Hello all,
I am terribly sorry that there were no posts while we were on the ground in Uganda. The internet at the place we were staying was extremely scarce and didn't load our blog page well (it would take 5-10 minutes to load an email page).
But we are all back safely even though we had some health scares at the end. But again, God is amazing and His hand was at work even though being sick. No one got sick until the end, meaning that we were all healthy to do our ministry effectively.
Speaking of our ministry, wow.......In Kampala at Lugogo Baptist Church's HopeAlive! center, we all bonded well with the kids. We had a wide range of kids from 6 years old to 20 years old, and we each made lasting friendships. Some peope even gave us presents! That has never happened with a short term team that came to HopeAlive!, so that shows how much we made a impact on these guys as well has how much they made an impact on us.
As you know, we did VBS with sports ministry. Amazing. Mikayla and Maria were in charge of music, Rick, Erin, and Jessie were in charge of sports, Katrina and Elia were in charge of crafts (we did tie-dye bandanas) and hygiene, and Kristy and I were in charge of Bible. Our theme was Philippians 3:14, going towards God's goal.
We also went to Watoto, the Ugandan children's choir that tours the States, Europe, and Australia, and we did a one day VBS and sports day with them. They are all orphans that live together with a house mother in their own village. God has blessed them tremendously by providing 3 villages and a baby home, as well as schools on their land.
In Gulu, we got to see more of the impoverished side of Uganda. We went to HopeAlive! Gulu feeding center, which is in the middle of an IDP camp (Interally Displaced Persons). This is where people came to live to be protected from the war. As we drove, there were so many camps, and small plots of land where IDP huts were clustered together. At HopeAlive! we spent 2 days doing VBS and sports and then Saturday we helped the kids write letters to their sponsors. It was amazing to hear more about their stories and how they are so thankful for their sponsors. Their sponsors help pay for school fees and supplies, which leaves the money they make at home to go towards food and clothes.
Education is very important, so families will go without food in order to go to school.
There were kids with open sores where the flies were just eating at them. Last night, as I was looking through my pictures, I made the observation that many kids in Gulu have developmental and physical disabilities. It's because the lack of healthcare in the camps, along with prenatal care for mothers, clean water, clean food....You name it.
There was a communication barrier in Gulu because we had a lot of young kids, but also, education is scarce, so English was not being learned as fast as in the city. However, these kids were amazing. Some of the girls taught us traditional Acholi dancing. They mostly just laughed at the Bazungu (white people) trying to dance and shake our hips the way they do, but it was a great bonding time with the girls! I also learned some Luo words (their language) and how to count to 10. That was a great time because I had all the kids surrounding me from all ages, helping we learn how to count. And there were also those jr. high-aged boys that kept trying to trick me into saying the wrong words :)
We got to leave a brand new basketball hoop and some balls at Gulu, and also 2 hoops and more balls at Lugogo. That time, when we revealed our gifts, it was astounding to see the gratitude from the kids and workers alike. Sports is such a great pasttime in Uganda, and keeps them from doing other bad things in their spare time.
It was sad saying goodbye to the Gulu kids and our last day of ministry. My goal this trip was to bring hope and joy to the kids, at least for just a couple days, and teach them that true hope and joy comes from Christ alone. I think we accomplished that goal, as well as bringing a new found look on life for us as a team.
----------------------
Then we were off on a safari! We saw elephants, giraffe, cob, bushbuck, and 5 lions! We also got to see a kill, that was amazing. We also got attacked by baboons. You should ask us about that story. I almost died by baboon; THE most scariest moment in my life!
As Mikayla and I were sitting on top of the van, we were admiring God's beauty and I came to a conclusion:
God spent extra time in creating Africa. Because they are so poor, God gave them natural beauty of land, as well as of the people. The people are beautiful inside and out; and they also have gorgeous landscape and wildlife to continue to give God the glory.
