Hey everybody!
Route Change: So this is long overdue and happened a while ago, but my route has been switched! It is now upside down basically and two of the countries have been changed! My route is now Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, China, Thailand, Cambodia, India, and Nepal. I am OVER THE MOON about this!! So just to recap, the route is backwards and we've traded Malaysia and South Korea for India and Nepal, and I am beyond thrilled for the possibilities that await my squad and me on this updated route.
I'll tell you I am mainly excited to be in Africa first now, and for the two new countries. I think getting to be in the conditions of Africa first will just allow God to break down any and all expectations that I have for the next year! I'm so ready to let God have all control and I imagine the humbling experience of boiling all of my water and things like that will definitely have a hand in that. India and Nepal are also making me downright giddy because I just have no idea what God will do with that. I obviously don't know what He's going to do in any of the countries, but for some reason with those two being added and me not really knowing anything about them adds a little extra excitement!
Squad Identification: Also, my squad has finally received a letter! Each squad has a letter to identify themselves by (Squad A, Squad B, etc.) and I am proud announce that I belong to Squad Z! I'm secretly hoping when we meet at training camp and decide on a word that Z stands for that it will be Zion (not sure why, just something I think would be really cool and a word that God has had on my heart since I learned our letter).
Funding: So update on fundraising: I am currently at $3, 741.15 and I am unbelievably grateful to all you who have given, not just money but prayers and encouragements as well. It all means more to me than I can express and I am incredibly humbled that the Lord has chosen to bless me through all of you and you love and kindness and generosity. My deepest heartfelt thank you, I love you all dearly!
That being said, I have a long way to go everyone. My amount has recently been upped from $15,500 to $16,285, due to a new insurance policy implemented by Adventures in Missions. I am set for my training camp deadline (thank you gracious Lord!) but I have to have $7,500 raised by January. This is an intimidating and frightening thought to me until I remember that God has and will continue to provide.
Ditches: I don't know if any of you attend Life Church, but these past few weeks Pastor Craig has been preaching about the prophet Elisha, and two weeks ago he talked about the kings who had sent their troops out to battle and the troops were completely out of supplies, no food no water, and wandering the desert. They came to Elisha basically asking him to ask God to simply provide rain so the troops would not die of thirst. Elisha looks at them and tells them, Nah I want your troops to go out and dig thousands and thousands of ditches. Keep in mind these troops are about to die of thirst in the desert and Elisha wants them to go dig a bunch of ditches. But they do and then the Lord sends water to fill all of these ditches. It was a wonderful sermon about how we often ask the Lord to just provide us our needs because He can, but how even more often God wants us to dig a ditch first. That's the perspective I'm attempting to keep towards my fundraising. If I'm being honest, I think so far I've just been asking for rain without digging any ditches. Asking God for all of my provisions without doing my fair share of the leg work. But that's not the attitude I want to have and I'm hoping to do everything I can to create opportunities for God to fill ditches, it's the least I can do right?
So if any of you have any ideas for me for fundraising or maybe you know somebody you think might be able to help me make connections or even if you want to be a part of the ditch-digging process by telling people about my blog and what I'm doing, it would all be so so appreciated!
I'll leave you with this passage, it's been on my heart since about mid summer and it's just a beautiful testament to God's control and sovereignty and just His character.
" Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright. Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings! Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host. He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; he puts the deeps in storehouses.
Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.
The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!
The Lord looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man; from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes their deeds. The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue.
Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine.
Our souls wait for the Lord; he is our help and shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you." -Psalm 33 (ESV).
