I would never in my wildest dreams imagine I would be heading to New Zealand for 6-months as I near my sixty-second birthday.

​

My adventures in nature as a young child blossomed into a life-long career in horticulture. My passion for teaching sprouted when my son Kris asked me to help teach the botany lesson to his second grade. In junior high, we went on four short-term missionary trips with his youth group. In high school, we began hosting international students and our circle of friends grew worldwide. When I became Tinkergarten leader in 2019 and learned how to create educational experiences that connected children and grown-ups to nature and each other, I was hooked.

 

In 2019 I decided that it was time to release my established life in Orange County and begin to simplify my way of living so I could go wherever the Lord wanted to send me. By the end of December 2020, I had moved out of our home, sold the remaining half of my plant business of 40 years, and spent hours downsizing my life. I was releasing my previous life to make room for a new one.

 

In my twenties, my friends Pam and Rich Boyer introduced me to Youth With A Mission (YWAM), and I encountered many missionaries they have hosted over the years. You can read about their ministry at www.ywam.org.

​

While staying in their home during the pandemic, they shared that YWAM now has a Discipleship Training School (DTS) called Crossroads for people 31 years and older who desire to grow in their relationship with the Lord and explore missionary work. The seed was planted.

​

I explored YWAM’s website, and when I found the Crossroads Discipleship Training School (DTS) in New Zealand, I felt strongly that this was my next step. Traveling across the country is one thing but across the world? That decision would require a level of faith I have not yet journeyed to… but I was willing.

​

My application was approved, but COVID restrictions kept changing the start date from February 2022 to potentially 2023. But at the end of May, YWAM sent a thumbs-up email with a start date of July 31, 2022!! New Zealand here I come!

​

I am in awe at how many details have come together so quickly over the last month. The Lord has directed my steps, and I am excited and scared, but I have witnessed God supplying my needs in ways I never dreamed possible. Like many mission trips, I am raising funds to support me financially. If you desire to do so, you can give a non-profit taxable donation through Hope Fulfilled Organization by clicking on the Donate button and putting “Deb Ringler” in the comment/memo box.

​

More than anything, please keep me in your prayers as I go on a Lord-led journey of a lifetime.

​

 I’d like to invite you to join me on my adventure by following my blog at www.plantlady4God.com.

​

For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.

Isaiah 61:11

​