First Blog-Hello

Hello All,
I've decided to start this blog to keep everyone informed about my preparations for Ethiopia. I would also really like to keep everyone informed about what I'm doing while I'm Ethiopia, but that will depend on how accessible the internet is while I'm there.

So here are the main details of my trip for those of you that don't know:
WHERE: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
WHEN: July 6th- August 8th
with WHO: InterVarsity (IV) students from Drake, DMACC, Grandview, and Central
WHY: mainly because I love Africa, mission trips, etc., but also because I think God is going to do some amazing things on this trip!
WHAT will I be doing: working in an AIDS orphanage, with former prostitutes, or with people that live on the street. We will also be living with Ethiopian college students.

This weekend we got to meet our team and did some training in Des Moines. It was really great to meet all of the students that would be going on the trip. There are 6 students from Drake, 3 from Central, 1 from Grandview, and 1 from DMACC, as well as 3 leaders. It is a team of all women. All of the girls seemed really nice and I think we will have an amazing time. I really cannot wait to get to know all of them and it's crazy how close we will be by the end of August. That is one thing that I really love about mission trips. You are stretched so much that you need to lean on God as well as others because otherwise you would not get through the experience. Once you go back home the people on your team are the only ones that really truly understand what you went through and the experiences you had. They are the people that understand why you miss the country and the people SOOO badly that you would do anything to go back. (Which is why I want to ;)

After meeting the team and chatting and saying our prayer requests I would like to share the themes with you, so you could keep our team in your prayers. A lot of the theme was about trusting God to provide us the money for fundraising. To not be anxious about asking others for support and also not to be anxious on the trip. We also would like prayer for our parents accepting what we are doing and also being comfortable with the decision to go to Ethiopia. I specifically would like prayer that Ethiopia stays a stable country during their upcoming elections. Recently the US state department issued a travel advisory because of the elections which expires on July 1, but it is very close to when we should be leaving. I would just like prayer that the IV staff would keep a close eye on the situation, and also make the right decision in sending our team or not. If you guys could also keep our team in your prayers and we are each ending our semesters of school to not worry too much about finals, and all of our upcoming tests, projects, etc.

That is all of the updates I have for you right now. It was quite long, but I appreciate you taking the time to read it all. Hope you have a great day!!