Africa is real

Everybody has been asking me 'how do you feel?'...well yesterday it finally started to feel like Africa is finally here, I am finally going on this trip! As I wrote to my co-workers words of thanks and gratitude for their support and sort of said good-bye, with tears in my eyes I could acknowledge that what I have been built for, serving the underserved, was going to come to fruition in a huge, life-transforming way! Tonight I'll say good-bye to some of my closest college friends, and again it will hit me...this is happening for real. I'll only be gone for a few months, I can't even imagine what a whole year would feel like, what a whole lifetime would feel like.
If you know me at all you know I am not timid, far from it; I'm a bulldozer, not in the sense that I'll run you over, but I will get at the base of the problem and get to work. My previous prayer requests have been for spiritual preparedness, and they have been answered in astounding ways, I need continued prayers for patience, gentleness, self-control and not letting myself get so wrapped up in the problems and how to fix it, but in embracing the Ugandan way of life and hoping that I can find some peace and acceptance in my own bullldozer world.
I've got one week of realizing it is real before I step on the flight...I am going to Africa.

countdown is on

The countdown is officially on, I am leaving the land of affluence for a land of poverty in ONE MONTH! This evening I assessed my list of things to do before I'm gone and its looking like that list is dwindling. I helped a friend of mine last week pack her belongings up as she headed into the mission field for two years in China, talk about faith!! No, really talking about faith, my devotional a few days ago read like this: Think much of my servants of old. How Abraham believed the promise that in his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed. How Moses led the children of Israel through the desert, sure that, at last, they would gain the Promised Land. Down through the ages there have always been those who obeyed, not seeing but believing, and their faith was rewarded. So shall it be even with you. -God Calling. My faithfulness in accepting this mission, has surely left me feeling rewarded, I can't imagine what its going to feel like as I walk amidst the land of poverty, amongst people that still know that they are blessed amidst the disease and poor conditions.
I received a newsletter from Rafiki Africa Ministries last night, and with tears in my eyes (I know, ms. non-crier is crying again) I read about Cocus, a 6 year old at the orphanage who  had been abandoned because his father died of AIDS and his mom said she didn't love him anymore because of his disease and how it was crippling him. Its one of twelve stories I'll hear more about as I learn about the orphans and their circumstances. Please pray for Cocus, that he knows that Jesus loves him despite the absess in his back, and that I love him, without even having met him.

A Loving Embrace

I've got just under 2 months before my plane leaves for a foreign land and by God's grace I am only a few hundred dollars shy of my financial goal! I've already had a bowling fundraiser planned for the beginning of August and so I'll be able to further support the orphanage, and perhaps some other organizations I will be working with in Kampala, maybe a baby hospital.
A little girl fell asleep in my arms the other night watching July 4th fireworks and while I rocked her on the porch I thought about the upcoming nights where I will be rocking my little orphans to sleep, or comforting them when they fall down; the human touch is astounding in its ability to evoke so many human emotions and I can't wait for my holding of these precious ones to be one offering immense love. Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."
Please keep praying for all the continued preparations both here and in Uganda.


 

Spiritual Preparation

I've got just over 3 months until my departure! I'm anxious for it to be here now, but I know that a lot needs to happen before then: I'm a little over 50% of the way to my goal for donations and saving, I've got a lot of curriculum, arts and crafts and general stuff to collect for my trip and the kids (I think Mom is going to prove very useful in that department)! But mostly, I also have a lot of spiritual preparedness to undergo.
I just finished this book my dear friend Sandra gave me in preparation for this mission trip, it's called Katie with Kisses, the book is written by a young woman who gave up her life in America for 14 children in Uganda. Let me tell you, I cried almost every time I picked up the book (and really I'm not a crier). I cried because there is so much need, I cried because the children impacted by Katie are constantly in a state of feeling blessed and praising God, and I cried because God chose me to love on His precious children.
These are the precious ones I will be living and loving in Kampala:

Please pray for Rafiki Africa Ministries, for each individual child, and my spiritual preparedness.