Pleading.

I read this just now and it spoke to my heart, so I figured I'd share it with you.

"The strong sense I have now as I woke early and could not go back to sleep was that the Lord wants [me] to trust him. He seemed to admonish me that my pleadings were not faith-filled. I was starting to nag. It is not good to nag God. I was not surrendering and handing the burden over to him. I was treating him the way I have sometimes treated [others] in pleading for something with the tone that if I don't get it I will be perpetually unhappy. That is unbelief, since it elevates God's gift above God. So I was encouraged by these thoughts to "Cast [my] burden on the Lord," and trust the promise that "he will sustain [me]; he will never permit the righteous to be moved." And for [my] guidance I take Psalm 25:8, "Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way." That is one of the qualifications I confidently bring to my prayers: I am a sinner."

As I pray that God brings me to Africa, I'm trying to remember that merciful answers to prayer are blood-bought gifts of the gospel -- that I can draw near to him, the great high priest, with confidence (Heb 4:16) at all is a gift. And, again, I'm trying to remember that getting to Africa isn't an end; it's a means. And not just a means to the end of evangelism. Or even to seeing people come to Christ. It's a means to his glory in the gospel, just like everything he gives is intended to bring him glory -- some we'll see now in part and later, completely (1 Cor 13:12).

I probably didn't articulate this well. *sigh*

"Leave for Africa."

Today I was looking through my planner -- this is what I spend 73% of my day doing, trying to figure out how I can puzzle together productive days -- and I scanned through June and came to the day marked "Leave for Africa."

And I just kind of stared at it for a while, dumbfounded, thinking, "Hmm... Am I for serious here?" I mean, honestly, how many people in the world have such an outrageous thing marked in their planner? And, what's more, marked as if it's just another little appointment in a series of busy days. Like, "Oh, yeah, that day... I move to Sudan. Nothin' doin'."

I guess what's all the more curious is that I found myself so amazed by it. It has been marked that way since last June, has it not? Come on, Andi. Get with the program. I guess it's just not real yet. I imagine it won't be. Not for a long time. All told, probably not any time before I leave.

I dunno, the whole thing just seems nuts sometimes.

I talked with my AIM rep Mike today, catching up on all that's been going down. These last two days, I've just kept telling myself... only four weeks and this part is over. It is, right? Either way -- whether my money comes in or not -- May 30th will be the day it's decided. Well, support raising will never be completely over, but the worst will be passed, right? I sure hope so.

I've been checking my email all day, looking for the TIMO manual we were told we'd get this week. Rob from En Gedi (TIMO's headquarters, in Tanzania) emailed earlier in the week with a few things -- I'll share them with you in a second -- and said the fatty book of All Things Sudan TIMO would be on its way. (OK, he didn't call it "the fatty book of All Things Sudan TIMO." That was all me.) Hopefully that will give me a few more details to tell my supporters.

Everyone, at this point, wants to know practical stuff. You'd be amazed at the interesting ways people find to ask me how I'm going to get tampons. Almost as interesting as the ways they beat around the question of if I'm single or not. (This may be the most painful, yet hilarious part of raising support as a single woman. Haha.) What am I going to be eating? Do I have an address? Can people send stuff to that address? On and on.

And, yes, for those keeping score at home, I just said "tampons" on my blog. Unbelievable.

Oh, and everyone relax: I am single.

So, anyway, some things I found out...

- Sat fones (or "satellite phones," for all ya'll not up on the missionary vernacular) are a tricky thing to have in South Sudan. They create suspicion among folks and draw attention from the government -- the unmonitored/uncontrolled dissemination of information can bring the heavy hand of the government crashing down on the team and AIM. I guess the gov't actually can get the transcripts from your sat calls, and it's been known to use that information against missionaries.

In Rob's words, "Two of Stephan's (our team leader) highest priorities as your team leader are (1) to help keep you alive and (2) keep you available for ministry. Truly, the stakes are very high in Southern Sudan -- we are 'playing for keeps' as they say."

