jot for the day

One of the things to always remember: Call or email your references before sending in your application. One thing that I was taught in every business of art class, but did not follow through with when the time came. It has definitely been difficult to get a hold of one of my references and the questionaire is probably at his house by now. So, I would just like to pas that on to others so that they know how not to do things. The six "P's" is always a good rule: Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance. Something that I should have thought to do.

Not much more to update for now, except that I'm at home with my little family in Maryland for the week of Christmas. I need to break it to my Mom that I'm probably going back to Africa this fall. I have been holding off on it until I felt like it was likely...now's the time. The reason why its not an easy task, is because she gets really scared for me and so I have to reassure her that God could take me as a sit on the couch eating chips just as easy as in Africa. My Dad knows that I applied, but probably doesn't know that I'm serious about it yet. Before I left for Mali, my Dad was really upset about me going, but eventually, he supported the idea.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!! <><

One thing I left out in yesterday's blog was my internship at the U.S. State Department. There, I was able to learn a lot about East Africa and specifically, refugees. It was there that I realized that my mom was either a refugee or an IDP (internally displaced person). My Grandfather is a Serb, and lived in Germany because he couldn't go back to his country after the war; and my Grandma was a German, but an IDP. So, my mom was one of the two, but I do not know how they identified her. It is interesting how things connect like that.
Yesterday, I left off with going to WVU. Last spring I graduated, and worked at a boarding school for teenagers with behavior problems. There, I learned and then taught survival and search and rescue skills, as well as doing a form of therapy with them. Currently, I am substitute teaching and in January, will take over as a guidance counselor for 3-5 graders, until the end of the school year.
It is in September, that I will most likely leave for Africa to teach for a year. I am excited to go and ask for your prayers as I prepare mentally, spiritually and financially for this trip.

my thoughts

To those who read this, but do not know me well, I have a passion to work in Africa. three years ago I went to Mali, West Africa, with Drew University and the African Art Museum of NY, through my college, Shepherd, and with the lovely assistance of my prof. Rhonda Smith. While I was there I felt completely at home. The only problem I had was that everywhere I looked, the women were doing all the work to care for their family. So you might say, "ugh! Feminist!" But no, I'm not actually a feminist, but I am against women having to give up their dignity to feed their kids, while the men folk play chess. Now, there were some men working, and power to them, but mostly I saw women.
So, you might think that, that is where it all started, but not exactly. When I came home from Mali, I didn't know if I'd ever be going back to Africa. I had a heart for the developing countries and could see myself in Latin America just as soon as Africa. Also, I looked into seminaries to get a Master's degree in Christian Counseling and Discipleship, with a focus on Women and their families. While all that was happening, my new friend, at the time, Rachel, was preparing to go to Namibia and was studying Poli sci. at Shepherd. Talking to her about her passion really gave me the desire to study more about Africa. So then (and this might sound crazy), I went to West Virginia University for 2 years to get a SECOND Bachelor's degree, but in International Studies with a focus on Africa. During that time my passion grew, and even narrowed down to East Africa. Through the books I have been reading about Sudan, and Northern Uganda, and Rwanda, and the DRC, I have made a personal connection with those areas.
Well, in an effort to keep this post brief, I will divulge more history and anecdotes later...
until then, may God bless your week!

The application is in and the references are out...

Ok, so after managing to find the post office and mailing the application, Africa Inland Mission (AIM) receicved the application and has emailed out the reference questionaires to my references. Note to all those who apply places in the future: make sure that you know the current email address for the person whom you use as a reference. I learned the hard way that one of mine was outdated.
So, besides the beads of sweat forming from the thought of my best friends writing my reference forms, I am excited about getting the ball rolling for this adventure. Hopefully, in the following weeks I will find out more information about my status.
Until then, I will keep this page updated with my feelings and concerns with preparing to live in another country for a year AND raising the money to get there. I am most worried about the money part. I need serious prayer for that. Thank you all who pray...God bless you.

Who knows where the Martinsburg post office is anyway?

So I mailed off the AIM application finally, but it took a little extra effort to do so. First, I had to fight off the parents at Wal-mart to print a picture of myself and then the next adventure was to find the post office in Martinsburg, which I never found. So, when I went to Shepherdstown (20 minutes away) for Bible study, I just droppedit into the mailbox there. Now, if all goes well, I will find out my assignment...

getting started

I am just getting started with all this, and so I want to start with the pre-show in which I will blog my feelings and comments on putting in the application to go to possibly Uganda, or maybe somewhere else in Africa. Most likely I will be teaching. One road block is the $$...I have to raise $15,000 for the year (I think). Lord willing, I will do so.