I am usually a pack-crastinator. I tend to do laundry until the wee hours of the morning and more than once I've had to pack slightly damp clothes! This time is definitely different though. This will be my first trip outside of North America. I've been to Canada, Mexico and the U.S. Virgin Islands but that's it!
As you can see, I have started packing! I can take 2 50-lb bags and my carry-on items. One of my big bags is dedicated to supplies. I have 36 pounds of toothpaste and 14 pounds of other miscellaneous items like deflated soccer balls, crayons, hackey sacks, frisbees, etc.
It's the fall/winter season in Swaziland. It's going to be in 50's and 60's while I'm there. I have to wear skirts because of the culture and hope I don't freeze!
I know that there is some internet access and hope to be able to update the blog on a daily basis! I'm getting more and more excited to get there. Please continue to pray for me, my team and the Swazi people.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Packing Time!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Countdown - 65 days!
I've dreamed about going to Africa since Nazarene Youth Conference in 1999. I had heard missionary speakers before but the lady that spoke one night at NYC had some incredible stories about her experiences in Africa. I knew that someday I would go. Over the past few years, I've had a few oppourtunities but it just didn't feel like the right time.
A couple years ago, my church started talking about Swaziland and I just knew I was supposed to go. Swaziland is located between Mozambique and South Africa. It is the smallest country in the Southern hemisphere (slightly smaller than New Jersey) and has a population of 1,133,066. Life expectancy at birth is only 32.33 years.
I am really looking forward to what God has in store for me and the Swazi people. Thank you for joining with me in this journey. Here are some ways you can be praying for me, the rest of my group and the Swazi people.
1. Pray that money for my trip would continue to come in. The final payment of $950 is due on
Monday, June 22.
2. Pray for the GO Team from Lenexa, KS that is in Swaziland until June 11.
3. Pray for the HIV/AIDS Task Force that I will be working with. There are not enough hospitals
to care for the volume of people dying of AIDS. A group of laywomen formed the Task Force. They ministers to families living with AIDS by delivering food, batheing those with AIDS, providing basic medicine, etc. These ladies are also partnering on community gardens so people can grown their own food. Pray as they serve these families and take steps to train new leadership so more people can be served. 
4. Pray for The New Hope Centre that I will also be partnering with. The New Hope Centre is an
orphanage that has nearly 40 children who have been orphaned due to AIDS. Pray for these
children and the other 100,000 children that are without parents because of AIDS. Over 15,000 households are led by children as parents and grandparents have died.
5. Pray that God will bless, direct, and use Bethany First Church of the Nazarene, Southern
Nazarene University, the Swazi Church of the Nazarene, leaders from Raleigh Fitkin Memorial
Hospital and the Swazi government to affect the course of a nation. If nothing changes,
Swaziland is at risk of losing half its population to AIDS, other infectious diseases, or
starvation in the next 10 years. May God use us to be an agent for change.