So, in light of all that, we're going to go with Stephan's recommendation and not have personal sat fones -- just one for the team as a whole. I'll be able to get on once a week for a limited amount of time to send a limited size of emails. But they'll also be monitored by Stephan to make sure we're not being stupid. At least until we better understand where we are and what we're dealing with.

- Here's something interesting, though. Cell phones work in Kenya, and we'll be in Loki once a month to do our shopping. Stephan suggested we could get cell phones to call home while we're there. So that was a pleasant surprise -- I wasn't expected to hear my parents' voice very often, if at all. We'll see how they look cost-wise.

- None of that will matter for the first three months. Part of the TIMO program is a three-month techno fast. The idea is to make us focus on the culture we're in, not communicating with and hanging on to the cultures we've left. So be thinking letters for the first bit. :) Of course, that said, I still don't know how easy it is to get letters or what my address is or what kind of packages folks can send.

- Other than that, they just gave me this list of (heavy!) books I have to bring and directions on getting a voice recorder -- an important tool for our language learning. I'm good to go in that area. It's funny how fast things add up -- with the books, the recorder, stamps and my yellow fever vaccination, I've probably dropped $350 this week alone. Zoinks.

Wheeeew, this got long fast. Good thing no one is reading this!

How big is YOUR God?

So, wow, I've got so much going through my head that I could blog. How am I ever going to get it all out of my fingers?

I'm learning so much from God right now. Support raising does that to a person. It's a strange time, actually, because I cycle so quickly through these emotions. Support raising is exciting and exhausting and trying and envigorating... all at once.

After I spoke at Grace UMC in La Salle the other day, Marc gave me the address for the district office of the United Methodist Church, and the secretary there ended up sending out my information to all the UMC pastors in the district. And the response has been really sweet. I've set up two speaking appointments with pastors and there are two others considering it. So how awesome is that? Pretty awesome.

But then I think, my support hasn't budged in a week. Some days, $500 left in monthly pledges seems like a TON. Others, a breeze. And I try to go back to the truth -- God can provide that and much more! But... still... it's... just... so hard.

And then -- here's another praise -- I got a call randomly last Sunday from a woman I'd met at a church I spoke at. Her name is Rhonda. She's great. :) Anyway, God had led her back to my prayer letter and she decided she needed to talk to me. And I'm glad she did! She's already been so encouraging and such a blessing to me. Tonight I had dinner with her and her husband, Wayne, and told them as much as I could about what I'll be doing. Wayne was in Vietnam, so he knows what it's like to live in the jungle. He had a lot of great practical advice for me. Stuff I would have never thought of, that's for sure. I had a lot of fun. I hope I get to hang out with them more before I leave.

What else can I praise? There's so much. God truly has been incredible to me -- teaching me in my trials, blessing me even in my doubt.

I've been running myself ragged, though, so pray that I'd have the energy to keep up this hectic pace or I would listen for God's call to slow it down a few (dozen) notches. I've been sleeping weird hours or not sleeping at all, and I find myself crashing on the couch at work for a power nap or pulling over at gas stations to get some shut-eye while I'm on the road. I can't tell if God is wanting me to trust Him to get me through this business or trust Him in not being so busy. I guess the first thing I need to do is trust Him, period and stop trying to guess what He's up to. Pray, too, for my health and being responsible about getting sleep and eating well. I definitely haven't been doing that lately, which really isn't glorifying to God. Pray I'd keep my firsts first and my seconds second!

And an update on prayer requests. Abby and Vanessa are doing swimmingly on Gilligan's Island. No word on bad things coming about the searches. And the issue I mentioned in my prayer letter seems to have gone away. I'm thankful.

This is already long and babbling -- you can tell I'm tired -- but I have so much more to say. I got information from TIMO today. And I've been learning SO MUCH about God's grace, gifts, trials and blessings not as an end in themselves, but as a means for the final, wonderful end -- the glory of God in the Gospel of Christ. Whoa. I'm just realy excited about all that jazz. I'll share it with you soon.