The last week was when everyone got sick. We had to make 3 trips to the clinic within 3 days for everyone, meaning 4 trips total (Rick hurt his finger pretty bad at Watoto playing basketball. He's okay though). This being said, our last week of plans got changed many times, depending on who was sick and who was able to get out of bed. But all in all, we continued to see God's handiwork in all that we did.
Saying goodbye is always the hardest. Saying goodbye to the Davis family and their kids was an emotional time, as well as to all our friends we made throughout the trip. But good news! If we aren't able to see them again in Uganda, we will see them one day in heaven :)
This is just a short overcap of our time in Uganda. Each of us has different perspectives on every even that happened within our 2 1/2 weeks in Africa. I encourage you all to take the time to sit down and hear the stories of individuals. Ask what God was teaching them. Ask what they learned. Ask about the relationships built.
From my experiences last year and coming back to the States. I had a difficult time because I felt like no one wanted to listen to my stories and what God taught me. Not just the fun things that happened, but the deep emotional and spiritual struggles and high points.
So please, go out to lunch or something. Sit down for an hour or so, and just listen and ask questions. God did amazing things in us and through us and we just can't wait to share with our friends and families.
Thank you again for all your support. None of this could have happened without you. God has blessed us all (your support and our going) in seeing God work in Africa, as well as the team.
Thank you also for making the 9 of us a family :)
--Tiffany--
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
We are Off!!!
God is absolutely amazing. Yesterday we went to Jennie's church and the people were just wonderful. They prayed for us and then afterwards, a few of us were talking to the couple who donated the basketball hoops and we were telling them of our new dilemma of the hoops being oversize and we have to pay. We weren't too worried just because we knew God would either let us get an exemption or He would bring in the money.
Then the couple looked at each and pulled out their wallets! My heart stopped as I see them pull out 100s, 50s, and 20s. They gave us the complete $450 for oversize charges!!!! It was absolutely amazing. I started crying tears of joy because I just couldn't believe. God, You are amazing and keep me constantly in awe.
Then another couple invited us all out to lunch! They took us to this really good Mexican restaurant and let us order whatever we wanted. It was completely delicious and this couple was just wonderful as well.
Wow God.....My favorite verse is Psalm 56:4 "I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?" Throughout everything that has happened on this trip. I think this is proof to us all that we don't need to be afraid! God will provide for our every need as long as we completely trust in Him. Our team has definitely had our ups and downs, but our faith never failed. God told us we were going to Africa. Even when we didn't have hardly any money in just 3 weeks before our departure date, even when our donated supplies fell through, even when our luggage was oversized, GOD PROVIDES!!!!!!!!
It's now 5:40am on Monday and we are leaving for the airport at 7:45am. Our flight leaves around 11-something am. We fly to Detroit for an hour layover first, then to Amsterdam, where we will meet up with another girl named Sarah who is flying with us to Entebbe to work with HopeAlive! the WorldVenture orphanage. In Amsterdam we have a 4 hour layover where we will finish our debriefing (since we ran out of time here in Colorado), and then finally we will cross into Africa and get our first African sunset from the plane, over the Sahara Desert! Finally we land in Entebbe at 8:15pm where we will go through customs, meet Brian and Renee Davis (our missionaries), then drive about an hour to Kampala where we will be staying!
Keep praising God, keep praying for safety, health, and ministries. I still stand in awe of my Savior :)
Thank you for all the prayers; this goes to show that prayer is powerful. We love you all and we will be posting more about our trip, so keep checking back!
Tiffany
Then the couple looked at each and pulled out their wallets! My heart stopped as I see them pull out 100s, 50s, and 20s. They gave us the complete $450 for oversize charges!!!! It was absolutely amazing. I started crying tears of joy because I just couldn't believe. God, You are amazing and keep me constantly in awe.
Then another couple invited us all out to lunch! They took us to this really good Mexican restaurant and let us order whatever we wanted. It was completely delicious and this couple was just wonderful as well.
