visas and daydreams

I sent in everything for my visa today! I had to get 5 shots and took typhoid fever pills before I could even send in for my visa. I hope that I am now invincible!! :o) I must say it was very nerve-wracking to send off my one and only passport and other forms in the hope that I did indeed fill everything out correctly, and trusting that the embassy will send my visa and passport back all before I leave on September the 12th! Whew! Prayers are needed!

These days I find my thoughts distracted with details, packing lists, support letters, fund raising, and questions. For those of you reading this you know that I am not a very....shall we say.... outdoorsy or nature type of girl....so living in Africa should be quite the adventure! I have been feeling rather anxious as to whether I will be able to handle the "heat" so to speak. That is when I must remember that if the Lord called me to this He is going to sustain me throughout the entire duration of the trip. Living completely outside my element for four months will probably change me and mold me in ways that I never could have predicted or expected. I find myself wondering what the new me will be like? And that is when I just look to Christ and see Him smile and say "hold my hand..and I will show you who you are".

it's becoming real.

It is official! My plane ticket was booked today! I am leaving on September 13, 2009 and coming back on January 15, 2010. I will be flying by myself.... to Africa. [i never in my life thought those words would come out of my mouth]. I am so thankful that the people from EAC will be picking me up from the airport in Entebbe, Uganda. They will have my name on a sign and everything. Kampala is about an hour drive from Entebbe. A huge praise is that my great daddy is letting me use some of his airline miles and the plane ticket is essentially free!! That means that I have a lot LESS money to raise! [thanks daddy!]

As things are progressing it is becoming more and more real that I am actually going. I cannot believe that in about 3 short months I will be calling Africa home. There is a TON to do before I can leave. The first order of business is getting my visa ordered. I have to get a yellow fever shot next week before I can send in the application. I think that I only have to get a few shots, so hopefully it won't be too bad or leave me feeling too sick. I pray that this whole process will be honoring to the Lord. Support letters will be mailed out very soon!

the beginning!

Ladies and Gentlemen.....

I have been ACCEPTED!!! WAhoooooooooooooo!

I am trying to process through the thought of actually going, so more to come on that later. I am so glad that the Lord knows what He is doing. Because somedays I wonder if I have lost my mind! I am just going to trust that He has laid this on my heart for a reason and now I am called to obedience.

waiting.

The only word that I have to describe this year is -- stretching. The Lord has shown me time and time again that I can do NOTHING without His help. For awhile now I have felt this tug on my heart to do something more, something unexpected, and something even more stretching. For the past few years Africa kept coming up. Junior year of college I was in a 3-D art class where our assignment was to make our representation of home. While everyone in the class was making their house, or their grandmothers house, I was making a Ugandan hut. I decided that I wanted to show what "home" was for most of the world. Whenever I had a hard day in college I would always joke that I was just going to move to Africa.
That being said it is obvious that the Lord has been preparing me for this decision for quite some time. I knew that I wanted to work with children. Caring for them and showing them as much love as I could. After researching what felt like fifty missions organizations I came across one that had everything I was looking for. Empower-a-Child is located in Kampala, Uganda. They serve with many different types of outreaches that are all focused on children. After talking with the volunteer coordinator and a girl who served with them last summer I felt sure that this organization was Christ centered and would be wonderful to serve with. I am SO thankful that the Lord has called me to this opportunity to go and serve Him and have an adventure!

I have sent in my application and now I am just waiting.

Waiting to hear if I got accepted, waiting to go, waiting on the Lord, and waiting to start the journey towards the light straight ahead.