Oh, and Lauren and I went to the Cubs game Wednesday. Might as well post some pictures from that. It was great, 'cept we missed battling practice (AGAIN) and... the Cubs lost. But, other than that... great times. ;)






Here's the traditional hot dog picture. Gotta get one every year. And then there's the "We asked a drunk guy to take this and it took three tries" shot. Also lovely. Except for the minor fact that my skin looks freakishly pale and... illuminated. So weird.

Oh, and, of course, I had to oogle at Todd Walker (batting). His short haircut looks miiiiighty nice. Lauren's thoughts: "Anything will look attractive when you put a Cubs jersey on it." I completely agree.

mein Wochenende

Phew, this weekend was long. I did eight hours of driving, five hours of horseback riding and 15 hours of working. And a whole bunch inbetween.

So much I have no idea what to write about. (Besides, I haven't slept much yet.) So, instead, I'll give you some pictures.


This is KT and I, letting you know what we think of bridal showers. Actually, this is us acting like... elk. I guess. Or something. Anyway, I went down to Chambana for her shower, which reaffirmed to me how terribly awkward I am in ultra-girly situations. But, that's OK, because Katie is one of the coolest girls I know. And so far from ultra-girly, it's great. (Go Padres.)



I got to stop by and see my favorite kids Sunday, too. This is my friend Thomas (or at least the top of his head) and Kyla, his girlfriend. She's almost 2. He's 23. Weirder things have happened.


Like this, when I got Tom to put on a clown nose for a picture. Actually, it was more Kyla Ann who did the convincing. But whatever. We also played a mad game of soccer with the boys. It was good times.


This is my bionic dog. Actually, he's not bionic. That's just a heart monitor awkwardly strapped to his back. Don't you feel horrible for him? He's become more miserable as the night has progressed. (I wish I had a better picture -- he looks pretty ridiculous.) We found out the other day he has an enlarged heart (sad), so he's going to be getting to know the vet pretty well.

So, anyway, add in some more good times at the OUC missions conference, all those hours on horseback and very little sleeping, and you've got my weekend. Clearly, my life is lame.

Ice cream and other modern wonders...

The funny thing about this whole loving ice cream thing is that I'm allergic to milk. Yeah, have been since I was a baby. So eating my favorite food makes me terribly ill. I think that goes to show the strength of the hold ice cream has over me.

I spent most of the last -- say -- eight years trying to mentally overcome said allergy. I really think I had it mastered my senior year of college, but I've lost the art since graduation, hence the terrible ache in my stomach right now.

Folks tell me there isn't ice cream in Africa. Good ice cream, at least. And certainly not in the bush of Sudan. Meh.

Anyway, I've had an excited last couple of days. I had a really sweet time with the ladies of Grace United Methodist on Thursday afternoon. I'm telling you, they were just so nice. It was awesome. It's nice enough when whatever group I'm talking to feigns interest or -- even better! -- asks questions, as opposed to just staring at me blankly. But these ladies were genuinely interested in what I was doing (or just incredible actresses) and that was a huge blessing to me. Their pastor, Jen, is really cool, too. She's just full of energy for the Lord. I dunno, I could go on forever, but I'll spare you. Suffice it to say, it was great.

God's making some racket in the support area, too. Check this out.
Support-o-Meter:
Outgoing: 72% ($6,829 out of $9,482)
Monthly Pledges: 60% ($780 out of $1,305)
Overall: 62.6%

Sure, there’s still a long way to go, but my outgoing sure is getting close, and people are chipping away at my monthly goal. I’m confident. I’m trying to stay that way. Besides, 39 days is a long time.
Relatively.
If you think about it long enough, positively enough.
Tons of time.
;)

Tonight Oglesby Union started its missions conference with some delicious food and a neat speaker who talked about his experience in Bangkok. Aside from that, it was just nice to sit and talk to folks. I don’t get to do that enough, I don’t think. Mark even joined me, so that was cool. I think we were both amazed by how many missionaries OUC supports—either fulltime folks all across the globe or shorttermers who set out to all sorts of places. Once again, I realize how blessed I am to have ended up here. Crazy how God works.