Wow God.....My favorite verse is Psalm 56:4 "I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?" Throughout everything that has happened on this trip. I think this is proof to us all that we don't need to be afraid! God will provide for our every need as long as we completely trust in Him. Our team has definitely had our ups and downs, but our faith never failed. God told us we were going to Africa. Even when we didn't have hardly any money in just 3 weeks before our departure date, even when our donated supplies fell through, even when our luggage was oversized, GOD PROVIDES!!!!!!!!
It's now 5:40am on Monday and we are leaving for the airport at 7:45am. Our flight leaves around 11-something am. We fly to Detroit for an hour layover first, then to Amsterdam, where we will meet up with another girl named Sarah who is flying with us to Entebbe to work with HopeAlive! the WorldVenture orphanage. In Amsterdam we have a 4 hour layover where we will finish our debriefing (since we ran out of time here in Colorado), and then finally we will cross into Africa and get our first African sunset from the plane, over the Sahara Desert! Finally we land in Entebbe at 8:15pm where we will go through customs, meet Brian and Renee Davis (our missionaries), then drive about an hour to Kampala where we will be staying!
Keep praising God, keep praying for safety, health, and ministries. I still stand in awe of my Savior :)
Thank you for all the prayers; this goes to show that prayer is powerful. We love you all and we will be posting more about our trip, so keep checking back!
Tiffany
Saturday, May 9, 2009
HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!
Happy Mothers day from the whole team to all the amazing, wonderful mothers. Thank you for all you do. We are all so thankful for you! We love you and miss you!
fefe (Title from Elia)
Well, its been a busy last couple days! A good number of our donations didn't come in like we expected so a few of us had to stay back and make 5,000,000,000 phone calls to dentist offices, hotels, and the airlines while the rest of the team got to go on a hike. Mikayla, Maria and I were making phone calls, and although we got tired of all the rejections, we did get some good donations!
But it was strange and not very fun to be separated from the rest of the team. Over the past few months we have grown to be such a family and its just strange when we aren't all together. :) It's amazing how much closer we have come together in just the few days in Colorado.
Our next trial: Getting everything in our checked bags and not being overweight!!!!
Praise God though! We got 3 huge $300 basketball hoops donated! Also some very nice basketballs and an airpump with needles. All from the same guy!
But the bad thing about this is the basketball hoops are oversize and overweight, so we have been trying to get either a discount or not be charged at all for oversize. Jessie was on the phone with the airlines for hours trying to work this out, but because we leave on Monday, they said they couldn't do anything. So that is depressing, which means that we have to pay at least $150 each hoop for being oversize. That is at least $450 extra that we have to come up with again. Also, our craft idea got shot down so I quickly had to come up with a new idea. So we decided to do tie-dye bandanas. I was able to get us some fabric for a discount, and Mikayla and Maria got some tie-dye kits for a discount. So that is exciting, but that is also an extra cost to us because we had to buy our crafts. We were going to do t-shirts, so I called Church Artworks, in Salem, Or, to see about getting us some more shirts. And we were just going to fly Maria home real quick since she flies for free with her dad being a pilot. It was funny, because they were looking up flights as I was on the phone. But that didn't work out, so Maria is still here :)
Today, (that all happened yesterday, on Thursday) We had some more things to pick up that got donated, plus a huge checklist of things to get done. So some of us stayed back to repack our sports bags and others went to stores and banks.
Erin and I cut fabric for about 3-4 hours. We are so sick of looking at fabric!!!!
Katrina, Elia, Kristy, and Maria all packed the bags of our equipment and other stuff.
It was a crazy busy morning, and afternoon!
We still have so much to get done before we leave on Monday, so you can be praying about that, too
I am just so excited to see how God is going to continue to bless us and work things out in miraculous ways on this trip. We have such a testimony to God's amazing providence!!! And I am so glad that you get to share in this too.
