Hey guys!

My name is Melanie Steinke..  my last name is not pronounced "stinky", but if you thought so, don't worry I've gotten that my whole life!  Most people call me 'Mel', but I don't care which one you chose :)   My hometown is Lawrenceville, Ga.  It is 45 minutes northish of Atlanta.  But I am a sophomore at Georgia Southern University which is in Statesboro, GA.  It's in the middle of no where, so I won't be surprised if no one has heard of it.  My major is Spanish, and my minor will probably be family and child development.  I love Spanish and Spanish speaking people!  I have grown up going to Piedras Negras, MX with my church, since 7th grade.  So there is a special place in my heart for that culture :)  I don't work as of right now (woohoo!)  My parents are super great and pay for my groceries.  I am not a brat, I promise!  But yes, I mouch off my parents.  Let's see, I am on the leadership team for a campus ministry called The Wesley Foundation.  It is awesome and I have learned SO much from the people there.  The Lord gave me a talent for soccer, starting at the age of 5.  So soccer has always been a huge part of my life.  Right now, I don't play seriously, just for fun and stuff.  But I love it!  I love hanging out with my friends.  Every Thursday night, we have game nights. and they are suhweeet.  I love to play board games and such, they're so fun!  Me and my friends also like to find movies that are so bad, they are funny.  Once we find out about them, we have parties to watch them.  It's great.  I also have a boyfriend, named Brian Murphy.  We have been dating for 2 and a half years or so.  He is also a great warrior for the Lord, so God has truly blessed both me and him with the relationship we have.  Some fun facts about me..  I have a tattoo on my left wrist that says 'free and unlimited' in Hebrew.  I love to spend time with my parents and their friends.. we play darts and have dance parties and it's always fun!  I have one sister who is 22 and now a married woman!  So I also have a new brother in law.  My sister's name is __ and my new bro is __.  They are both super in love with Jesus, and great examples in my life. My mom LOVES cats, and has multiple conversations with them.. and my Dad has some weird connection with dogs.  I hate sweat tea with a passion, but love other flavors of tea.  I used to not like pizza, but am warming up to it since I am a poor college student now.  I like to rock climb, and lay in my hammock on beautiful days.  The Lord is number one in my life (of course!) and I try daily to pursue Him.  As I said before, I have been on mission trips to Piedras Negras, MX many times with my church and the ministry called 'Hands and Feet Ministries'.  I also have been to the Bahamas with 'Kingdom Builders Ministry'.  One other trip that has had an impact of my life was to Clarkston, GA with 'Friends of Refugees'.  I am SO excited to go on this trip and to meet you all!  I have never gone on a trip to this extremity and am so sooo ready to see what Jesus has in store for not only me, but all of us on this trip.  Our lives are going to be ROCKED and I am pumped :)  Right now in my life, Jesus is teaching me to let him fight for me.  And to just sit back in Him, and be silent, trusting Him.  I think this lesson is going to apply to my life while on the Amazon trip, as well.  It is going to be the longest period of time I have been separated from anyone, so it will be hard, but so fruitful.  I am very excited to meet you all!!