Alright, I’ve got a busy few days ahead of me, so I ought get some sleep. Tomorrow I get to go horseback riding with the Antrims, then come back for the missions conference stuff, then probably avoid going to a wild party at Doug’s. And Sunday it’s talking to the wee folk at church, then KT’s bridal shower in Champaign, then back to Ottawa to roll out Monday’s edition of the sports section. Pray for energy!

Mourning Derek Lee...

I've officially thrown out my arm. But don't worry, Cubs fans, rumor has it Kerry, Mark and I will be throwing from the mound come Saturday.

(And I hope the two or three people that got that enjoyed it. *sigh*)

Doug and I played catch for more than an hour today and eventually had to resort to a modified version of playing toss so as to avoid my arm actually detaching from my person and becoming forever useless. Our new game was actually quite hilarious. Ever try playing catch with your weak hand? Oh dear goodness, so comical. It takes so much thought for me to uncork a throw left-handed. And the whole ordeal was made better by Doug's hilarious antics/facial expressions. Not to mention the game's eventual evolution to us basically running around in a circle, hurling the ball at one another. (By this time, we'd switched back to our strong hands -- praise God.)

So, anyway, it's been nice actually having people to pal around with during the day. Mark (not of the Prior variety) humored my attempts to teach him Publisher on Monday and endured a (not as strange) game of catch Tuesday. Then Doug seems as bent on playing toss every day as I am. The only problem with this whole having friends thing, I've come to realize, is that I haven't gotten anything done all week.

And that's definitely not such a good deal.

I'm trying to wind down tonight and fighting off a rash of worrying about Africa stuff. It's easy to fall into this late at night because there are little to-do lists scratched out all over my room, most of which are still to-be to-done and focus on all things Africa. It seems no matter how much I do -- even when I am focused -- there's always more to be done, be it immuzations, doc's appointments, bank papers, visas, letters, thank yous or reports to the mission, etc.

And then there's this hanging cloud of The Support Issue. I'm still $3,000 short on outgoing and have to have around $550 materialize in monthly pledges in the next... 41 days. I know God is big enough to do that and more in 41 seconds, but it's still a battle. Every moment, a mental battle. And it's rough. I really could do without it.

But then I think of the lost. The people who've never heard of Jesus. I think of my calling -- loud and clear. I think of the passion God has given me for missions, the love of Africa He's put on my heart. And other things start to fade away and I'm left daydreaming and aching to be there now.

Give me Africa.

I've got a presentation tomorrow/today (Thursday -- however you want to look at it) to a women's group. Please pray God would open up their hearts to the cause, to prayer and to giving. Also, I've got this radio thing Friday I still need to prepare for. (Whoops.) Pray that goes well. And my church is hosting a cool missions conference this weekend -- pray that goes well and that the congregation's hearts would be even more set on getting the Gospel to the nations.

Angie's coming home!!!

This post is in honor of Angiepants maybe coming home from East Asia just in time to see me before I leave for Sudan.

I pray we're able to take a picture, too, since these are all RIDICULOUS.

Clinging to a promise.

So, wow, these last two days... Wow.

God threw me in a prize fight Monday. This was a surprise to me. I was dealt a trio of life-changing, earth-shaking sucker punches and I find myself still struggling to get up, gasping for breath. Too bad the fight is far from over.

(My apologies for the murky analogies. Don't worry -- my intentions for Africa have not changed.)

And so I find myself clinging to God's Word, His promises. He won't give me more than I can handle, but, no, this isn't going to be easy. Praise God for His blessings and His trials... and His trials that certainly are blessings.