Something else exciting! Thursday was Erin's birthday!!!! Jessie and I had a "special task" for Jennie in the morning, which was to make birthday cakes upstairs so no one knew :) Then in the evening, we sent some people to play soccer in the park across the street while others stayed back to decorate the upstairs kitchen patio where we ordered Thai curry and ate together. Once Erin cam eup, we sand Happy Birthday for her and she was actually surprised! It was so cute. She opened her present that we bought her and she loved it. There was a soccer ball pillow, a Color Explosion kit (very cool), and some pretty pens to write in her new journal her sister bought her before she left :) It was really fun, and we laughed alot, like always. Then we played 2 Truths and a Lie. And that was fun to here all the interesting facts about everyone. Although I got in trouble about my "relationship" with a Ugandan :)
Anyways, God is awesome and amazing, and we still need some more major prayers, but we contintue to praise our Almighty God!
Some prayer requests:
-Some team members are sick, so pray they will be better before we get into Uganda
-God will miraculously lighten the weight of our luggage and we won't get charged extra for our suitcases that are right at 50 lbs according to our scale
-God will soften the hearts of the airport people and we won't have to pay a huge fee for our basketball hoops
-last minute details before we leave
THANK YOU!!!!!!!
Tiffany
But it was strange and not very fun to be separated from the rest of the team. Over the past few months we have grown to be such a family and its just strange when we aren't all together. :) It's amazing how much closer we have come together in just the few days in Colorado.
Our next trial: Getting everything in our checked bags and not being overweight!!!!
Praise God though! We got 3 huge $300 basketball hoops donated! Also some very nice basketballs and an airpump with needles. All from the same guy!
But the bad thing about this is the basketball hoops are oversize and overweight, so we have been trying to get either a discount or not be charged at all for oversize. Jessie was on the phone with the airlines for hours trying to work this out, but because we leave on Monday, they said they couldn't do anything. So that is depressing, which means that we have to pay at least $150 each hoop for being oversize. That is at least $450 extra that we have to come up with again. Also, our craft idea got shot down so I quickly had to come up with a new idea. So we decided to do tie-dye bandanas. I was able to get us some fabric for a discount, and Mikayla and Maria got some tie-dye kits for a discount. So that is exciting, but that is also an extra cost to us because we had to buy our crafts. We were going to do t-shirts, so I called Church Artworks, in Salem, Or, to see about getting us some more shirts. And we were just going to fly Maria home real quick since she flies for free with her dad being a pilot. It was funny, because they were looking up flights as I was on the phone. But that didn't work out, so Maria is still here :)
Today, (that all happened yesterday, on Thursday) We had some more things to pick up that got donated, plus a huge checklist of things to get done. So some of us stayed back to repack our sports bags and others went to stores and banks.
Erin and I cut fabric for about 3-4 hours. We are so sick of looking at fabric!!!!
Katrina, Elia, Kristy, and Maria all packed the bags of our equipment and other stuff.
It was a crazy busy morning, and afternoon!
We still have so much to get done before we leave on Monday, so you can be praying about that, too
I am just so excited to see how God is going to continue to bless us and work things out in miraculous ways on this trip. We have such a testimony to God's amazing providence!!! And I am so glad that you get to share in this too.
Something else exciting! Thursday was Erin's birthday!!!! Jessie and I had a "special task" for Jennie in the morning, which was to make birthday cakes upstairs so no one knew :) Then in the evening, we sent some people to play soccer in the park across the street while others stayed back to decorate the upstairs kitchen patio where we ordered Thai curry and ate together. Once Erin cam eup, we sand Happy Birthday for her and she was actually surprised! It was so cute. She opened her present that we bought her and she loved it. There was a soccer ball pillow, a Color Explosion kit (very cool), and some pretty pens to write in her new journal her sister bought her before she left :) It was really fun, and we laughed alot, like always. Then we played 2 Truths and a Lie. And that was fun to here all the interesting facts about everyone. Although I got in trouble about my "relationship" with a Ugandan :)
Anyways, God is awesome and amazing, and we still need some more major prayers, but we contintue to praise our Almighty God!
Some prayer requests:
-Some team members are sick, so pray they will be better before we get into Uganda
-God will miraculously lighten the weight of our luggage and we won't get charged extra for our suitcases that are right at 50 lbs according to our scale
-God will soften the hearts of the airport people and we won't have to pay a huge fee for our basketball hoops
-last minute details before we leave
THANK YOU!!!!!!!
