Passports!

As some of you may know,  I was unable to leave this past Sunday for India. My passport did not show up in time. Nor did two of my teammates, so thankfully I was not the only DTS student left on base. Usually there is about 70-100 people on base, but throughout this week it has emptied out and currently it is myself and about seven other people. It has been a quiet week.

Today I returned after a lunch off base to find out that my passport had arrived. It has been a joyous day. I was also able to go see the new Hobbit movie. Let me tell you. It is pretty good. Go see it. This coming Sunday I will be leaving for India with one of my teammates. We will be departing from Hawaii at 12:30 am Monday. It has been a crazy ride up until this point. God is so good through everything. 

Unfortunately, one of my teammates will be headed home this weekend and will not be joining us on outreach. She had a lot of complications with her passport/visa because Fed Ex lost her original passport/visa. We are all very sad to see her return home to Canada. In all things, God is still good. Even through crappy things such as this.

I would very much appreciate prayers this week, as well as the following nine weeks. I ask that you pray for safety as the three of us travel to various parts of the world. I also ask that the adjustment for all of us will go smoothly. It will be a difficult transition for Austin and I as we join our team a week late. Our team will have already had time to adjust to the time difference and their surroundings, whereas we will have to just jump right in. Unity is also a prayer request. It is hard to do things with twelve people if there is no unity involved. God is going to stretch us all and move us in incredible ways and I cannot wait to experience it.

 

As you can see above, I was thrilled to see my passport. 

Blessings on all of you! I will try to update in the following months, but I cannot make any promises!

Project Exploration

Departure for India is in three days. Today was a packing day and I can happily say that all of my stuff is packed away. It was pretty nice because my parents took a whole suitcase home for me and made this a lot less stressful. For those of you who do not know, my parents flew in and spent a week with me in Hawaii. It was a wonderful time to be able to see them before I leave for India/Sri Lanka. I was able to see Pearl Harbor the day before the 73rd anniversary. I also went on a tour to Kualoa Ranch. Kualoa Ranch was a beautiful place in Hawaii where many different movies and TV shows have been filmed. Such as Hawaii Five-0, Lost, Jurassic Park, Pearl Harbor, Fifty First Dates, Soul Surfer, and Karate Kid. Here are some photos of the tour.

The photo above is of the dead tree from Jurassic Park that the kids and Dr. Grant hid behind in the dinosaur stampede. It was a dream come true to be able to see this. The photo below is of a real life dinosaur attacking me. Terrifying.

I was also able to go to the zoo and see elephants, giraffes, and zebras for the first time. It was quite the experience. While I was there, I found out that there is in fact a zoo in New Delhi. I am still in the works of trying to convince my team to let us go to the zoo in India on one of our days off. What an adventure that would be.

 

It is crazy to think of how fast two and a half months flew by. There are so many things that have happened since I landed in Honolulu, Hawaii. One of the biggest things that has happened was when I rededicated my life to Jesus and was baptized yesterday. It was such an incredible experience. I have been baptized before when I was around a month old. I also made profession of faith the summer after my 9th grade year. When I made profession of faith I definitely was not ready and rushed into that choice. Yesterday, I was completely and 100% ready to follow Jesus. It really was one of the coolest things in my life.

These last few weeks in Hawaii have simply been incredible. I cannot wait for God to stretch me and use me when I go on outreach to India and Sri Lanka. It is going to be the best time. Myself and twelve others are about to head off for an unforgettable time period of our lives.

Here are a few recent photos of the group. The top photo has all of us in it. I would really appreciate it if you all would pray for my team over the next two and a half months. Back row: Margrete, myself, Mariesa, Bree, Cambree, Cassidy, Ashley, and Saara. Front row: Tony, Jed, Link (white), Joz, Tanner, and Brice. Brice is not coming on outreach with us since he is support staff; he is actually part of the January school and he will be getting ready to co-lead his own team to on outreach shortly after we return from our outreach in February. 

I found out recently that while on outreach I will only be able to be able to update my blog three times, if that. I also will not have my computer, so I am not sure if I will even be able to blog. If I cannot, I will be updating via Facebook since that will be the easiest way for me. My flight leaves Sunday night/Monday morning at 1am Hawaii time, 6am Michigan time. It has been a great adventure so far and I thank all of you for supporting me to be able to get here. Thank you so very much for everything, and I would love love love for you to keep praying for me while my team and I go off on outreach.