Yet again I'm reminded how I'm not in control. I mean, come on! Three mere sentences threw my world off its axis. Were it not for my incredible, steady, sovereign God, I'd be more of an emotional wreck than I am now. And, let me tell you friends, that certainly wouldn't be pretty.

On the way home from work tonight, I was thinking about this, and I came back to a beautiful truth. Every instant, I am one instant away from seeing the face and glory of Christ. It could be now. Or... now. That fast. And then glory. And that's our aim, right? God glorified in the face of Christ. Seeking His face. Setting our eyes on the cross. That's what this is all about. Come Christ. Come glory. Come eternity of worship before our incredible God.

Awesome. :)

In other (ahem... lighter) news, things are moving along toward Africa. Every day is hard, but I find each day God is pushing me in a new way toward obedience and faith. Just little things. And this huge trusting Him thing. (Will I EVER learn?) I've got some pre-field doc stuff tomorrow. Pray that I'll pass with flying colors. The other day a nurse used me as a pincushion, but I came out ahead... and protected from typhoid, hep A, hep B and polio. (Or so they tell me.) Next week -- yellow fever! Woohoo. The wonderful life of a missionary on deputation.

Still haven't got my TIMO manual from my team leaders. They're really backed up 'cause of the whole cholera outbreak thing, I think. (Thank you, cholera, for holding up my precious details.) So, here it is, mid-April and I haven't a clue what I need in the way of supplies. But, hey! God is good. I'm diggin' it. Oh, and! I do have this sweet converter thing Mark got me. Definitely a fan.

Oh, speaking of... Though I hate pictures, I was sent these, so I figure I'll humble my unphotogenic self and share them with ya'll. From shooting on Saturday... a fun gang.

Big moment.

I just bought my plane ticket to New York. :)

My great weekend.

Alright, so.... I've had this away message up this week about marrying Pat Hughes if he was a youth pastor and it made people really confused.

Note to all: Pat Hughes is the WGN radio announcer for the Cubs.

Which doesn't mean I wouldn't marry him -- I mean, he does have a great voice and (according to Cubs legend Ron Santo) is a great dresser -- but the reality of who he is makes it altogether less likely. What I mean to say is, he lives in Chicago. I'm not into the long distance thing.

Aaaaanyway, today capped off a great weekend. Saturday was beautiful and I got to play catch and football with Doug. And Bear (Doug's dog) and I splashed through streams and mud at Starved Rock. Aaaand I got to shoot guns at Mark's house with some of the Steadfast folk. Aaaand I have a sweet bruise to show for it. Aaaand Tommy was in town aaaand we ate steak. Aaaand I saw John and James.

And I'm so done with the extra a's. Suffice it to say -- it was good times.

Church was good this morning. We had it outside and it was great. Cold and windy and a hazard for a tomgirl wearing a skirt, but still great. Mr. Mudge talked about losing Mike, which -- I'm convinced -- will forever be hard. But it was a neat service and it was cool to spend Easter at my new church. It really feels like home there. I mean, sure, my parents wouldn't dream of joining me there, but it's like I have a family there anyway.

And they're so set on getting me to Africa. A few weeks ago, I got to go to for church and found out -- through an announcement! -- that some of the donations they're getting through the missions conference this coming weekend is going toward my trip. I was a little dumbfounded. ;)

To cap off my Easter, we had our family deal here at the house, complete with an egg hunt. And I don't just mean an egg hunt for the kids. Two years ago, my mom decided it'd be great fun to make fools out of us "big kids" by putting money in eggs and making us hunt for them after the wee 'uns got done with their (not as financially focused) one. We were all quite poor at the time -- Bran and Amy just had Allie and Kev and Ris were recently married and I was just... me-- so that made it extra special. Mom brought it back this year for Brandon, Amy and I. Sadly, she knocked down the monetary amounts, but I still made out with 27 Easter dollars, which I will gladly put toward my new Reformation Study Bible which I'm buying... right... now.

