All About Africa: 1

As promised, I am going to slowly but surely blog about my incredible experience in Africa. This is quite a task because what I encountered was almost indescribable.....but I shall try. My heart's desire is to encourage the saints and possibly open hearts and minds to what God is doing in Southern Sudan.

On the way to the airport, my sweet roomies took me out for a "good-bye lunch" at la madeleine.......a fabulous last normal meal stateside! (Unfortunately, I only got a picture with one of them: Daniella.)

Here's a picture of my girls.....love them!

Thankfully, all of my stuff fit into my awesome hiker backpack! But of course, I used every last inch!

 Flat                                       Fat

We had an 11 hour flight to Amsterdam........a 5 hour layover........a 10 hour flight to Uganda. By then we were on day 2 or 3 of the trip. To be honest, we were jumping planes and countries SO much that I lost track of the days. ;) We landed in Entebbe, Uganda around midnight and as we walked out of the airport and looked up at the dark African sky I was struck by the fact that I was in a place that I had only read about, seen on TV specials, and learned about in school. I remember being amazed at the vastness of God's creation. Early that morning as I lay under my mosquito net, halfway across the world, I feel asleep thanking my Father for allowing me to see another part of His beautiful world.
What a gracious Lord we serve!

Be There......Please!

So, I have been back state-side for about 10 days now and am excited to share about my trip to Sudan, Africa! I'll be posting blogs about everything that the Lord laid on my heart and the things that I saw at a later time, but today I want to share two opportunities with you. Southern Sudan will receive their independence this Saturday (July 9th) and we are going to celebrate!!!! I wish that I could be in Sudan to actually celebrate with the Sudanese people but this is the next best thing...

1) Irving Bible Church is having a celebration this Saturday from 3-5:00. When we were in Africa we learned that IBC also sends teams to Yei, Sudan to serve and they have created a bond with this nation. Join Christians as we praise the Lord for His faithfulness in delivering this incredibly deserving (new) country.
2) My team is still in need of about $7,000 to cover the expenses from our trip. This Saturday (July 9th), we would like to celebrate Southern Sudan's independence and have a fundraiser at the same time. We will be raising awareness by showing a short documentary about the country as well as sharing photos from our time in Africa. Refreshments and Sudan shirts will be available for purchase and all proceeds will go toward our trip fund.

The movie event will be held at a lovely home in Dallas (9908 Gooding Drive, Dallas, TX 775229) and will begin at 8:30 in the evening. The homeowners are asking that we park at Thomas Jefferson High School (4001 Walnut Hill Lane, Dallas, 75229) and walk down the street to their home, in order to keep their street from looking like a parking lot. ;) Also, please bring lawn chairs or a blanket to sit while you enjoy the movie/slide show.
We pray that the Lord presses upon your heart to join our celebration and see what He is doing in the lives of the Sudanese people!

~Much love, friends and supporters

23 before 24

This is a tradition that my roomies started a few years ago and I have joined in on the fun, so here goes. The following is the list of 23 things that I would like to accomplish before I turn 24 next May (in no particular order).

1. Go to Sudan, Africa and apply to go on a mission trip in 2012 with The Village Church

2. Take a cake decorating class

3. Support a Compassion child and write him/her each month

4. Read or listen to 20 new books

5. Loose 15 pounds

6. Build up my savings account

7. Score another goal in a soccer game

8. Teach my students about Sudan and impart "a love for the nations" to them

9. Decorate my new apartment in a frugal but cute way :)
10. Become a volunteer in Little Village or Crash (middle school) at my church
11. Create an awesome bulletin board outside of my classroom
12. Watch all seasons of Private Practice (I've only seen the most reason season and feel SO behind!)
13. Learn to make 2 new meals/desserts each month.
14. Workout 3 times a week, not including soccer games.
15. Try 10 restaurants in my "new" area
16. Save $75 per month to put towards my next mission trip
17. Complete 4 Bible studies
18. Read Radical and Radical Together by David Platt
19. Participate in one of the women's Bible studies at my church
20. Sell my clipboards on etsy.com
21. Learn some Juba Arabic
22. Learn to crochet

23. Be a bridesmaid...I can feel it. It is going to happen this year. I just know it. ;)

Off to Africa!!!

I leave for Sudan today!!!! I didn't really know if this day would come, but it has! The last few days have been a whirl-wind of craziness but I am packed and the awesome roomies are taking me to lunch before we head to the airport. Please continue to pray for our trip, team members, and the precious Sudanese people that we will be serving! I will be keeping a journal so that when I return I can post about the amazing experiences that the Lord gave me...so, stay tuned! ;) 

In order to keep up with how the trip is going, you can click this link and check out the blog that is put up on The Village Church's website. This will also give you access to Kristy's Guatemala trip blog. 

~Much love and appreciation, sweet readers!

Pack It Up!

One of my prayers is already being answered, kind of. I previously posted that I was nervous about getting all of my stuff for the trip packed into one bag. This continues to pose a problem, but the bag that I will be packing everything into has arrived AND it is awesome!!! This is no ordinary backpack! It has great lumbar support so that I can haul everything and not regret that extra pair of shoes. ;) It also has a detachable fanny pack. No worries, I will ask those on my trip to abandon me should decide to wear this thing. Fanny packs are despicable and even in Africa I vow to not succumb to this fashion tragedy.

I will be sure to post a picture of this thing once I pack it full of all my stuff. 

Much love my friends!

Almost There

1 week......
7 days......
168 hours......
10,080 minutes......

......until I leave for Africa!!!! I can not even explain to you how excited I am for this mission trip to begin! Of course, I am a bit nervous about a few things (It would make my day if you could pray for these things with me, thanks!):
~packing everything into one backpack that weighs under 33 lbs.
~selling all of my Sudan shirts
~getting everything accomplished here that I need to
~gathering all of my supplies for the trip
~figuring out what to do to occupy my 26 or so hours on the plane ride

I am confident that my Father has all of this in His hands and will see that it is done according to His perfect will. Thank you for your prayers as I make these last minute preparations!

Sudan Update

*At our Sonic fundraiser last Saturday we raised about $1,500 for the team! We are very thankful that God blessed our efforts and I'm very appreciative to Deanna and Kristy for car-hopping with me! :) Also, a BIG thank you to all of those who came out and tipped us!

*We leave for Africa in 12 DAYS!!!

*I completed my round of 5 shots.....$250.00 later, I NEVER want to see a needle again (wishful thinking).

*Most importantly.....my team is selling shirts to help raise money, prayer, and awareness for Sudan. If you would like to order one please leave a comment here, message me on Facebook, or send me an email. They are $15 each and come in sizes S, M, L, and XL.
Here is what they look like:

As always, thank you for your continued prayer and support, God is doing GREAT things for the nations!!!