Tororo

After a five hour bus ride, we finally arrived in Tororo, Uganda! We met up with Brianne and Amanda, a couple girls who have been at Smile for 5 months, and they have been great about showing us around the town. I am getting used to responding to "Muzungu!" which is a respected term for a white person. Everywhere we go, people are calling us this. Boda (mopeds/motorcycles) stop everywhere, wanting to give the Muzungu a ride. It makes me so happy to be able to make a child smile so big simply by waving at them. I don't think I will ever grow tired of it!

This morning, we went to church. It was a long service on hard benches, but the church was filled with such beautiful people. I was completely humbled by the way these people worship. Woship is a way of life for them, and praise seems to naturally tumble from their lips. When the singing would stop, everyone would just start praying, adoring their King of Kings with praises. Such a beautiful sound!

The hotel we're staying at is nice... we even have a flush toilet! And we have a beautiful view outside our room of the Tororo rock!

Tomorrow, we will start at Smile... mostly observing and playing with the kids for the first few days. We would love prayer for wisdom, for love, and for boldness. Thanks so much! Love and miss you all!

This is Africa

So after boarding the plane in Amsterdam, I realized I had forgotten my Bible and journal in the airport's waiting area. As soon as I discovered this, I started crying... trying so hard to not lose it. But then the guy next to me asked me if I was ok, and I lost it (at this point, I had been awake for 24 hours). Started sobbing saying, "I lost my Bible!" He wasn't a believer, so I think he thought I was crazy becoming unglued about a lost book! But we ended up having some good conversation, and I was able to share a little bit about the Lord with him. It's crazy how the Lord is already challenging me to trust Him more thus far... and I am sure that is only continue more! And, I had all my letters that many of you wrote, and I was SO encouraged. Plus, you guys provided ample Scripture for me to read while in the plane :) They had me laughing/crying (which probably made the guy next to me think I am even more of an emotional wreck!) But thank you all so much who wrote to me. It was such a blessing to me.

So today, we have just had more on-site training about the culture of Uganda... definitely informing. And then we will leave for Tororo tomorrow morning at 6:00 a.m. We are all so excited to finally be with the kids! But we won't actually start until Monday. We would definitely appreciate prayers for us to be God's vessels, energy, and for Christ's love to pour out of us. Thanks!

in the land of tulips

All of you Orange Cityer's... be proud. I am in Holland! Here's a picture of the sunrise flying in... wonderful :)

I am currently in the Amsterdam airport, getting ready to board in a little less than an hour to AFRICA! I never thought this moment would actually be here... but it is.

Already, the Lord is teaching me a lot. On the flight to Amsterdam, I got in a pretty intense spiritual conversation with the person next to me. He was an atheist, but saw my Bible and started asking me about it. He was very curious as to why I was so confident about my faith. These are opportunities that I pray for! Afterward the conversation though, I started analyzing everything I said, thinking, "I should've explained this better", "I can't believe I didn't talk about that!", and "I don't know if I really answered his question about this." The list goes on.

The Lord keeps gently prodding me that it is ok that I don't speak as eloquently as I think I should because when I am weak, HE IS STRONG. It is not my speaking that does the work, it is the Holy Spirit. Even though I am a bit of a talking mess at times... that means the more glory to HIM because I can certainly not claim any credit for myself.

And did I see any fruit? Not really. I suggested that he try reading the book of John this summer, but he said he probably wouldn't. But what peace I can have knowing that I can only plant the seed, but God does the work, and He is faithful beyond comprehension.

Side note: Amsterdam is SUPER expensive! I am kind of embarassed to say I spent $13.50 on a slice of pizza and pop... but on the positive side, there are tulips everywhere!

in New York!

Well, there's not too much to tell, but I figured I would give everyone an update while I knew the internet was still reliable :)

I got to AIM headquarters in New York yesterday after a long day of travel. I was almost sure our plane was going to crash as we were landing, but the Lord is faithful and I am still alive! The last couple days have been filled with getting to know our team members and seminars preparing for our upcoming summer.