In other news, I wish I were in Africa. Today.

Support update.

Here ya'll, 'cause folks have been asking.

Support-o-meter:
Outgoing: 63% ($5,984.25 out of $9,482.00)
Monthly pledge: 58% ($760 out of $1305)
Overall: 59%

Meet my team.

I should probably do this on my web site, but I'll start it here. If you don't know, I'm not alone on this trip to Sudan. I'm going to be with 13 other people. I've "met" a lot of them through email, but there are three I don't know anything about. In fact, I didn't know they existed as part of my team until the last few days. Anyway... here ya go... about my team.

Cath. She's 29, from Cape Town, South Africa. She rocks my face off so far with her emails. You can tell she's all about our team, all about getting to know one another. She's been a fulltime missionary through her church for the last five years, first on the Anastasis Mercy Ship and now (for the past three years) planting and pioneering a Christian primary school in Khayelitsha, a township in Cape Town. So, that makes her... awesome. The school just got it's creds from the gov't, too, so praise God for that.

Kim. She's from the States. I don't know how old she is. Probably around my age? She's go energy. And questions. I feel we'll get a long really well. ;) She grew up in a Christian home and has known the Lord since she was 7, so that's also cool. She recently spent 9 months in Kenya teaching at a primary school, and the culture/people/life there stole her heart. She can't wait to get back to Africa.

Jen. I've actually MET Jen. Like, in the flesh. She's the only one. She's from the East Coast and has an intense love for all things Red Sox. She's a nurse. (BONUS!) She's way on top of things and has a testimony that left our entire Candidate Week crew teary eyed. She knew when she was 14 she wanted to be a missionary. She's done the whole missions thing before, but not long trips like TIMO. She's a baby -- just turned 21.

(Do you love how I'm giving the most random details? Sorry.)

Pattie. She's from Texas, which I hope means she has an awesome southern accent I can adopt. She's 33 and teaches junior high math. God called her overseas while she was doing a missions trip in Mexico, and she ended up spending three years at AIM's Rift Valley Academy (really sweet missionary school I'll have to tell you about sometime) as a dorm mom and teacher. She's got a heart for teenagers and plays guitar and sings.

(The end there sort of sounded like a personal ad. Whoops.)

Daniel. He's one of our single guys from Germany. He's in Pakistan right now, though, workin' hard for Jesus. He's 26. He's gone to Bible college and all that but is also a carpenter, from what I gather. It sounds like he likes to work in practical ways for Jesus -- supportive missions, you might say -- so TIMO (a church planting mission) is a change for him. He served with DIGUNA (the organization we're partnering with on this TIMO trip) in Kenya for 18 months, where he met our team leaders, who eventually asked him to join our TIMO team.

Martin. He's our other single guy from Germany... of which I know nothing about. He's stationed next door to Heinrich and Doris right now in Kenya, though, so Doris gave me his address and I sent him a letter. We'll see if I hear back.

Craig. He's our Aussie. From Adelaide, if that means anything to anyone. (Any Australia experts out there?) He'll be turning 21 any day now. He's only been a Christian for three years but is like me in that he's been put on this intense fast track. His parents are really against the trip. He loves to pray (good man!) and leads prayer services at his church along with being a youth leader in charge of 50 teenagers. I guess he's like some superstar runner in South Australia and loves sports. So that's cool. What's not cool is that he once told me he liked the Yankees. I hope he's just kidding. (Can the evil empire really stretch that far?)

Heinrich and Doris. I've already got them pegged as an uber-cute couple. They're from Germany, also coming through DIGUNA. They're 28 and 29, have been married for two years and have a 6-month-old named Salome. They're in Kenya right now with DIGUNA. I've emailed back and forth with Doris and I'm convinced she's the sweetest woman ever. She's also a nurse (bonus again!) and he's a mechanic (woohoo!) and both have Bible college training. They admit they're uber organized people. I'm glad we share this trait, but it's something that can be a thorn in Africa, where nothing runs on schedules. They say they've adapted well, which gives me hope.