Tiffany
Phone Calls, Packing and Red Rocks oh and don't forget driving all over Littleton Colorado!
Hey everyone this is Katrina. Here is a little update on what we have been up to these past couple days. On Thursday we got up and started taking personality tests that were used to see how we would all relate to each other and helped our amazing leader from World Venture Jennie who we love, to understand our dynamics better. The tests took a really long time and we had a few frustrations with them slash hilarious moments but in the end we all finished them and we found out...I mean we already knew this but we all like to have a lot of fun. Good times! We had an eventful day but not much to talk about. It was all good. For training we watched a movie that was pointless and we were really mad at it because it did not have a conclusion it just ended. We ended the day by celebrating Erins birthday which was super fun and we had delicious cake!
Friday was an early morning for all of us. We were trying to reshedule a hike because we had a lot to do but we were unable to get a hold of the people taking us so six of us went while the other three amazing, fabulous, awesome team members stayed back and worked in the office all day which Tiff is talking about. The rest of us met up with Greg and Debbie two World Venture employees who were really excited to take us on a hike. When we arrived we decided to take a more scenic hike then the one originally planned because of the intense hike we took on Wednesday. We ended up hiking through the Red Rocks which are these beautiful rock formations that are all shades of red and in really cool shapes. Greg and Debbie were awesome and we had a great time enjoying the gorgeous scenery and the company but we missed the rest of our team dearly. We are such a tight family that not having the whole team together was really hard. When we returned we tried to help the office girls but they needed some time to find things for us to do. I went with Jennie to get her typhoid shot which was a huge answer to prayer because she is alergic to the oral. We also picked up one dentists donation. Then when I got back I helped with the assignments, we all spent hours on the phone asking for donations of hygeniene products from hotels. For every 50 nos there was 1 yes so that was difficult but worth it. Then we watched Aladin and pretty much relaxed. While Tiffany and and Elia drove all over town picking up the donations from the dentists. They were gone for hours and we are so thankful for their dedication cause we have a lot and I mean a lot of dentist stuff!!! I am so excited to give all the needy kids the donations!
Saturday- Half of the team stayed and packed all our stuff and cut up fabric while the other half went to banks to get our money deposited or changed to newer bills for a better exchange rate. I went to the banks and we were so lucky cause Chase/ Wamu was having a costumer appreciation barbeque for free so we all got hot dogs, chilps, pop and cookies. It was so yummy and the tellers were so nice and excited about our trip! Then we went to Sports Authority and picked up the three b-ball hoops that were donated to us!!!! They are huge and heavy but we recieved them for free which is over $900 of equipment. Also that same donation comes with 10 brand new b-balls and pumps. Oh man so exciting God is so good!!!! Now we are picking up our craft materials and relazing at headquarters. Plus updating the blog.
There you go friends and family. This is our life so far. And so much more but I don't want to type it all and I don't want to bore you all. I hope this finds you well. Please be praying for us.
Because of His Grace
Katrina
Friday was an early morning for all of us. We were trying to reshedule a hike because we had a lot to do but we were unable to get a hold of the people taking us so six of us went while the other three amazing, fabulous, awesome team members stayed back and worked in the office all day which Tiff is talking about. The rest of us met up with Greg and Debbie two World Venture employees who were really excited to take us on a hike. When we arrived we decided to take a more scenic hike then the one originally planned because of the intense hike we took on Wednesday. We ended up hiking through the Red Rocks which are these beautiful rock formations that are all shades of red and in really cool shapes. Greg and Debbie were awesome and we had a great time enjoying the gorgeous scenery and the company but we missed the rest of our team dearly. We are such a tight family that not having the whole team together was really hard. When we returned we tried to help the office girls but they needed some time to find things for us to do. I went with Jennie to get her typhoid shot which was a huge answer to prayer because she is alergic to the oral. We also picked up one dentists donation. Then when I got back I helped with the assignments, we all spent hours on the phone asking for donations of hygeniene products from hotels. For every 50 nos there was 1 yes so that was difficult but worth it. Then we watched Aladin and pretty much relaxed. While Tiffany and and Elia drove all over town picking up the donations from the dentists. They were gone for hours and we are so thankful for their dedication cause we have a lot and I mean a lot of dentist stuff!!! I am so excited to give all the needy kids the donations!
