It's time to go...

It is early. this is real! pray and hope that God works his magic through us. i will write you all when i get back! Love all of you to death!

the laying of fingers....

Commissioning: The act of granting certain powers or the authority to carry out a particular task or duty

This last weekend was certainly one that i will remember for a while. All the mexico teams and the Africa team toured around Salem Alliance from the youngest to the oldest being commissioned. It is absolutely incredible that some 80 students and adults decided to give up their spring break to go a foreign country to share God's love. Where else can you find that. 

My group went to the preschoolers, which was a cool experience to have 3 and 4 year olds praying for God's protection over our trip. Then middle schoolers were funny. They were only willing to lay fingers on feet because they felt so uncomfortable with laying hands. ha. It was absolutely priceless. We also hit up the 4th and 5th graders. 

But one of the most impacting visits was when we went into kindergarten and 1rst grade room. After talking to the kids, we all went throughout them and they laid hands and prayed. There is something so amazing about 6 and 7 year olds praying out all at once for us. It just goes to show how many people are behind our trip. I love Salem Alliance so much.

As for packing, i am all done! yes. that is right, all i need are sunglasses and some protein bars. In just a few minutes i will taking my bag that has most of my supplies in so they will be ready for the travel. I also have my plane carry on packed up. The last thing that i need to pack is the camera. Otherwise i am ready to go. This is just becoming so real so quickly! 

God has blessed me financially and i am just about done with all the money portion of it. Who would have guessed that in our economic time people would still be so generous (it all points back to God). 

I will be writing a bit more in the next few days, and then i will be offline. I promise i will write over there specifically to share with you so when i get back, i will post them. Also, i will find a place to post pictures that everyone can see, and when the videos get done, i will also have those for you. 

i bless the rains down in africa....

Africa is fast approaching. Just like anything else, it has come much faster than I anticipated and I truly find it hard to believe that in 7 days, I will be at the airport ready to go.  I am beginning to pack all the stuff i need, which seems funny because though it seems like a lot to pack, i am taking barely anything for 14 days in a foreign country. 

Our trip got slightly changed just recently. Because of a flight cancellation from New York to Morocco, we will be staying in NY for one day. This is exciting to me because i have never been to New York--there are going to be a lot of firsts. 

Also, i just picked up the video camera yesterday, and I am going to be working on getting the feel for the camera so that i can get the best footage possible. If you did not know, upon returning, i will be making some episodes of our experiences over in Africa! I am hoping through these, other people, along with you, can get a better glimpse into what it is really like over there. 

Financially, God has really pulled through. By using family, friends, even strangers, God has made this trip possible and in this "economic time" (as the big wheels like to say) it is incredible that we have raised the support to move God's kingdom forward. It is exciting that many people believe in the cause and i have a feeling that if people are praying as much as they are supporting through money, our team is going to be able to do astounding things through God. 

If you are praying or supporting financially, or supporting me any other way, I want to say thank you! This trip is a huge deal to me, and for you to be a part of it means the world! I have been and will continue to pray a blessing over your life, for the blessing that you have been to me. 

Now that i have all my random thoughts down here (i hope you could follow a few of them) i will leave you with one of my favorite missionary quotes:

"Christ alone can save the world, but Christ cannot save the world alone."

-David Livingstone

Lord here I am, send me.

The Final Countdown

Honestly, I cannot believe that in just 16 days 18 hours 10 minutes and 57 seconds, I will be inside the airport leaving for Africa! My mind still doesn't quite know how to process all this information. I am very excited to see what God has in stored coming up to the time. As of now, my mind rest on packing, I am still in need of a little bit more money, but God has been providing like crazy for me. I still need to get my medicine for the trip. The biggest thing is getting mentally ready for the trip. 

 

So far the meetings have been really good. I love my team, we are all quirky and fun and i really think that God chose this team because together we will be able to do so much. It will be fun to bond with my fellow team members, and I feel like i will probably always have a connection with these people just because this is really one of my first "real life" experiences, or so it feels. 

 

As for postcards that i promised. I am working on them as quick as i can and hopefully you will receive yours by the end of the week. Meanwhile here are things you can be praying for:

 

-Health for the team before we leave and while we are there

-Finances would be complete

- Our traveling through the airports, everything would go smoothly

- That our VBS and building would go well

 

 

Thanks for all your support! I will try to keep you more updated as the time comes even closer!