The mysterious Sudan couple. I honestly just found out yesterday that we had a Sudanese couple coming with us, so I don't know these people at all. But I know their knowledge and upbringing will prove invaluable for us, a bunch of outsiders.

Stephan and Iris. Our team leaders. They've got four kids -- Sharon, Michie, Racheland Christian. Like I said in my last post, I have no idea how old they are. Stephan is Swiss. He was born and grew up in South Africa and trained with the military there. He spent six years in Sudan as a missionary before he met Iris there in 1999. She's from Germany. They've been with DIGUNA for quite a while now. They've been going nonstop for the past few months, between preparing for our team and dealing with a cholera outbreak, so they're trying to enjoy some down time now to reenergize. Please pray for them!

Alright, that's it. That's my team. Random details and all. I can't wait to meet them!

Intruder.

Last night, when I came home at about 3 a.m. from work, my dad was approximately two seconds from clobbering me with a baseball bat.

He thought I was an intruder.

Which is funny, you know, 'cause I'm... not. (As much as we'd both like it not to be so sometimes, I do live here at this house.)

So tonight as I came home, I thought about being obnoxiously loud, just so he knew I was his daughter and not a big, burly man looking to deal all our gadgets. But I decided against that, in the interest of sparing my life. (He would surely kill me purposely if I were to do such a thing.) In an ironic twist, however, I ended up 1) slamming the outside door, 2) turning on the uber bright hallway light, not the living room dims, 3) nudging a broom, which clamoured to the floor and 4) hitting the squeaky stair not once -- oh no, people -- but twice. And all on accident. Clearly, I've got volume issues.

But that really has nothing to do with Africa. I'm not yet sure this post will have much to do with the continent, actually. Sorry. No news lately from my team leaders, save that they met Cath, my team member from South Africa, the other day while they were passing through. Oh! Wait! There IS news. They have four children! Woohoo! More kids! Sharon, Michie, Rachel and Christian, to be exact. I have no idea how old they are. But they can't be that old. Stephan and Iris (team leaders) didn't meet until 1999. And in Sudan, no less. A Sudanese love story. (Insert dreamy sigh here.)

Anyway, they've moved into the AIM house central to the Lopit villages and our houses are being built. It seems as though there is some question about whether or not they will be finished in time. Innnnteresting. I could be misreading this. But, I mean, I don't leave 'til June 30th (11 weeks), then we spend three weeks in Kenya and another week in a family's house, so there's plenty of time, no matter what. (But prayer for this would be cool.)

So, yeah, Cath is going to send some pictures soon, which makes me uber excited. The pieces are coming together... very slowly... but surely.

A support update for ya'll. I'm now at 52% for my support. It jumped almost 10% over the weekend. Praise the Lord. Crazy, crazy, crazy. Anyway, I'm trying to be disciplined about getting in touch with people and pressing out in faith to have these conversations. I sent out a prayer letter this weekend (did you get yours?), so that's always a fiasco. I have this thing against address labels, so I write the addresses and return addresses myself. It's a little tedious and rough on ol' Ms. Carpal Tunnel, but I'm going to hold out as long as possible. At at least $.84 a pop for letters from Africa (that's the rate from here to Kenya, at least), I don't envision myself being able to do a whole lot of snail mail action. Which reminds me, too, that I have to find someone to do my prayer letters while I'm gone. (I will allow them to use address labels. ;) ) So many details I need to iron out! Ugh!

It should be clear that I'm just babbling at this point. I had a rough day of losing my patience and just being dumb in general about work. I hate Crabby Work Andi. Pray for that, if you will. And pray for my replacement -- I should be done there in about seven weeks, Lord willing.

Ok, I'm going to post about my teammates.

I love Todd Walker.