Saturday- Half of the team stayed and packed all our stuff and cut up fabric while the other half went to banks to get our money deposited or changed to newer bills for a better exchange rate. I went to the banks and we were so lucky cause Chase/ Wamu was having a costumer appreciation barbeque for free so we all got hot dogs, chilps, pop and cookies. It was so yummy and the tellers were so nice and excited about our trip! Then we went to Sports Authority and picked up the three b-ball hoops that were donated to us!!!! They are huge and heavy but we recieved them for free which is over $900 of equipment. Also that same donation comes with 10 brand new b-balls and pumps. Oh man so exciting God is so good!!!! Now we are picking up our craft materials and relazing at headquarters. Plus updating the blog.
There you go friends and family. This is our life so far. And so much more but I don't want to type it all and I don't want to bore you all. I hope this finds you well. Please be praying for us.
Because of His Grace
Katrina
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Pressing on towards the goal of arriving in Uganda
Monday morning. The day we had all been waiting for for about four months. Boarding the plane, I shot a short prayer up to God with joy, "Here we go again God." Since Monday, God has just continued the long, but rewarding journey that has been preparing us to serve in Uganda. I just can't believe that we are going so soon! These past three days I have been reflecting on the journey God has put us through so far in preparation for this trip. he has been so good! Every step of the way He has faithfully been helping us and providing for us, and He continues to while we are here in Denver. Our time here has already been a growing and learning experience. It has only been two full days here, and it feels like it has been at least a week. We have been busy getting ready to go to Uganda, but most of those moments have been filled with laughter and good team chemistry. God has so uniquely and wonderfully put our team together, and I'm thrilled to grow in Christ with all of them! So far our training has been so helpful and meaningful--today we talked about how to handle conflict, how to say good-byes, and studied John 13 where Jesus washed His disciples feet. We then had the opportunity to wash each other's feet and pray for one another. It was humbling, eye-opening, and very encouraging.
As a team we are reading through the book of Philippians. In fact, we will end up reading through it about four times. Our VBS theme is taken right our of the book--Philippians 4:13 (you should look it up:-) Our phrase for the VBS's is "Playing for God's team--Pressing towards the goal". This passage will be great because we will be able to incorporate sports and hopefully make the whole VBS very applicable to the kids.
We want to continually thank you for your support and prayer as we continue on our journey. You can all still be in prayer for a variety of things: energy, patience, focus, health, and safety/planning of last minute details. Also, our team leader, Jennie, is having some difficulties getting her last shot, so if you can all be in prayer that she can get that shot, it would be wonderful.
God is good. That is the conclusion our team comes to almost minutely as we see Him work. Thank you again for your prayers and support.
In His Service,
Maria :-)
Philippians 1:1-11
As a team we are reading through the book of Philippians. In fact, we will end up reading through it about four times. Our VBS theme is taken right our of the book--Philippians 4:13 (you should look it up:-) Our phrase for the VBS's is "Playing for God's team--Pressing towards the goal". This passage will be great because we will be able to incorporate sports and hopefully make the whole VBS very applicable to the kids.
We want to continually thank you for your support and prayer as we continue on our journey. You can all still be in prayer for a variety of things: energy, patience, focus, health, and safety/planning of last minute details. Also, our team leader, Jennie, is having some difficulties getting her last shot, so if you can all be in prayer that she can get that shot, it would be wonderful.
God is good. That is the conclusion our team comes to almost minutely as we see Him work. Thank you again for your prayers and support.
In His Service,
Maria :-)
Philippians 1:1-11
Littleton Colorado= Adventures Galor!
