Fo fo! (Hello!)
Wow, all I can say is God has been so good these past few days and has just been blowing me away over and over again!! Since this past Thursday night I have met several international students from Niger: CJ, Nathan, Dan, Hadiza and Omar, just to name a few, all of which speak French and Zarma, the two languages I need to learn. I met most of them playing volleyball, and volleyball is now our common ground for hanging out a few nights a week!
It has been so neat to see the ways God is constantly preparing the way and confirming His will to me through all of this! I've been thinking my trip to Niger was set to begin June 30th, but it has already begun and He's brought the mission field here to me!!!
So today I met for the first time with my new buddy CJ to get a head start on learning some Zarma. Up til now I have been trying to teach myself from a pronunciation guide that Phil, my field supervisor, sent me over email. Let's just say... Praise God I met these students!! My pronunciation has been simply awful. I discovered this on Thursday when I first met CJ and decided I would try my "Zarma-speaking-skills" on him and he had no idea what I was saying!... So back to today... My first lesson...
I met up with CJ in Starbucks on my campus, and we sat and talked for about 2 hours. He taught me some basic greetings, corrected my wrong, self-taught pronunciation, and told me a lot about the culture. Niger is primarily Muslim, and CJ got to tell me a lot about Islam and I also was able to share a lot with him about Christianity. It was a really great first meeting!!
Needless to say, I still have a very long ways to go in learning Zarma, but these few first steps have sparked such a crazy excitement in my heart about going! And being able to put real faces and names to the people I am going to be living life with for two months is starting to change everything!
I am so thankful and so incredibly blessed by how the Lord is leading and preparing me and where He is taking me!
A few key prayer points for now:
-That the Lord would continue to satisfy me in His word so that I may fully reflect His glory
-For this excitement in my heart to continue to grow!
-That He would continue to provide opportunities for me to meet with my new friends
-For doors to begin to open for the Lord's will to be done in their lives!
Kala hanfo! (See you another day!)
Monday, April 5, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
The Fight to Delight
So I got my passport in the mail! YAY!! One step closer to getting to Niger!
Today I feel so much better about going! I think the Lord is working on changing my perspective and reminding me that missions is solely about bringing Him glory. I think the most impacting truth I've discovered from Piper's book so far is where he said,
"The great sin of the world is not that the human race has failed to work for God so as to increase his glory but that we have failed to DELIGHT in God so as to REFLECT his glory..."
That truth has given me so much peace and comfort. And now, I realize that the foundation of what He has called all of His children to is simply to delight in Him. For when we are truly delighting in Him, our lives can't help but to reflect His glory and He WILL be glorified!!
So here I stand today, facing my newest battle - the fight to delight. Fighting for joy in Christ is a daily battle in this fallen world with so many distractions and counterfeits being thrown our way. It is the desire of my heart to simply delight in His presence to be able to fully reflect His glory.
"...in your presence there is fullness of joy..." Psalm 16:11
Today I feel so much better about going! I think the Lord is working on changing my perspective and reminding me that missions is solely about bringing Him glory. I think the most impacting truth I've discovered from Piper's book so far is where he said,
"The great sin of the world is not that the human race has failed to work for God so as to increase his glory but that we have failed to DELIGHT in God so as to REFLECT his glory..."
That truth has given me so much peace and comfort. And now, I realize that the foundation of what He has called all of His children to is simply to delight in Him. For when we are truly delighting in Him, our lives can't help but to reflect His glory and He WILL be glorified!!
So here I stand today, facing my newest battle - the fight to delight. Fighting for joy in Christ is a daily battle in this fallen world with so many distractions and counterfeits being thrown our way. It is the desire of my heart to simply delight in His presence to be able to fully reflect His glory.
"...in your presence there is fullness of joy..." Psalm 16:11
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Oh yeah.... Progress and Fun News :)
So in the midst of sharing my worries and concerns... I forgot to tell you the fun stuff!
As of March 19th my plane ticket has officially been purchased!! Which means no turning back now... Wouldn't do that anyway!
Still waiting on my passport to come in, which for some reason I am very excited about getting!
So, I also found out the "dress code" for my stay in Niamey.... Ankle. Length. Skirts. And. Dresses. I was not super excited to discover this dress code to say the least. BUT, I'm making the most of it!! Saturday I went to Old Navy and bought 4 new ankle-length skirts and dresses which I must say are fairly cute. Just have to wear a white short sleeve shirt under them to keep with the modesty. Anyway, making this purchase definitely got me more excited about going this summer!! Here's a picture of one of my new dresses:
T-shirt sales are going fairly well - still have plenty to sell so let me know if you want one!!
About to apply for my travel Visa and I guess I should be getting my Yellow fever vaccination soon. Ouch. Shots.
I think that's all :)
As of March 19th my plane ticket has officially been purchased!! Which means no turning back now... Wouldn't do that anyway!
