$19 on the 19th

August has always been a month I look forward to each year. It means that fall is right around the corner. August usually has great weather. Oh and it has my birthday! I have had the typical toy list when I was young and the practical list through the early 20's. This year, I only have two things on my list.

I ask that you donate $19 on August 19th.

I ask that you share about this next step in my ministry in Africa as leap into full time ministry with Africa Inland Mission. 

You can read a little bit about what is coming HERE in a previous post. 

Be sure to "follow" this blog so you can get updates as I prepare and transition into full time ministry in Tanzania. 

All money donated for $19 on the 19th will go toward my outgoing financial needs that total to about $15,000. 

Fun fact #1: If 150 people donate $19 on the 19th then I will have 19% of the $15,000.

Fun fact #2: If 213 people donate $19 on the 19th then I will have 27% of the $15,000 on my 27th birthday.

This weekend I will be sending out information on a few different ways you can donate. 

For now, please mark your calendars for $19 on the 19th….that is next Tuesday!!

Let's look at some numbers

It goes without saying that numbers are one of my high points. I love working with numbers and figuring out ways to connect things via numbers. Lately, so many numbers have had me in awe.
I'll share them in numerical order because that just makes sense.

1 - One new friendship began on Sunday, July 27. Melody (my one and only team member for Tanzania) and I were able to connect by phone call for the first time. It was so great to "officially" meet and begin our journey together.

1 - One home church continues to amaze me. There are a variety of ways that with hindsight I can see how God's timing for my move to Africa is right. One of the biggest concepts that continues to bring joy to every ounce of me is my home church. I have never felt so connected to a body of believers before this group of people. Each person continues to support me in whatever way they can and it often brings a flood of emotions. My church family is no doubt one of the things that I will miss the most.

1.8 - This is the percentage of my outgoing funds that came all in one day. It sure made August 5th a great day. It was a perfect way for God to send a little message to me that He will provide!

2 - Two years is the minimum length of my commitment to build relationships with the Digo people group in NE Tanzania so that I may have the opportunity to share the Gospel with them.

3 - Three years ago on August 6, 2011 I was getting on a plane to begin my first journey to Africa. It is quite mind boggling to think about all that has happened in such a short time.

5 - Five months until I leave for Africa. Actually, it is a little less than five months. My Africa Based Orientation (ABO) will begin on January 13th.

5 - Five trips to Africa have already changed my life. Each one has been oh so very different and God continues to shine with each new experience.

12 - Twelve is the number of weeks that I have spent in Africa….roughly, some of that is travel. That is a mere three months of time and seems like the blink of an eye compared to the next step in my journey as I strive to walk in God's will.

52 - Fifty two pages are in my new passport that arrived today. It is very exciting! I had a lot of milage and stamps in my first passport and I am looking forward to filling up another one!!!

$2,500 - Two thousand five hundred is the amount of financial support that I need pledged on a monthly basis for each month that I am on the field.

$15,000 - Fifteen thousand is the amount of financial support I need for my outgoing costs. This will cover but is not limited to domestic travel, international travel, medical, milage, printing, language school, orientation, and travel documents.

$20,000+  - Twenty thousand and some more is the amount of financial support that has already been donated for all of my previous trips to Africa. This includes all of the airfare, lodging, food, donations, and every little detail of all those trips.

Infinite - The amount of prayers that I have received over the past few years to help me and my teams as we went to go share Christ's love in Africa. It is also the number of prayers that I covet right now as I prepare for this indescribable experience that I am about to embark upon.



As much as I love order for things that can be orderly, I also love to be absolutely random at times. With that said, let's have one more number.

4 - Four people is how many people I would love for you to share with about what God has called me to do. I ask you to do that however you feel comfortable. You can share my blog through email, talk about it over lunch at work, share with your family this weekend, or bring it up at your next small group meeting for church. I ask you to do this for TWO reasons.
1. That more people would join in prayerfully supporting Melody and me over the next two years.
2. That more people would be encouraged to follow what God has called them to do as they see the joy that it brings me to be so confidently walking the path that I know He paved for me.



