casablanca taxi cab. The phone that held 8 THOUSAND photos and videos of my recently concluded Moroccan adventure. As the horrific realization washed over me, I watched helplessly as the unmarked cab merged into the torrent of traffic in a city of 4 MILLION people. It was gone. It had everything on it .. and nothing had been saved to the cloud! But somehow, there was a glimmer of hope. I felt it. I felt the tug. “Go back to the train station.” And so I prayed … and I acted. I scrambled to get into another cab. At this point, my head was uncovered, hair unkempt, blue eyes on full display — in a Muslim country where I’d just somberly experienced the customs, culture, and importance of a blond haired-blue-eyed single-Westerner … staying quiet, hidden and covered. BUT GOD. I was later told people could hear me praying out loud … “Jesus, ONLY YOU can do this. I know you can do this.” It was a needle in a 4 million ton haystack. And you know what, HE DID IT. I was MIRACULOUSLY reunited with my phone! I call it my “modern day miracle.” And it was. I returned home two days later, literally skipping through the Newark airport with a newfound love and passion for Christ.
My faith turned a page that trip. I started reading the Bible, consuming sermons, seeking connection to God and His people. My upbringing wasn’t built with VBS, small groups and Christian friends. I might’ve attended the largest Baptist university in the world, but I wasn’t raised in church. My faith really grew in graduate school. I wound up finding the perfect church for a misfit like me, Church Under the Bridge, where I could love God alongside the homeless, addicted, and the helpless, while learning from an amazing pastor and appreciating the basic necessities of life. I even got Baptized in the Bosque River. But the Morocco trip was a game changer. It led me to Celebration. It led me to read through the entire Bible in a year — the year 2020 — which in turn, kept me grounded in the chaos of covid and tethered to Him when my dad died in November of 2020.
That trip to Morocco opened doors to my faith I didn’t know existed. And I know this trip to Israel — in it’s own unique way (hopefully without the loss of a phone) — will grow and enrich me in ways I can only imagine. He’s allowed me to see and photograph the epic beauty of His creation across the globe, and I’m excited to embrace what He unveils for me on this next journey.
I invite you to come along with me, once again — this time, as a prayer partner, a financial supporter, or as always, an encouraging friend. All the details of the trip can be found HERE — from our serve projects (we get to clean up the beach of the Sea of Galilee!!), to the Biblical and archaeological sites we’ll be visiting. I’ll also be giving signed & matted 4x6 photo prints to anyone who donates $50 or more, (SAMPLE), an 11x14 signed print for $250 or more (SAMPLE), or a 16x20 custom metal print for anyone who donates $500 or more. You’ll have a choice of anything I photograph in Israel — or, in honor of my spiritual growth trip— any beautiful image from my trip to Morocco.
The cost of the 10-day trip is $4400 and everything’s included — truly, a very reasonable price for a once-in-a-lifetime journey of this magnitude. All of the trips God’s enabled me to take in this crazy adventure, have been a mix of my own savings, gifts from grandparents, credit card points (shout out to Chase Sapphire!), trade work with wonderful travel partners like H&H retreats, and God-gifted paid opportunities like BLE and PHG. This time, I’ve been commissioned with fundraising. I’m growing and learning to ASK for help, LET people help, and TRUST God will provide (as I know He does). The most impactful bit of encouragement I’ve ever received — that still picks me up from the floor through tears and fears while His hand is upon me … “Julie, go out there and do it for those of us who can’t.”
Donate Today: https://celebrationchurchtx.gomethod.app/!/54008/israel-2026/participants/541296/donate