It's been such a blessing to be surrounded by people who have the same passion and are excited about going. The Lord's really used it to give me peace, and once again, I'm ready to hop on that plane! Speaking of that, we will be boarding our plane tomorrow at 6:10. We'll first have a 8 hour flight to Amsterdam, a 3 hour layover, and then a 11 hour flight to Uganda :) :) 2 days from now, I will finally be in Africa!

And here are all my lovely team members at the AIM headquarters! From left to right: me, Kim, Michelle, Dani, and Laura
Love you all!
Stacy

less than a week?!

So I was starting to get nervous with 41 days until the trip... well, now I'm REALLY starting to get nervous because it's less than a week away! I don't know if I've ever felt such a mixture of nervousness and excitement before in my life.

With this week, I'm feeling nostalgic about everything... the lakes of Minnesota, going biking/rollerblading, having bonfires, etc., etc. Two verses have come to mind as I prepare to leave:

"Another said, 'I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.' Jesus said to him, 'No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.'" -Luke 9:61-62

and

"In all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." -Romans 8:37

The Lord has been assuring me that I have nothing to fear because He goes before me and He is with me. And in Him, I am more than a conqueror. I want to cherish my last few days in Minnesota with my family and my friends, but when I am in Africa, I want to be fully there. Of course this doesn't mean that I'm not going to think about all the people I love back home, but it does mean that I will be fully present and working on building relationships while I'm in Africa.

Here are some prayer requests for this upcoming summer:

• We will know the voice of our faithful Shepherd and be willing to follow wherever He leads us.
• Our team will be one just as the Father and Son are one.
• We will be filled with boldness and love
• We will become less and He will become greater- that in everything that happens this summer, we will be able to say, "only God could've done this!"
• There will be a few specific people at the orphanage/in the community that I will be able to pour into as well as learn from.

Thanks so much for praying! I am so blessed by you all!

It's coming!

41 days until I hop on a plane and leave for Africa.

All of this time, I have felt nothing but excitement for this new adventure that the Lord is bringing me on. I still am unbelievably excited, but reality is starting to set in a little bit. I'm thinking of leaving my family. Leaving my friends. Being done with college. Student teaching at a place where I don't know a single person in that country. Being immersed in another culture for four months. I didn't even think 4 months sounded like that long of a time before, but now it seems like a very long time. I'm sure once I'm there, it's going to fly by, but right now it seems like a long time to be without Dr. Pepper, without pizza, and without the people I love (not necessarily in that order!)

Sometimes, as I imagine saying goodbye to everyone and being alone in another country... I start to panic a little bit, thinking what am I doing?! But then I see the faces of the children, and a calmness comes over me, and I know. This is where I'm supposed to be. I know there will be challenging times up ahead. Periods of homesickness, sickness in general, and loneliness... but I'm excited to trust God in ways that I never have before. I know that His presence will be there with me through the good times and the bad.

"My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." -2 Corinth. 12:9

Now I just need to read this when I'm going through those difficult times :)

A little more than a month. Wow.

Living Through the Longing

We had another SOS meeting tonight, and sometimes, it's almost hard because the longing to be in Africa is so great. There are times where my heart just longs to be there. I want to hug those beautiful children. I want to listen to stories from those incredible men and women. I want to experience the joy, the heartache, the fulfillment, and the pain.

Jim Elliot once said, "Let not the longing slay the appetite of your living."

I'm finishing up my last semester of classes in the next couple months, which means I'll be leaving the dear friends that I've made throughout the course of my college career. Yes, there is SO much living to be done right here, right now... and I don't want to waste this chapter by dreaming about the next one.
Soon enough, I'll be writing on this blog from Africa. Until that time, I want to be completely living each day leading up to my trip, and soaking in the wonderful relationships I have here.