Still waiting on my passport to come in, which for some reason I am very excited about getting!
So, I also found out the "dress code" for my stay in Niamey.... Ankle. Length. Skirts. And. Dresses. I was not super excited to discover this dress code to say the least. BUT, I'm making the most of it!! Saturday I went to Old Navy and bought 4 new ankle-length skirts and dresses which I must say are fairly cute. Just have to wear a white short sleeve shirt under them to keep with the modesty. Anyway, making this purchase definitely got me more excited about going this summer!! Here's a picture of one of my new dresses:
T-shirt sales are going fairly well - still have plenty to sell so let me know if you want one!!
About to apply for my travel Visa and I guess I should be getting my Yellow fever vaccination soon. Ouch. Shots.
I think that's all :)
From Concept to Reality
Hello all!
I want to start keeping everyone informed as progress towards going to Africa is quickly advancing! My main purpose behind keeping this blog is to allow you to partner with me in prayer on this incredible journey I have set before me! And I plan to be completely vulnerable in my thoughts and attitudes regarding the trip so that you can join me in prayer and may know specifically what you can pray for as the departure date quickly approaches.
So here's a short summary to catch you up to date:
I first felt God's call on my life to go to Africa as a senior in high school, and now, 4 years later, I am finally answering that call! Plans started last summer as I sent a very generic "help me" email to the International Mission Board where they got me in touch with the right people. It was a slow process at first, but once a few steps started being made, things have really taken off!
"Going to Africa" always seemed like a cool concept... And now, as this concept becomes more and more of a reality, the pure, sheer excitement I once had is now beginning to intertwine with nervousness when I think of the details this trip entails such as:
stepping onto that airplane alone
entering into a completely different culture alone
dealing with hardships alone
... being alone
So today, here's where you can begin joining me in prayer. As the date of my departure approaches (June 30), I am beginning to deal more and more with feelings of loneliness and fear of stepping outside of my comfort zone. I keep trying to put things back into perspective. I know this life is not about me, and I know God has never called his followers to live a life of comfort. And I have even just started reading John Piper's "Let the Nations Be Glad," which, since Sunday, has really helped to re-spark that genuine 100% excitement!
I'll wrap up this post by sharing a few points from the book that have helped in bringing me back to this excitement:
MISSIONS BEGINS AND ENDS IN WORSHIP -worship is the FUEL of missions and it is the GOAL of missions.
Goal: The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God. "The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad! (Psalm 97:1).
Fuel: Missionaries will never call out, "Let the nations be glad!" who cannot say from the heart "I rejoice in the Lord... I will be glad and exult in you, I will sing praise to your name, O Most High" (Psalm 104:34; 9:2).
ZEAL for the glory of God motivates world missions.
Please pray that the Lord would push away and crush my feelings and fear of loneliness as He replaces it with ZEAL and excitement for ultimately spreading His glory!!
I want to start keeping everyone informed as progress towards going to Africa is quickly advancing! My main purpose behind keeping this blog is to allow you to partner with me in prayer on this incredible journey I have set before me! And I plan to be completely vulnerable in my thoughts and attitudes regarding the trip so that you can join me in prayer and may know specifically what you can pray for as the departure date quickly approaches.
So here's a short summary to catch you up to date:
I first felt God's call on my life to go to Africa as a senior in high school, and now, 4 years later, I am finally answering that call! Plans started last summer as I sent a very generic "help me" email to the International Mission Board where they got me in touch with the right people. It was a slow process at first, but once a few steps started being made, things have really taken off!
"Going to Africa" always seemed like a cool concept... And now, as this concept becomes more and more of a reality, the pure, sheer excitement I once had is now beginning to intertwine with nervousness when I think of the details this trip entails such as:
stepping onto that airplane alone
entering into a completely different culture alone
dealing with hardships alone
... being alone
So today, here's where you can begin joining me in prayer. As the date of my departure approaches (June 30), I am beginning to deal more and more with feelings of loneliness and fear of stepping outside of my comfort zone. I keep trying to put things back into perspective. I know this life is not about me, and I know God has never called his followers to live a life of comfort. And I have even just started reading John Piper's "Let the Nations Be Glad," which, since Sunday, has really helped to re-spark that genuine 100% excitement!
I'll wrap up this post by sharing a few points from the book that have helped in bringing me back to this excitement:
MISSIONS BEGINS AND ENDS IN WORSHIP -worship is the FUEL of missions and it is the GOAL of missions.
Goal: The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God. "The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad! (Psalm 97:1).
Fuel: Missionaries will never call out, "Let the nations be glad!" who cannot say from the heart "I rejoice in the Lord... I will be glad and exult in you, I will sing praise to your name, O Most High" (Psalm 104:34; 9:2).
ZEAL for the glory of God motivates world missions.
Please pray that the Lord would push away and crush my feelings and fear of loneliness as He replaces it with ZEAL and excitement for ultimately spreading His glory!!
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