Shots

I got 5 shots yesterday for my trip! I'm 3/4 of the way through my Typhoid pills. If all these vaccines don't make me sick, nothing will! Still concerned about the malaria pills....

-Amy

Dates

I realized I never really said exactly when I'm going!
I leave Portland on July 9 and arrive in Kigali on July 11th. I leave Kigali on July 20th and arrive home on the 21st.
So I will be gone from home for a total of 12 (13 really) days. That's a long time for the kids (and Andy) and I to be apart!

The Truth is...

Okay, the truth is... I would also like to ask for support, but am very uncomfortable with that!
The good news is, you don't have to give money. What I really would appreciate most is prayer support for myself and for my family here. Here are some ways you can help:

1. Pray for me:

• Getting myself ready to go (Did I mention we have a family trip to Yellowstone planned in the meantime?)
• Funding
• Safe travels (12 hour layover in London, stop in Nairobi)
• God prepares me for Rwanda and Rwanda for me

2. Pray for my family:

• Andy will be on his own for 12 days. He can handle the single dad thing pretty well, but that's a long time!
• The kids are not so sure about me going and they will miss their mama. I'd love for them to see this as something they could do sometime.
• I'm still nailing down where the kids will be on Andy's work days. I think it will come together fine, but would like it to be as smooth as possible for all involved.

3. Financial Support
The truth is, I'm just hoping that the finances will work out because I do feel like it's the right time for me to do this. (Despite my stubbornness initially.) I know some of you like to support mission work and if that describes you, then feel free to give. (My church, Summit View Covenant Church can provide tax-deductible status.). For more information on the Luis Palau organization visit http://www.palau.org/. The total cost of this trip to me is about $4000.00. For more information you can email or call me. If giving money isn't your thing... then please don't give it a second thought!!

Whew, got that out of the way.
I'm sure I'll come up with something more to blog about soon... I always have SOMEthing to say!
-Amy

But What Are You Doing There?

That's the first question most people ask when they hear I am going to Rwanda. It's actually a tough question to answer, because at this point, the details are not firm. Before I tell you the details that I do know, I'd like to share something that a wise friend of mine told me. She said that when someone asks me that question, a good response is, "I am going to learn from people who follow God under much more difficult circumstances than we do and it will be up to God to decide how that will happen." I love to think about that. Although I may be spending some time serving the Rwandans, I will also be working along side them, too, and that is exciting.

For those who still need more details, here is what I know. Andrew Palau is doing a festival on July 17th and 18th. Alongside the festival, there will service projects and medical and dental clinics being provided. (see http://andrew.palau.org/ for more on the festival.) The team I am going with will be assisting in various service projects leading up to the festival and also will visit the genocide memorial, attend a women's luncheon and a business luncheon and visit local church services. The rest of the details are up to God! And I think I like that...

I'm Really Going!!

Hello and welcome to my blog. It's looks like I should have internet access from my hotel in Rwanda... so I'm planning on keeping a running update on my activities... hence this blog.

First, some background:
Ever since I can remember, I have wanted to go to Africa. The reality is, though, that it's not convenient or practical to go randomly to Africa, and no obvious opportunities ever arose to go, so I didn't spend much time thinking about it. Last year, I heard of a possible opportunity and followed up with an email and received no response, so I moved on.

Then, this past April, a friend of mine told me about a festival being planned in Rwanda by the Luis Palau organization. She was going and said I should come to. And what did I say? I said, "Oh, yeah, sometime that would be nice, but not right now." When I went home and mentioned it casually to Andy, he said, "You told her yes, right?" A light bulb went on then... of course, it's Africa, give it a try. So I pursued more information on it, but in the end decided it was not the right time... it just didn't seem practical...

Fast forward to the beginning of June when I finally got knocked on the head by enough friends who really know me and love me, I decided to look into it again. So it's been a crazy couple weeks, but I found a team to join, booked a flight and have started my vaccinations.

So that's how I got to where I am now: creating a blog and trying to cover all my bases while I'm gone! My main goal for this was to be able to update my family while I'm gone, but I'm happy to update whoever is interested!