The Journey

Hello All!!

It's here. This time tomorrow I will be at Gerald R. Ford Airport waiting to get on a plane to Washington D.C. I have many emotions roaring at this moment. I am super excited, nervous, and terrified all at the same time. I think it's a good place to be at this time. I am mostly packed and I am almost finished with the book I am supposed to have read by the time I step on Ugandan soil (yes, I am a procrastinator).

For those of you who don't know the story of how I got here, this post is a snip-it of what I had to go through to get here. If you want more detail just ask. = )

It all started midway through last spring semester. I was thinking about what I was going to do my Junior year. I had every plan to take normal classes and be a TFLC (a leadership position for the new students of CU). I never gave studying abroad a thought ever. That it what my plan was. Well, most of the time God has other plans for my life and I never do what I plan to do. I am fine with this because God knows what's right.

Karla, a friend from CU, put her name down for information about studying abroad in Uganda. And I was shocked by this because no offense Karla, you don't strike me as someone who would want to go to Africa. I looked at the brochure she received and saw all the different options for study abroad. I saw that Uganda had an Intercultural Ministry and Missions Emphasis (IMME). That seemed perfect because that is what my major is.

That night, I had a dream (I rarely remember my dreams). The dream was a bunch of my friends and I were sitting at a table and Nick B (I'm not going to try and spell his last name) came in with a world map. He laid it on the table and the countries that students could study were highlighted. Uganda was highlighted, but so was another country. Nick explained that if a student goes to Uganda they would also be traveling to another country. I woke up and looked at the brochure again. The Uganda trip stated that the students would also be spending some time in Rwanda!!! Woah. So I started thinking and praying about going to Africa.

I had a meeting with Professor Philip Bustrum (my academic adviser) to talk about credits. He told me he would give me 12 credits including my internship if I went to Uganda. I looked at my academic catalog and discovered that if I went, I would have 20 credits left to take my senior year. Uganda is starting to look good right about this time.

I applied to BestSemester and got accepted in July. I turned my deposit in October and the Lord has been faithful in His provision for all the little things.

There were quite a few hurdles that I had to jump over though. First, we weren't getting any money from Cornerstone. Second, Lauren and I got a fee reduction from BestSemester and found out it could not be used toward tuition. Third, we found out we had to pay a full semester tuition which was unexpected, but that's mostly because we didn't take the time to find that out. Fourth, it took so long for me to get my loans figured out for the trip because I was extremely lazy and terrible at planning things. It got the point where I was leaving in three weeks and there was a good chance that I was not going to go. Fifth, our malaria pills were going to $800. Outrageous.

The Lord is so good and faithful and has worked through everything. I got a different prescription for the malaria pills and they ended up being $15. WOOOO HOOOO!!!! And my loans got figured out. Maybe not in the best way, but it's worked out enough that I'm getting to Uganda.

So here I am. The day before I leave thinking "WOOOO HOOOO I'M GOING TO AFRICA!!!!!!" And the other part of me is, "I'M GOING TO AFRICA FOR FOUR MONTHS?!?! WHAT THE HECK AM I DOING?!?!?!" I am leaving family, friends, and comfort. Oh boy. But it's going to be one of the best experiences of my life and it's going to be totally worth it. Everything that I went through is going to make this trip worth it.

This blog is going to be used to:
1. Update everyone on what I am doing while I am there
2. Show a little bit of the culture
3. Show what God is doing in Uganda and in my life
4. Tell people how they could be praying for me

This is what I know about the trip so far:
I am living with a Ugandan family the whole time.
I will be staying in the rural part of Uganda with a different family for about a week.
I will be traveling to Rwanda for 10 days to learn about different ministries and how the country is doing now after the Genocide.
I have the chance to go white water rafting on the Nile River and or go on a safari. I may even go bungee jumping into the Nile...not sure about that one, but it's a possibility.
I will be walking about 30 minutes to go to school at Uganda Christian University.
There are about 40 other students going on this trip from different Christian universities all over the states.
God is going to do great things.

The title is "I Am a Child" because of Bonnie Bustrum (Professor Bustrum's wife). Lauren and I went to their house the week of finals to discuss Africa and to get advice. Bonnie said to go in wanting to learn. "Tell your host family, 'I am a child and I am here to learn from you'." That's what this trip is going to be. One great learning experience. I am going to learn about the culture, what God is doing there, and experience God in a whole different way that I could never do in the States.

Thank you to all of you who have been praying for us thus far. I hope that you guys continue to keep us in your prayers while we are gone.

Prayer requests so far:
That Lauren and I have safe travel to D.C.
That our group have safe travels to Uganda
Good health
Open minded about a new culture
That I don't get caught up on being there for academics and totally miss out on what God is doing there.

I will do my best to keep this blog updated as much as possible, but please hold tight if I don't update every week.

Thanks for reading this rather lengthy post. = )

Be Blessed!!