Day 5

Okay.... I have to admit, I am a little grumpy today.

The boiler was repaired at our building and I was sooooo excited to finally take a hot shower this morning but when I turned on the hot water and soon realized that I would get none I was a little frustrated to say the least.

This marks day 5 of my no hot water. My bad attitude about it this morning is not because it is day 5 BUT rather I was told it was fixed, got excited about it being fixed, and then my hopes were dashed.

Pray for my attitude, I want to rejoice in God always and I am finding it hard to do today.

Day 3...

Today marks day 3 of my cold showers. Let's say its getting old or should I say "cold"... My neighbor below me jokingly related it to third world living.

I smiled as I thought of my move...If only he knew!

Memories of Africa

Today I was reminded of Africa.

The boiler in my building is on the fritz and in need of replacing and so hot water to my building has been going in and out for the last few weeks. Usually I just wait until later in the day when the hot water is restored to take a shower but today I have to be somewhere and had no other choice...

I turned on the hot water handle hoping I would get a few drips of hot but quickly realized that the water was going from cold to colder rather than the other way around. I chucked to myself thinking that this was what I have to look forward to next year on a rather regular basis.

My shower was fast... And as a result I thought to myself what the benefits to a shower with no hot water might be... Here's my list:

1. Your shower is 2 min's tops... which saves ALOT of money on water
2. If you are tired you wake up FAST...no need for a mid-day nap after this shower!
3. You cool down FAST even on a hot day
4. You can actually set your home thermostat to a higher temp to help you "warm up"
5. Your bathroom mirrors don't steam up
6. You can drink hot chocolate on a summer day after your shower
7. You aren't in there long enough to get water in your ears (Yes, that usually happens to me)
8. Because you are in there for a short period, your fingers/toes don't get prunie

In the whole scheme of things hot water is a luxury...so why not look on the bright side and laugh rather than complain and get grumpy...I think a positive attitute to tough situation brings God more glory than a negative one!

SO...Keep smiling my friends, even when the road is hard and the water is cold!

Validations from God...

OKAY...Here's another praise!!!

I told you about the praise that my boss gave me 13 work days off so I can attend training in October but what I didn't mention was that she had told me it would probably be unpaid work days...Which I was OK with.

I talked to her again today to tell her I had my sub all lined up and she told me to work out the time keeping with the secretary. Turns out I will be paid for all of the days that I miss!

How great is God, He not only works out my time off but He makes sure I get paid for it too! So I will be in Florida for a total of 2 months and I will still be receiving my regular paychecks the WHOLE TIME! That's amazing to me!

Thanks for praying for me and this upcoming adventure...God answers prayers EVERYDAY!

21 Questions...

Believe it or not I am asked alot of the same questions over and over again... Here are some of the common ones I am asked and the answers to them... If you have others, feel free to ask them and I will do my best to answer them!


Question 1:
What are you doing with your house?
Hopefully renting it! I listed it in the Cornerstone Classifieds, Craig's List, Apartment Hunters & Westside Rentals... If you are interested in renting it let me know!


Question 2:
Who is going to watch over your place when you are gone?
I have two friends in the apartment rental business and they will both be helping me manage the place so that I do not have to hire and pay an outside company to do it.


Question 3:
What about your job?
I am going to take an unpaid leave for a year and then try to extend the leave after that. If LAUSD won't let me extend it, I will quit when the leave is over. I will keep my California credential current though so when/if I return I will not have to redo any of my credential requirements.


Question 4:
When are you leaving?
My first training is October 22-December 22. The last two trainings are May & June of 2009. I will depart for Africa after my last training (end of June/or beginning of July 2009)


Question 5:
Where will you live?
Not sure yet! But I will stay with some friends until I find a more permanent place.


Question 6:
Will you have running water?
Yes!


Question 7:
Will you have electricity?
Yes! But it does go out frequently so hopefully it stays on more than it goes out!


Question 8:
How will you stay in touch with your friends here?
Mostly through email and this blog site


Question 9:
How long are you staying there?
Indefinitely... I don't want to put a date on it because I want to see what God does...It may be 5 years, 10, 20... I just don't know.


Question 10:
Will we ever see you again?
Yes! I want to stay in contact with all of you! Most long-term missionaries take a furlough every 3 years. It may not be exact but from what I have seen so far, most furloughs can be anywhere from 2 - 4 months long.


Question 11:
Can I come visit you?
YES! NMSI will help me coordinate people that want to come to help on short term trips. The more visitors I have the more encouraged I will be. An encourage and supported missionary tends to stay on the mission field longer and be more successful in their ministry so yes, yes, yes, I want you to come and visit me!


Question 12:
Is it safe?
As with any place you go, you have to take precautions. There is a pretty good chance that I will get sick and/or robbed but for the most part the area I plan on going to is pretty stable right now.


Question 13:
What does your family think about the whole thing?
Hummmm...let's say the jury is still out. Some are excited for me, Some think I am crazy, Some think I am stupid, Some don't support me at all, and Some want to come visit me... Its a mixed crowd.


Question 14:
Are you leaving because of your family situation?
NO, NO, NO! I am leaving because God is calling me to leave. I love living here in the US, I love my job, I love my condo, I love my friends and I love my family. I have no desire to run away from problems but I do have a desire to follow where God leads. I am not willing to leave the things I love just because the going gets tough with a few people BUT I am willing to leave the things I love to follow God. He alone directs my path.


Question 15:
Why do you want to go?
The first and most important reason is that I feel God wants me there... He has made it pretty clear to me over the last few years that this is where He wants me so who am I to argue with God


Question 16:
What will you do there?
I not 100% sure and in the missionary world, what you do changes constantly BUT I would love to help in the education arena... Not teaching per se but training teachers to teach better, revamping curriculum, doing school administration in a Christian International school that serves missionary kids and local kids or possibly getting more local kids into school... I would also love to help get more reliable technology into the schools so that the kids have a greater resource base....we will have to wait and see what doors God opens up!


