Ready...(almost) set...Why go?
So I'm leaving the day after tomorrow and I am about 95% packed now...I just have to add stuff I will use between now and then and my clothes that are still in the laundry and things like that. The car is going to be pretty loaded, especially since people giving me donated stuff (stuffed animals, Bibles, books, toys, backpacks, school supplies) to take down there...I keep joking with Dad that he is going to have to hold his bag on his lap ;) I'll write all about the road trip once I'm there and settled but as of right now the plan is to take off around 7 on Wed. morning and knock out about 2/3 of the almost 18 hr. drive the first day, which will put us somewhere in the middle of TX. We'll just alternate shifts driving, stop when we need gas (at least when I'm driving!), and break for the night someplace with a restaurant and a hotel--those were Dad's only qualifications anyhow!
I'm going to keep fundraising while I'm there, especially since last week when I found out my goal jumped by almost $4,000 due to a switch in my insurance from the plan that I already had arranged to the plan all LCMS employees have. My new goal is almost $22,000 and I'm sitting on a little over $18,000 right now, with the knowledge that a few more checks are in the mail for me. So, again I ask that you keep my support-raising in your prayers. I know that God will provide though, He has thus far and He'll continue to do so. I have noticed that God has been gradually building me up to the level of support that I need to reach now. I would have freaked out if I had been told $22,000 from the get-go, but my preliminary estimate was $12,000, and then once I was mentally prepared for that I found out about the adjustment to $17,000, which I superceded without a problem, and it wasn't until then that I found out I needed more. That's just how God works though, and I'm willing to use the F-word (flexibility!!!) and rely on Him to raise up what I need.
I would like to clear up one question that I am repeatedly asked--Why? It's a pretty common response when I tell people I'm moving to El Paso/Juarez to do volunteer missionary work, in 2 senses: 1)Why did I choose that particular location? and 2)Why would I go somewhere so dangerous?
To answer the first half, I found out about YLM through my church. St. Paul's sends 2 or 3 teams down there every year and they have been for several years now. I went for the first time the summer before my sophomore year of high school and just fell in love with everything about the place. I adored that first week there--the atmosphere, the weather, the people, the culture, the food, the mariachi music--and was honestly ready to stay longer after serving just 7 days. I love who I become in Ysleta and I feel completely at home there. I am finding it difficult to keep this short and sweet because I could write a list a mile long of reasons why I feel called to serve in the capacity that I am--my mom just asked me if I was writing a novel! Perhaps the most compelling though, is that you can literally SEE God--in a kid's face when you hand them a toothbrush, in the fact that our VBS attendance tripled by the end of the week one year, in so many things that I can't wait to experience day in and day out. I used to want to study graphic design in college, but it was my first trip at YLM that convinced me to major in Spanish and inspired me to go into mission work.
For the second half I don't so much have an answer as a response. I mean, I already explained why I am going to Ysleta, and it happens to be situated in El Paso right across the border from Juarez, which I realize happens to be a not-so-pretty part of the world right now. That wasn't really a consideration though; I have been called to serve and I am going to answer the call. I plan to take every precaution to keep the teams, myself, and my belongings safe, but I'm really not nervous at all about moving to such a perilous place. Here is a quote I ran across in the book Captivating, which I finished reading today, that might help you understand my odd sense of peace: "Security is not found in the absense of danger, but in the presence of Jesus" (this is completely off topic but the same book also kept quoting this one Bible verse that I thought about totally differently knowing that I'm moving to West Texas: "Therefore I am now going to alure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her." --Hosea 2:14). Chris actually wrote a few days ago in his blog that he has not felt threatened, but welcomed and loved every time he has crossed the border. In the midst of chaos and violence, God protects His children.
Until next time (from TX!!!), blessings!
I'm going to keep fundraising while I'm there, especially since last week when I found out my goal jumped by almost $4,000 due to a switch in my insurance from the plan that I already had arranged to the plan all LCMS employees have. My new goal is almost $22,000 and I'm sitting on a little over $18,000 right now, with the knowledge that a few more checks are in the mail for me. So, again I ask that you keep my support-raising in your prayers. I know that God will provide though, He has thus far and He'll continue to do so. I have noticed that God has been gradually building me up to the level of support that I need to reach now. I would have freaked out if I had been told $22,000 from the get-go, but my preliminary estimate was $12,000, and then once I was mentally prepared for that I found out about the adjustment to $17,000, which I superceded without a problem, and it wasn't until then that I found out I needed more. That's just how God works though, and I'm willing to use the F-word (flexibility!!!) and rely on Him to raise up what I need.
I would like to clear up one question that I am repeatedly asked--Why? It's a pretty common response when I tell people I'm moving to El Paso/Juarez to do volunteer missionary work, in 2 senses: 1)Why did I choose that particular location? and 2)Why would I go somewhere so dangerous?
To answer the first half, I found out about YLM through my church. St. Paul's sends 2 or 3 teams down there every year and they have been for several years now. I went for the first time the summer before my sophomore year of high school and just fell in love with everything about the place. I adored that first week there--the atmosphere, the weather, the people, the culture, the food, the mariachi music--and was honestly ready to stay longer after serving just 7 days. I love who I become in Ysleta and I feel completely at home there. I am finding it difficult to keep this short and sweet because I could write a list a mile long of reasons why I feel called to serve in the capacity that I am--my mom just asked me if I was writing a novel! Perhaps the most compelling though, is that you can literally SEE God--in a kid's face when you hand them a toothbrush, in the fact that our VBS attendance tripled by the end of the week one year, in so many things that I can't wait to experience day in and day out. I used to want to study graphic design in college, but it was my first trip at YLM that convinced me to major in Spanish and inspired me to go into mission work.
For the second half I don't so much have an answer as a response. I mean, I already explained why I am going to Ysleta, and it happens to be situated in El Paso right across the border from Juarez, which I realize happens to be a not-so-pretty part of the world right now. That wasn't really a consideration though; I have been called to serve and I am going to answer the call. I plan to take every precaution to keep the teams, myself, and my belongings safe, but I'm really not nervous at all about moving to such a perilous place. Here is a quote I ran across in the book Captivating, which I finished reading today, that might help you understand my odd sense of peace: "Security is not found in the absense of danger, but in the presence of Jesus" (this is completely off topic but the same book also kept quoting this one Bible verse that I thought about totally differently knowing that I'm moving to West Texas: "Therefore I am now going to alure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her." --Hosea 2:14). Chris actually wrote a few days ago in his blog that he has not felt threatened, but welcomed and loved every time he has crossed the border. In the midst of chaos and violence, God protects His children.
Until next time (from TX!!!), blessings!
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