My Plane Leaves in About 24 Hours!

Today I spent most of the day packing. Who knew that I would need so much stuff! My mom and I each have one large suitcase to check, one small suitcase as our carry-on, and a large bag/purse. Each suitcase has about two or three space bags as well, with clothes and towels squished down for more space. Tomorrow night, we will head to the airport around 6:15, arriving at about 7:15. Our flight leaves around 9:30, and we arrive in New York at about 6 in the morning, on June 24th. We then have a five hour layover in New York - which I am excited about :) - and then we head out for our sixteen hour flight to South Africa. After we arrive in South Africa, we fly for two hours to Windhoek, Namibia. These past few days have been stressful because I have been put "in charge" of quite a few things for this trip. I was originally supposed to create a puppet show and a skit/drama for our Holiday Club. I was also then asked to speak to the teen girls at our Teens of Value conference about peer pressure.
At our TOV conference, the main focus of the event will be sex outside of marriage, how to prevent it, and what the consequences are. I have been asked to speak with the girls for about ten minutes about the peer pressures they face in school, and how God can help them make it through these tough times. I was and still am nervous about this, not because I have to speak in front of people, but because I don't know what to say! I am worried about creating examples that I can relate to, but also that the teen girls I speak with can relate to. Honestly, I have never felt pressured to have sex, so I can't use this as an example that I have experience with, and for all I know, the things that I have been pressured to do, they have not. But I will be speaking with Pearl, who is Pastor Tresford's seventeen year old daughter when I get there. I am so excited to meet her and to speak with her about what their lives are like in Namibia, because I know they will be different - and yet similar - to what I experience here.
It is hard to believe that I will be leaving tomorrow night. I feel like I am ready and so eager to go, but I am worried that I am not ready! I know that this will such an amazing experience, and I can't wait. I would greatly appreciate your prayers and support, especially for our flights, and for my talk with the girls at our TOV conference. This may be my last post before we leave, so I hope that my team and myself will be in your thoughts for the next three weeks. I can't wait to return and share my adventures with you!

6 Days

Yesterday, I was talking with someone at work, and realized that I will be leaving in one week. Just one week! I am so excited that words can't even explain this feeling. However, I am feeling a little nervous, and would love prayers and support. We will be traveling for almost two days before actually arriving in Windhoek, which is going to be hard for me. Now, I love flying, but not for flights that are as long as these will be. We are first flying to New York from Seattle, which is a five to six hour flight. This isn't terrible, but the flight is during the night, and we are expected to sleep. I have tried many times, and find it almost impossible to sleep on planes, so I would love prayer for this. I am very excited to have the chance to explore the New York airport, and maybe see the city a little, since we have a five hour layover. However, we then board our flight to Johannesburg, South Africa. This flight is about sixteen hours long. I am very, very nervous for this flight and the length, because it will be incredibly long. I have been told that the flight has movies, food, and music, which has helped my nerves somewhat, but not as much as I would like. I will have some sleeping pills to try and get rest while on this flight, but prayer for this would be much appreciated. I would also find it appropriate to pray for the flight crews for all the flights we will be on - three each way. These flights are long and tiring, and safety on these with lack of turbulence would be fantastic. Despite my nervous feelings, I know that this trip will be absolutely life changing and I can't wait to begin our work with the community. I greatly appreciate your support and love you all! Hopefully I can post once or twice more before I go, but this weekend is going to be relaxing for me - two of my best friends and I are going down to the Gorge for the Tim McGraw concert. I am hoping that this little weekend excursion will be able to take my mind off my nerves and stresses about packing and preparing and I will be able to just enjoy some good music and a weekend with my two best friends!

10 Days!

Someone asked me when I will be leaving, and I said, "Oh, next Thursday!" It was this very moment that I realized I leave in just over a week!

So, while I am in Namibia, I will be doing a lot of ministry work! One of the first things I will do with the rest of my team, is going on home visits. The pastor we work with, Pastor Tresford, who lives in Arundis - where we are going - has made a list of about 20 homes we will go to. He has the information for each family we will be visiting, so we can know what we will need to bring each family. We will bring things like clothes, food, and toys if the family has children. Many of the women we visit will have HIV/AIDS, so they will be very sick.We will also speak with the family, tell them about God's great love for us, and share with them a small bit from the Bible. I am so eager to see how each person will react to this information. I hope that many of them will be so hungry for God's love that they want us to pray with them to change their life righ then and there! I can't wait to see how this will happen - I know God will work through all of us and spread His word to all the people in Arundis. Can't wait!

12 Days and Counting...

I leave in just 12 days, and I am so excited! I wish that there were words to describe how I am feeling right now. As for this blog, I will hopefully have time to post a few times before I leave, just to describe the trip. While I won't have much access to the internet while I am in Namibia, I will be keeping a very thorough journal of each day's happenings. Once our team returns, I will create a post for each day or possibly for each event, along with a lot of pictures. I hope that this blog will provide you with insight into God's love for everyone! Please follow! :)