You should buy stock in Kleenex

The pile of tissues stacked up on the living room floor as my mom & I sat and cried together for a good hour last night. It was the first time either one of us had really allowed our emotions to let go since my decision a few months ago to leave for 2 years. I expressed my sadness over missing out on family stuff for two years. She expressed her sadness over losing me and losing out on 2 years of my life. She said she felt like her right arm was being cut off...which, of course made me cry more.
I find it interesting that my deep love for family is actually driving me to leave my family for 2 years. It is for the sake of families on the other side of the world that I'm abandoning my own family--& it doesn't make a lot of sense. But I've been learning over the past few years that sometimes being a follower of Christ causes situations in our lives that don't make a lot of sense. Logic doesn't always fit into a life that strives to follow Jesus. If we knew everything & it all made sense, then I guess there'd be no God. In that case, I'm glad that not everything makes sense! I'm sure this is a good concept to keep in mind as I prepare to enter a world that won't make very much sense to me at all.
So please, continue to pray. For my family & me, but most of all for the families that need hope on the other side of the world. (and if you do buy stock in kleenex...you should use it to help others in need!!! :) )

30 days to go...

The countdown has officially begun! I can't believe that 30 days from this moment I will be in an airplane flying towards London and then on to Entebbe. This experience has been a whirlwind of emotions and experiences so far. I agree with my teammates...I never knew it took so much work to move to a different country for two years! And I stuggle with the thought of leaving my loved ones behind. This will be my first Christmas without my family. I am missing weddings of friends that I have known forever. It is easy for me to become fearful, leaving the comfortable and known for the uncomfortable and unknown. But, as 1 John reminds us, "perfect love casts out fear." God has been instilling this concept in my heart this week. It is incredible to have such an awesome relationship with such a loving Father!

Team Tumai

So here's my team! L to R: Kelly, Carrie, me, & Greg. (In case you're wondering...."tumai" is the Swahili word for hope.) At 5'8", I'm the shortest one on the team. :)

Alita's Song

On a recent trip to Ashland, OR to see a Shakespeare show with my mom, we stayed with long time family friends, Mike & Diana Warner and their daughter Katie. Although we were only there for the weekend, Mike wrote a song for me about my going to Africa and sang it for me during their church service on Sunday morning. My mom & I sat there in tears the whole time! Here are the lyrics: (By the way, this could easily be titled "Kelly's Song," or "Carrie's Song, or "Greg's Song" as well.)

Alita's Song

by Mike Warner

Some people wander life aimless

Others seek riches and charms

Some people stay

In lands far away

So the lonely can lie in their arms

Which we become is a mystery

What is it that turns us around

Sometimes the wise

Sometimes the despised

Pour out their souls on the ground

And Jesus, He was a rambler

Never called any place home.

He wandered lands

And offered his hands

To the young and the sick and the old

Ours is a land blessed with plenty

Some say it's more than our share

And yet there are those

Whose willingness rose

To give away more than is fair.

And this is the path you have taken

No one can walk it but you.

A desperate chance

To share in a dance

That almost none of us knew.

And Jesus, He was a rambler

I sense that you will be too.

A delicate life

Against suffering and strife

Even after you've costed it through

I don't believe in nations

But I believe in you

To stand in the road

Shoulder the load

And change the world when you do

And change the world when you do

I wish we all could be ramblers

But only some of us do.

Lay down the money

The milk and the honey

Trade a cause for the life that we knew

And if that's the life you are choosing

You know that there's no turning cold

For once you have tasted

The life that ain't wasted

It runs like a drug through your soul.

And Jesus, he was a rambler

And you crave the life that He owns.

Once you're a rambler

An idealist gambler

You'll feel the call in your bones.

You'll live your life as a rambler

You will call every place home

You'll wander the lands

And offer your hands

To the young and the sick and the old

To the young and the sick and the old

To the young and the sick and the old

Copyright 2005 Mike Warner.

Cool song, huh?! Thanks, Mike! It really means a lot to me. :)

Signs...

So I mentioned that I have received several "signs" that the work we are about to do is what God wants us to do. The first thing that happened was my pastor was given the unexpected opportunity to go to Africa to visit the work that Christian Relief Fund does in Uganda & Kenya. This gave him the chance to talk with missionaries to see what needs to be done. The day after he returned, we spoke with him at church about what he found out. The missionaries currently in Uganda were overjoyed to here that there were some people who wanted to come over and help. The moment I learned that, I knew that God had swung the door that I had been praying about wide open. I drove home from church that night on clouds---I was elated to think that this dream could be becoming a reality. What's even wierder is what happened the next day, however. One of my profs approached me during lunch hour and told me he had been thinking about me and praying about me over the weekend and felt that he needed to tell me something. He said that he felt that God wanted me to know that I would find my life fulfillment in Kenya! The crazy thing is, my prof had no idea that just the night before I had been chatting with my pastor about that exact possibility! I just have to tell you...God is good! And then there's the issue about student loans. This year my college offered, for the first time, a grant that will pay a graduate's student loans for the entire time he or she is on the mission field. Greg, one of my teammates & I, who happened to be graduating this year AND going to the mission field both received the scholarship. Coincidence? I think not! God has been opening doors left & right since we received the initial opportunity in March. He is Good...

Why Africa?

Almost three years ago I sat in church listening to our pastor talk about the pandemic that was sweeping through the continent of Africa. Nation by nation was being (and still is) destroyed by AIDS. People my age were dying by the minute. Mothers, fathers, children, most of whom were innocent, loosing everything. As a social science major, looking at a future in Family Counseling, I was deeply moved that there were literally millions of children who had no parents due to this deadly pandemic. Surely there was a way to help. But could I possibly be one who would be called upon to bring hope & healing to such a dire situation? As I continued to hear about what has been called the worst pandemic in the history of the world, I also continued to pray & seek God's direction in my life. I knew that a decision to go to Africa was not one to be made lightly. My faith told me to seek earnestly the path for my life. I considered all of my options: Graduate school, moving back to my hometown, getting a job & enjoying not being a student for a while; moving to Texas to seek another ministry opportunity....or AFRICA. The more I prayed, the more my heart was pulled to Africa. (I mean, look at the faces of these children!) I also received many "signs" or confirmations that I should go, which I plan to talk about here as well. It is my hope that this story will be yet another story of God's faithfulness--the faithfulness of a loving Father who continues to be faithful in spite of the worst that the world has to offer.

Here goes...

As I prepare to leave for Africa next month, I thought it would be a good idea to create a site where my friends & family could check in on me from time to time. So here's my new blog! I am so excited to share with you in my adventure serving the Lord in Africa. Please feel free to post comments or email me whenever your heart desires. Especially after September 26th, our departure date. I want to stay in touch with home as much as possible over the next 2 years.