Cameroon

Well, another choice has been made, and while it scares me to death, I have decided on Cameroon. Meep!

Now comes all the planning, getting vaccinations, visa's, flights....all that jazz.

More later.

Going in May!

So, I had a conversation with my boss, Dani today! I had asked if I could go to London for two weeks in February. Of course, this was turned down because we have a big sale in Feb, and I would be gone for if I went.


Following our conversation about London, I told her that I had been planning to go to Africa in 2011, but I wasn;t sure when.

We talked it over and I have permission to go for a month in May! God is good friends!

Reminders...

So, I have been struggling with what I should do about my missions trip a lot lately.

I have started to miss the theatre desperately. So much to the point where I have considered not going to Africa and staying here to pursue acting again. Then there is a little voice in the back of my head that says "Um...hey blondie...God TOLD YOU to go to Africa...remember?"

What to do!

The other day I was on my way home from work, and there was this African man sitting across from me. I was lost in thought, it had been a long day at work.

"Why are you thinking so hard?" He asked me, an accent evident.

I told him I just had a lot to think about in life, and we got to talking. Turns out he is from Cameroon! We exchanged e-mails, but I haven't replied to the one he sent me yet. I'm not sure I will.

My heart started to pound in my chest when he told me where he was from. It was like God was yelling at me. "HEY!! REMEMBER ME?! Stop your life and just listen for a minute, we have lots to talk about."

Now if only i could get the listening part down pact.

Post poned.

I have some sad news friends. I have to post pone this trip. I don't know exactly until when. January is fast approaching and there is no way I could make it happen. I also don't feel comfortable asking for time off work yet, and I would like to keep my job for a while. So I don't know. Hopefully in the summer. I will make this happen. I just don't know when.

I have a job!

So, I now have a job! Woohoo! I will be working at a shoe store. This brings me one step closer to my goals of getting to Africa, however I may have to post pone the trip. Hopefully not too long.

Lots of things to consider.

Decisions!

Well...this morning I had a meeting with a lady from Serving in Missions.

It went well, and she said that they would be happy to have me. I have heard that from the other organization (Foundation for Cross Cultural Education) as well.

I am glad, but I have never felt at peace with either of those organizations. They would take me to either Malawi, Kenya, Zambia or South Africa. I have nothing against those countries...it just hasn't felt right. I pray about it and God does not tell me to go to one of those places...it's just so unclear.

However, my last option is Cameroon. Where I would be working with HIV/AIDS children, while helping direct a childrens choir.

Hm....
Working with Children...check.
Working with a ministry that I care about...check.
Music....check.
Connection to my church...check.

Perhaps....this is where I am meant to go....

Stuck.

I have been feeling stuck in this process lately.

People keep telling me of options of places to go...but none of them seem to be what I am looking for. Maybe I am not looking in the right place or being too picky...but I feel stuck. In a rut. Sighs.

No movement forward on this.

Dropping the playwriting class.

Back in June I decided to take a course in play writing that my school offers. It's a class that I had been wanting to take since my first year at RSA, so I was excited for the opportunity. Unfortunately the class goes through March of 2011 - which is when I will be in Africa.

I could probably make it work to continue taking the course while being across seas but it just doesn't make sense. I don't want to have to spend a lot of money at internet cafe's in order to get my assignments in. I also don't want to be spending all my time on assignments while Rachael is going and exploring the country. I don't want to miss out.

So, while I am sad to have had to make this choice I really feel its for the best.

Welcome!

Well, if anyone is out there reading this...this is my blog about my journey to Africa. I'm still very early in that journey but I am hoping to leave in January of 2011. Lately I haven't been able to sleep because my thoughts have been so busy thinking about this. It is currently 3:00 AM. I think I'm getting a cold. Dear, dear.

Anyways, I thought it would be good to answer some questions that no one has asked me - other than myself.

How did I choose Africa?

Anyone who knows me that when I think of orphans and people in need I think of Ukraine, Russia and Eastern Europe. My original intent was to go over there and do some missionary work. When I looked into it I couldn't find very many Christian organizations that were doing work over there...which means it is desperately needed. However I am not ready to do that on my own yet and there are a lot of organizations going to Africa.

The more research I did on Africa the more I fell in love with the idea. I feel in love with the the beautiful faces of the children there.

So as I do before making any big decisions I asked God to give me a sign about whether or not I should go. He gave me one. Perhaps two...though one was more a nudging as to who I should go with.

The First Nudge:

I go to a very small school right now. There are about 34 students in a 4 years program. Last year R (I am not going to say her name until I have her permission.) decided to come for a year. About two weeks ago I had the thought...

"Hmm...I wonder what R is doing next year. Perhaps I should ask her to go to Africa with me....hmm..."

So, I facebooked her...asking her how she was doing. For some reason it felt weird for me to just ask her to go with me. Silly me - because it shows that God knows best. See about a week later she was visiting my room mate and we started talking a little bit. Somehow we got talking about what we were planning on doing next year. Turns out she was already planning to go. Neither of us really wanted to go alone.

The Second Nudge (which actually occurred before the first one was complete):

It was just after one of the Oliver performances (I am in the play Oliver! right now for anyone who doesn't know me) and heading to the office to check my mail box. I ran into one of our schools education directors and told her briefly of my hopes for the next year then I continued on my way. In my mail box was a small envelope with my name on it. During chapel back in January we were each given a piece of paper and told to write down was God was telling us and what we wanted to work on with him this year. They took it from us and I hadn't seen it since that day.

I wrote this:

"God is reminding me to listen to what he says and trust." Among other things.

The piece of paper was scrap, as people here are big on recycling. Or so I tell myself. As I was unfolding it one of the worlds on the paper caught my eye - it was "call" - I have always been big about following God's call. But I shrugged it off and kept going for the good stuff. I was disappointed with what I wrote. Nothing significant but as I was folding the paper back up I heard a little voice "read it...look at it." I didn't know why but I flipped it over and read it. It was Genesis 12, the call of Abram...

"The Lord has said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you."

I got very excited. Okay God. I will go!

Now I just have to figure out how to get there!