The First Week

Another post! Sorry for the ridiculously short update last time. We had very little free time last week, but today I have time to update properly.
I've been here almost two weeks now. I'm completely over the jet lag, thankfully. Waking up at 6:30am is awful when it feels like 1:30 in the morning...
The first week was packed full of classes and activities. It's actually been mostly sunny since we've been here, and we've been able to get outside a bit. It's been beautiful. Except for a treasure hunt that involved walking all over the town, during which it rained. And rained. And rained. And then it rained some more. It made for some very cold, soggy trainees, but it was fun.
We got some time to ourselves yesterday to spend with God. I sat on the beach and watched the tide come in. It's interesting to watch because when the tide goes out here, it goes out so far that you can't see the water anymore. It was so beautiful. And of course, the rare occasion I DON'T have my camera the sun happens to come out and decide to make the beach lovely. So today I took the camera with me while we walked out while the tide was out. (see facebook for pictures!)
This week we're only here for three days before we head off to London for a while for some cross-cultural training. We're all really excited about it. For now we have the weekend off, which is great.
I'm having to rethink my placement for the six-month period. The work I wanted to do in India isn't available anymore, so I will be praying about it, and I will update when I know where I am going!!
Thank you for you prayers!! They are much appreciated and a blessing. I will try to update as much as possible. I won't be around next weekend, but I will keep my parents updated, and they will pass it on to you! God bless!

Hello from Wales

Hello from Wales! I've moved in and settled into dorm life, passed my food hygiene test, and made it through two days of classes. (Didn't I take a year off college...?)
It's absolutely lovely here! We're only a short walk from everything, including the beach and several churches. I've gotten a few pictures of the scenery, some of which was nearly run over by a man on a bike while taking. It's not my fault. He was on the wrong side of the road...
Speaking of which, crossing the street has proven to be a challenge... more on that another time.
God is really moving in the training program. It's been so amazing to see Him move in so many hearts and in so many different ways. To see so many people with a heart for missions is encouraging and exciting!!
We are jam-packed busy every day, but weekends are free, so I will post more then.
God bless!

We're Finally Going!

This post is long overdue and I apologize! Here it is!

My visa is finally here!! Emma (the other girl from the US going) and I now have tickets to fly out of O'Hare airport in Chicago at 4:20pm Monday, September 13th. From there we fly into Amsterdam, and then on to Cardiff, Wales! After that it is a short drive to where we will be staying for the training. Excited doesn't even begin to describe it!! I'm so excited that I googled pictures of all the airports. Stop laughing at me.

Fundraising is going fantastically! The outpouring of support and love has been simply amazing. I am so blessed to have a wonderful church family and network of believers to lean on. Not to mention an unbelievably supportive family! It has been just mind blowing to see how God provides through His people. He provided a chance to go, a job, the money, the travel details... an endless list of things that I found overwhelming just fell into place.

Please continue to pray as we travel! It's a huge relief not to be going alone! Pray for safety and calm as we navigate airports and time changes with our luggage and that it all goes well! Thank you!!

On another suport note, the church cookbook should FINALLY FINALLY be ready by Sunday!!! Hurray!! Another hurdle cleared!! Next comes the challenge of packing for a three month adventure with a fifty-pound airline limit... hello, vaccum space-saver bags!

A Brief Update

This post will be brief, but I wanted to get an update out to everyone!


Want an instant migraine? Apply online for a visa.
Despite the migraine, I'm happy to say that I've applied for my one-year visa! I still have a long list of things I have to do, but it feels nice to have cleared another hurdle.
I've been on the phone with the lovely people in Wales twice this week, and even though skype to cell-phone is an awful connection, it was really encouraging to hear the actual voices of the people I'll be working with. I also found out that there is another girl from the states going to Gap Year, so I won't be the only one!
I have a date, finally. I have to be in Wales by the 15th of September, so I have a little more than two months to get ready. Prayers are MUCH appreciated!
God Bless!

Strength will rise as we WAIT upon the Lord

My posting is going to be very haphazard. For now I'm just going to post as things happen, and then hopefully I will be able to work out a system as things get less chaotic. (Here's to hoping things eventually become less chaotic. Not likely. But then, God seems to like working through chaos.)

My passport has arrived in the mail! Now I'm waiting for my team leaders to e-mail me the massively long list of how to prepare for Gap Year. Inoculations, visas, travel dates, etc. I was told that the closest international airport is actually about three hours away, and I will have to take a train the rest of the way to the center. It will definitely be interesting taking a train in a foreign country with all of my luggage, having never been on a train- or in a foreign country for that matter. The lost tourist bit is sure to come in handy.
Funding is not for the faint of heart. It's both easier and harder than I thought it would be. Easier, because everything is in God's hands; harder, because there is really only so much you can do before you just have to wait. I am working for a wonderful family, I've sent letters, I'm redoing the church cook book, and I'm having a grill-out at a massive, three-day church rummage sale. Busy, busy, BUSY! I love it.
I am expecting more info from the lovely people in Wales sometime this week, so hopefully I will have more updates soon! In the meantime, please continue to pray. It means so much, and it is the most powerful thing around.

God bless!!

Answered Prayer.. and another, and another...

I'm always amazed when God answers prayers. I know I shouldn't be, since He is all-powerful and loving. But when a prayer is answered, and the details of His plans all fall into place so easily, I'm totally blown away.

For a while now I've felt called to missions. After high school I started looking for opportunities to serve. While I waited, I decided to take college classed at Ivy Tech, get a job, and see what happened. Two years went by, and nothing really came my way. I sort of gave up, guessing that God wanted me here in Indiana, working and going to school. I was bummed, but I decided to be content with God's plan for me.

But as a sophomore in college, I still had not picked a major. I had no idea what I wanted to do when I grew up. I didn't like having to go to work day after day, go to class, do homework, and then go to bed. I was, I'll admit, bored out of my mind.

I heard about a program called Gap Year through some missionaries in my church. 12 weeks of missionary training in Wales, and then six entire months on a placement with a missionary team somewhere in the world. It sounded amazing, but I was smack in the middle of college and I had a steady job (not an easy thing to find). So I prayed about it. I told God that if He wanted me to pursue Gap Year- to take an entire year out of college, out of country, and serve Him this way- to show me, and I would go for it.

The very day I prayed this prayer I walked into work, worked a full day, and was promptly laid off five minutes before my shift ended. "We have to cut back on staff", they said. "We're so very sorry, but our policy is last one in, first one out. That's you."

The mighty hand of a God who has a sense of humor, more like. I thought it was all very funny, and I had to try very hard to not laugh while I was being laid off. It didn't seem entirely appropriate.

Needless to say, I applied for Gap Year. I was accepted Monday, and I leave for Wales in September. :)

Next step: fundraising. A LOT of fundraising. Everyone tells me that God will raise the money, I only have to trust Him. But there was that fact that I no longer had a job that made me uneasy. So I prayed another prayer! God, send me the money I need to go. Somehow.

A phone call! (The DAY AFTER I was accepted to the Gap Year program.) Someone is selling their house, and they need help cleaning, organizing, driving kids, helping in general. We heard you are going overseas and could use the money. Are you interested?

Let it never be said that God does not answer prayers. Or lacks a sense of humor.