Hello All!
Hope everything is going well over on the West side! =] We're here in Colorado, it's been three days and we've all been having a blast! Monday night all but two of us arrived here, in Littleton. Tuesday our last two members got here, our one boy, yes one boy, Rick Saffeels and Jessie Jones. We really didn't feel complete without them...
Since Tuesday we've been "training", yesterday our lunch arrived about an hour and half late, as a part of a test that our WorldVenture leader put us through, we passed well enough. ;) Today we all went on a hike...we had to drive to this hill/mountain without the help of our WorldVenture leader, then climb up 1.6 miles of the hill/mountain, while planning most of our VBS program and get back down and back here to base in 2 hours! It was very challenging, it was pretty steep and we had to make sure the team was staying together, we had to have patience when some needed more breaks than others. It was a really good challenge, and we almost made it back in time, but we got a little lost on the way back...haha...we really have been having so much fun! We started a quote "page" and we already have two full pages filled up. The team is bonding so well and I'm so thankful to be able to be a part of this group and trip!
God has already been doing some wonderful things for us! On Monday morning, the day we left, we still needed around $2,000 by Monday night we had gotten that final bit of money in plus some! It's been so cool to see God work and come through on His own timing! =D
Tomorrow, AKA my birthday =], we are getting up at 8:30 am (7:30 am West Coast time) for devotionals, then taking personality tests, so our leader (Jennie) will be able to better know us and how we interact with each other and we'll probably be doing other activites with that as well! I'm so pumped to see what God has in store for us, we've been doing such great things here and I can't wait to get to Africa! I'm hoping to learn a lot from this experience and to also share the love of Christ with others! I know I've already been stretched, just within my own comfort zones and I def. know my patience has been tested and that's one of the things I hope I grow in!
There is so much more I feel like I could say about the things that have been going on here, but I think that's sufficient for now...I do want to say thank you for all your prayers and support! We appreciate it so very much and I know that it will be and is much needed!!! =D
tah-tah for now!
-Erin
Hope everything is going well over on the West side! =] We're here in Colorado, it's been three days and we've all been having a blast! Monday night all but two of us arrived here, in Littleton. Tuesday our last two members got here, our one boy, yes one boy, Rick Saffeels and Jessie Jones. We really didn't feel complete without them...
Since Tuesday we've been "training", yesterday our lunch arrived about an hour and half late, as a part of a test that our WorldVenture leader put us through, we passed well enough. ;) Today we all went on a hike...we had to drive to this hill/mountain without the help of our WorldVenture leader, then climb up 1.6 miles of the hill/mountain, while planning most of our VBS program and get back down and back here to base in 2 hours! It was very challenging, it was pretty steep and we had to make sure the team was staying together, we had to have patience when some needed more breaks than others. It was a really good challenge, and we almost made it back in time, but we got a little lost on the way back...haha...we really have been having so much fun! We started a quote "page" and we already have two full pages filled up. The team is bonding so well and I'm so thankful to be able to be a part of this group and trip!
God has already been doing some wonderful things for us! On Monday morning, the day we left, we still needed around $2,000 by Monday night we had gotten that final bit of money in plus some! It's been so cool to see God work and come through on His own timing! =D
Tomorrow, AKA my birthday =], we are getting up at 8:30 am (7:30 am West Coast time) for devotionals, then taking personality tests, so our leader (Jennie) will be able to better know us and how we interact with each other and we'll probably be doing other activites with that as well! I'm so pumped to see what God has in store for us, we've been doing such great things here and I can't wait to get to Africa! I'm hoping to learn a lot from this experience and to also share the love of Christ with others! I know I've already been stretched, just within my own comfort zones and I def. know my patience has been tested and that's one of the things I hope I grow in!
There is so much more I feel like I could say about the things that have been going on here, but I think that's sufficient for now...I do want to say thank you for all your prayers and support! We appreciate it so very much and I know that it will be and is much needed!!! =D
tah-tah for now!
-Erin
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