PS: That 4 really wasn't that random. I had a method of coming up with it.
;-)

So Many Families

Four families opened up their home to me today.

I was blessed to share a meal with three of them.

Two of the families have opened up their home for me to sleep there (one last night and one tonight).

Each and every place was filled with love and laughter.
Each and every place was a home.
Each and every place welcomed me like I belonged there.
Each and every place blessed me.

Some people say that you have to have bad days so that you can appreciate the good days. Today was not only a good day but also a day that I truly felt loved and blessed by many. It has been a day to remember, a day full of moments that I will treasure. I have been blessed beyond what I could imagine. Someone could have asked me a year ago or months ago if I thought a day like today could happen. A day when so many families have welcomed me and made me part of their family is a day that fill my heart with thankfulness. What a blessing it is to have so many places that I could call home and to have so many people that consider me family.

I know there will be hard days in Tanzania and I have no idea how long the "honeymoon" phase will last. But it is days like today that I will tuck away in my memory bank for those homesick days. I hope I can build a memory bank full of moments that leave me with no doubt that my family of all kinds is still right by my side.

There is another aspect to days like today.

I wonder when a day like today will happen in Tanzania. How long will we be there before we have friends that are like family? How long will we be there before we share meals with a variety of people? What will it look like when a family invites me into their home?

I understand that the answers to all of these questions will be here oh so very soon. As much as I know that there are other topics that need my attention, I can't help but let my mind wander a bit and dream a little…..

Countless Emotions

Moving happened a few times when I was growing up……..

When I was turning six, my family moved from Texas to Iowa.
When I was in third grade, we moved to Missouri.
When I was in the middle of high school, we moved to Tennessee.

I don't remember ever being happy about any of those moves…..

This may be my first move that I am happy about. But I have to actually remind myself to feel happy because I seem to rarely have the time to enjoy the happiness.

I returned from my trip with Visiting Orphans ten days ago. Let me tell you that those 10 days have felt like a few months because of all that is happening. In such a time it seems that my emotions have wavered more than that of a child meeting her hero, losing her favorite toy, eating the best meal, going to a park, falling off the monkey bars, having a sleepover with her best friend, losing her pet fish, and getting ice cream all in one day.

I have been:
Excited - that this is becoming a reality
Overwhelmed - about everything that has to be done
Joyous - at a helpful new friend
Nervous - about how to share about this new journey
Shocked - that there is so much paperwork (not sure what I expected)
Unsure - of how I will have enough opportunities to develop supporters
Speechless - at the generosity of friends as they strive to help in anyway they can
Accomplished - at checking things off the list
Thankful - for the gift of time to get things done when I didn't expect to
Frustrated - when I realized some things were done incorrectly
Helpless - when I saw a glimpse of another's feelings regarding this process

That seems like such an incomplete list to describe the emotions of the last 10 days.
I want to share one more with you and this will come with a story.

This morning I had my first moment of sadness. I know the next five months will be filled with countless "lasts" as I get closer and closer to getting on a plane. Some of those "lasts" will be heart breaking and some I will welcome with open arms. This morning I didn't have a last kind of situation. But I did realize that I will not be here in Clarksville, TN anymore. This morning I saw a friend post a picture of a group of people on Facebook. They were about to have a road trip to go to a park for the day. There was so much joy and excitement in that photo that you could feel it emitting off of the computer screen. Somehow, in the moment I was looking at the photo, I realized that I am leaving and I won't be here with my friends. I will miss events, birthdays, road trips, anniversaries, movie nights, ice cream dates with the girls, holidays, walks in the park, and literally everything else.

I can comprehensively understand that importance of what I will not be missing. I will be exposed to opportunities that most people dream about. I will be in a culture that most have never heard the word "Jesus". I will be building relationships so that an opportunity will happen to share the Gospel. I will be obeying what God has called me to do. That will make it all worth it but my Earthly heart still aches for what I will miss.

If all this has happened in 10 days, I can not imagine what will happen in the next five months. I imagine that list of emotions will repeat itself many times over. I hope, that each time, it prepares me for the same emotions that will occur in Tanzania. In all my travels, I have most definitely learned that emotions can cross every cultural barrier.