I have about a thousand things to say but no time to say them. We're going to go bullet style today. Ready? Go.

• My friends Abby (see her earlier letter) and Vanessa sent word about trouble on Gilligan's Island. "About one month ago members of our larger 'family' living here but from *******, took hundreds of shoe boxes from operation Christmas child and distributed these in many villages. The religious leaders here were not happy about this, but they were doing nothing wrong. But the leaders kept a close watch on the happenings, and when two 'GOOD BOOKS' were found they had their ammunition. One brother was arrested, but set free within 24 hours. But the shepherd of this family has been questioned, and has met with many government officials and they are angry. Please plead for our family here that they may not be weakened but strengthened by this, but we are now not sure what will happen with their shepherd, He may be forced to leave the island. SO please plead during these next few weeks, especially this week." I'm thinking you'll be able to read through the code. Anyway, they ask that you would pray for the situation and that it would be used for the advancement of the Gospel. Don't worry -- they're not in danger. Worse case they get questioned. It's all good.
• I'm a doofus and just realized my support is due a month earlier than I thought it was. That is, on May 30th. In about seven weeks. So, please pray for that -- I'm still less than 50% along and need about $700 more of monthly pledge. But I'm confident the Lord will bring it in. Lots of calm going on here in Oglesby. (After the initial freak-out stage, that is.) Pray for self-discipline in my work and new contacts.
• I speak at a women's group Thursday. Keep that in your prayers, if ya will.
• Ummm... but there seemed to be so much to say...
• Have you ever bought a one-way ticket? Yeah, me neither. I started looking at tickets to New York this week. (We stay at HQ in NY two days before we leave for Africa.) That's kind of exciting, but kind of scary, since I'm not 100% sure I'm really going. Pray I'd be able to take this step -- and steps like it -- in confidence. :)
• Pray for the details.
• Pray for my excitement level. All this Africa stuff combined with some amazing baseball from the Cubs has me going at top speed. I don't want to crash and burn.
  

And, lastly, here's a cool story for you. Last weekend at church, Pastor Jack talked on Matthew 20:1-16, the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. It was such a nice thing for me to read -- this familiar parable -- because I was reminded of when I first read it. Before I was a Christian, as God was really starting to work in my life, I came across it. I remember feeling SO RELEIVED that it wasn't too late for me, that God would still forgive me, that I could still accept this Jesus guy and still have the gift of eternal life, even though I didn't "start" until I was 20. Ha. It's funny looking back now. But, wow, that was a great day.

For your reading enjoyment: 1"For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and to them he said, 'You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.' 5 So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, 'Why do you stand here idle all day?' 7 They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You go into the vineyard too.' 8 And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.' 9 And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 10 Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 11 And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 12 saying, 'These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.' 13 But he replied to one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?' 16 So the last will be first, and the first last."

I've GOT to get better about posting.

EE Education

Hey gang. I finally got that new information about Lopit up on my Sudan Web site. Check it out. There's some cool stuff. :)

(I couldn't get the link to work, so click to the one over -----> there.

Cholera update.

In my last prayer letter, I wrote about the cholera outbreak that was going on around the village -- where I'll be stationed and where my team leaders are stationed now. I've got an update, passed along from Stephan (my team leader).

The epidemic didn't make it to the village , except for two cases from travelers.

Medair (a Swissh Christian medical team) came to help in the village . A team of 12 expats went to live in the most affected area and set up a treatment center. Since they set that up, only two more people died. They came late and had other difficulties, too. Now the epidemic is coming to a close as far as the cycle is concerned.

Stephan and Iris spent the last three weeks wading between sick people and didn't get sick. And neither did anyone from the Medair team. Praise God.

A lot of people were asking about my safety, in light of the outbreak and other things. It should not affect our team at all. Stephan assures us we will be in good hands medically -- "We will take no risks," he said. He says cholera is avoidable and treatable. It can be kept out of a village with just a big of education on hygiene. So, have comfort!