Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Now the dust has started to settle...

It has been a long time since my last post. I apologize for that. We didn't have any internet access at the conference in Cameroon and I didn't want to spend my last days in Cameroon and Paris on the computer.
Coming home I hit the ground running having to finish planning our leaders retreat that was this past weekend, and trying to reconnect with friends. I also had my nights filled with watching the Olympics! (a slight obsession I have!)
Now that the dust has settled some, the retreat is over, and the Winter Olympics are 2 years away I will devote sometime in sharing my stories and some pictures with you. I finally posted my pictures on facebook, so if we're facebook friends please look!

The trip was amazing! The stories, the lessons learned, the relationships formed, all things I would never trade for the world! I know that my life has definitely been changed for the better from the month away. The theme that I was learning through my time away was that:

God will always be with you wherever you go, but He doesn't promise that it will always be easy.

While in Hungary I talked to many different missionaries from all different backgrounds and serving in different capacities. A lot of them shared with me their joys and also their sorrows. Many women shared that they struggled with the lack of relationships on the field, or the ones that they were missing from home. The Thursday afternoon of the conference all the women boarded a boat for an afternoon of fellowship. We took a little ride in what I think was a lake, had lunch and talked. Towards the end of the ride some women got on the loud speaker and shared about how Jesus doesn't call to us from the side of the shore, he gets into the boat with us, and through there might be sharks around the boat nibbling our toes, He is still with us.
In Cameroon we had team time each evening sitting on the rooftop of the building that the girls stayed in. Various passages were shared, including Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." and other verses that continued my theme...and I didn't plan any of the devotion times! God was definitely speaking right to my heart.

God and I spent a lot of good time together...and I'm still trying to process things that He is teaching me, and what the future might hold. More stories and pictures to come...

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Cameroon

I am here in Cameroon! So far things have been great! We had a little scare, thinking that the 4 of us who went to Hungary weren't going to make it on the flight because it was overbooked...but God is good and we all got on. We landed, got ALL 32 BAGS (YAY!) and headed out to the cars. We all went back to Peters house where we were assigned our home stays.

Today we had an orientation day, which was great since its the first time our entire team was together! We went over our plan for the week, had a devotion together, and hung out. Tomorrow we have some more team time, then to the zoo! Thursday we head to the conference center where we will be working with the kids running our Superhero program! We will be there until Wednesday night. We head back to Paris Thursday night, and home Saturday!

Things are going well! Please continue praying for strength, endurance, safety and health!

Saturday, August 2, 2008

PARIS!!!!

We are here in Paris! Our time in Hungary was great! Lots of lessoned were leqrned and new friendshipswere formed. It was quite an adventure getting our team of 26 through the subways of Paris with all our luggage. The students had a great attitude about it. We will debrief tomorrow about our time in Hungay, and the 4 of us are gearing up for Cameroon, which the rest of the Cam team is flying here as I type. We will also get to see the sites of Paris! I cannot wait!Keep praying! God is doing some amazing things!

(If there are typeos it is because this french keyboard is very confusing!)