So you want to talk to me?

I have come to realize that there are some people that did not receive a special-dilly envelope in the fundraising letters I sent out, and that maybe perhaps, there is someone who is reading this that didn't get one at all. If that is the case, and you would like to send a gift to help with my mission year in Africa, here is the information for that.

• For a CHECK: Make check out to "Student Missions Fund" DO NOT PUT MY NAME ON IT!!!!
• For CREDIT CARD: Specify company (choose from Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express); Write card number and expiration date; sign piece of paper all this lovely information is on.
• For CASH: Put in envelope. :) No special instructions here.
• For ANY DONATION: Put my name on a SEPERATE piece of paper not directly attached to paper, if my name is on the form of payment, this will not be tax-deductible; Put your name, address, phone and email (somewhat optional) - it will assure that you get a tax-deductible receipt in the mail and so I know who to send my thank-you notes to. :)
• To send: Make envelopes out to: Office of Student Missions; Walla Walla College; 204 South College Avenue; College Place, WA 99324-9986

If you would like to contact me otherwise, let me get back to you on that. I don't really want to put my email address for the world to see, so I'll see how I can fix that. (If you received a donation letter, it should be on there.)

As far as the update on the mission, there is no update. I have not heard back from the doctor still and I have sent in the last piece of information that WWC needs from me. Now I just wait and pray for progress that the doctor is making over there. Thanks for your prayers!

Reflective thought for the day: We all try to better our lives and fix our problems by buying new and improved gadgets and toys. Sometimes I wonder how people could live without movies, cell phones, airplanes, refrigerators, stoves, washing machines and diswashers. But God doesn't think about these things as necessities. If they were, then he would have given them to us. Instead he gave us the things we truly need to live a wonderful and worthy life. "By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life." 2 Peter 1:3. So before you start going to the store to get that ultimate chopper, cutter, slicer, dicer to make your freezer-burnt dinner fattier and sweeter, think about what you really need in your life and thank God for his truly amazing power to provide.

Still Waiting

It has been almost 5 weeks since I decided to take to pursue the call to Nigeria, and now I am almost completely ready to go. For the amount of work that it takes to do such things, I have completed I'd say about 80% of it. With the help of all my family and friends I have just about 70% of fundraising to go already! Thank you so much to anyone who has helped.

Unfortunately the things that take the most amount of time to complete cannot be finished yet. Visas generally take a long time to process, but I cannot start an application for a visa until I have specific instructions from the Adventist General Conference. I cannot get instructions from them until my call is confirmed, and my call is not even completed as far as I know. Right now the fate of what I will be doing next year, along with if I'll be able to make it over there in time lies in the hands of a very busy Doctor in Ife, Nigeria. Prayers will be very much appreciated, especially as I'm reminded of how insignificant I am to making this work after I can no longer seem to get ahold of him.

For lighter news, I discovered yesterday how easily I burn. There is a massive public library in downtown Eugene - my hometown - and after visiting it, I headed straight home with the windows down in my car. As an experiment, I left my left arm on the window ledge the whole way home, where it was constantly in the sun while my right arm was not. When I got out of the car, I held my arms next to each other to discover that, yep, my left arm was sunburned after only 10-15 minutes in the sun. Needless to say, I will be taking a lot of sunscreen to Africa. :)

My favored verse recently is found in Ephesians 4:1-3
"Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love. Always keep yourselves united in the Holy Spirit, and bind yourselves together with peace."