Thursday, July 29, 2010

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.

Friday, July 16, 2010

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.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

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!