Question 17:
Will you get a job there can support you financially?
Probably not. Most Ugandan places won't pay a salary to international missionaries so the majority of my funding will come from monthly supporters (churches & individuals) in the US.


Question 18:
If you stay there for a long time, will you marry someone there?
I don't know! Most of you that know me well know that I LOVE being single and would LOVE to STAY single FOREVER! But if God has a different plan for me, I am not opposed to it - but lets not jump the gun!


Question 19:
Isn't it really cheap to live there?
No not really, I have heard from friends that are already there that it can be more expensive than the US in many ways... For example, gas runs anywhere from $10-$20 a gallon and utilities are super expensive even though they are mostly unreliable. Cars are really expensive too even though they are all used and housing can also be pretty pricey. I will have a better idea once I sit down with NMSI people and get a preliminary budget set up.


Question 20:
Who knows you are going?
Most of my friends, people at my current church, people at my childhood church, previous co-workers, and my family members all know.


Question 21:
Who doesn't know you are going?
My boss, some of my current co-workers, and some of the people in my condo complex.


I hope that helps and please feel free to keep those questions coming!!!

Good Theology

Tonight I had dinner with some good friends of mine. One of my friends told me about a Christian rapper that he was really impressed by. It wasn't because this rapper was good at rapping but rather my friend was impressed by him because he had good theology.

As a fan of Christian rap music, it is rare to find a Christian rapper that really represents the gospel and its message in an accurate light. My friends and I sat around and watched videos from this rapper and I too was impressed by the theology.

Here is one of my favorites. Listen to the words carefully and make sure you are not one that just lives by "religious tradition" but really seeks to live out your faith in a radical way, whether here or abroad. Enjoy!

Can You Clarify?

So I have been asked more than once to clarify about the trainings I am going to be attending and why I am fundraising now if I am not leaving for another year. I hope to make it clear for everyone but if you still have questions please feel free to ask me!

New Missions Systems International (aka: NMSI) is my missions agency. As my missions agency they will be taking care of many of my logistical needs as I get ready to go, while I am in Uganda, and when I eventually return. As a "long-term" missionary with their agency, they require that I go through 3 different trainings:

1. COAT (9 weeks in Florida) - Cost $3,400 approximately
2. SPLICE (3 weeks in Colorado) - Cost $2,000 approximately
3. PILAT (2 weeks in Colorado) - Cost $1,300 approximately


Why three?

Missionary statistics are not so good... I have heard that approximately 90% of missionaries that are sent out return within the first year of serving overseas. The reasons for this vary but for the most part it has to do with not having all of the logistics worked out before you leave (finances, fiscal responsibilities at home, etc.), not having a support system once you are in your new country, or not understanding or being prepared for what you will face once you are there.

Sending missionaries out is not a cheap endeavor and in order to be responsible with the money God has provided, it is important that I leave with as much preparation as possible so that I am successful and fruitful in the work God has given us (me and my support team) to do. NMSI is in place to insure this happens and makes sure that I will be a good candidate to serve overseas.


So what will these 3 trainings teach me?

1. COAT which stands for Community, Orientation, Assessment, and Training is the 9 week program. This program helps me build unity with my missions agency through formal/informal mentoring & bible studies. It also helps me learn the administrative details and programs that will be provided to me when I am abroad and will allow NMSI to get to know me better so that they will be familiar with my ministry and ways to make it more effective. In addition they will also focus on my spiritual foundations, goal planning, support raising, financial stewardship, global issues and practical aspects of living cross-culturally(Visas, transportation, housing, etc). All of this is set in place so that I am not surprised or unprepared once I arrive.

2. SPLICE (the 3 week program) is run through NMSI's partner ministry MTI or Mission Training International. This is a pre-departure training that stands for Spiritual, Personal, Lifestyle, Interpersonal, Cultural, Endure/Enjoy. The purpose of this training is to build skills and develop character in these 6 vital areas of missions while giving me the practical skills and attitudes that will help me move from one culture to another. It includes strategies to adapt to a new culture and value differences so that I do not become just another missionary drop-out statistic.

3. PILAT is also run through MTI and stands for Program In Language Acquisition Techniques. This is a two week pre-departure training that gives me Phonetics, Language Learning Techniques, and Language Study Methods that will give me the necessary skills to learn another language (in my case, Lugandan). While English is the national language in Uganda, those that can communicate with locals in their first language are more effective and able to reach more people in the community than those that only speak English. For those of you who know me...you know that I not only flunked out of Spanish in High school but I also didn't do so good in sign language in college either...Obviously I need more help in my language learning abilities and this training is designed to do just that.


So what expenses do you have THIS year while you prepare to go?

1. The 3 trainings...................................Approx $6,700
2. 10% NMSI administration costs.....Approx. $920
3. One way flight to Africa....................Approx. $2,500

TOTAL NEEDED..........................Approx. $10,120
Which breaks down to approximately $900 a month for the next 12 months


Why is it so expensive?

1. When you think about the trainings the prices are pretty reasonable...they are a total of 14 weeks or 3 1/2 months and the costs include housing, application fees, airline travel costs as well as the course costs.

2. As a NMSI missionary, all of my funds will go through them. As a result I have to raise an additional 10% of anything I need to cover the administration costs this incurs. This 10% helps pay for my access to their services, including printing costs and the financial aspects of the ministry I am involved in.

3. Prices in ALL airfare is up because of our economic situation therefore any travel (whether it is domestic for trainings or international) is more expensive than it has been in the past and requires extra funds


So how much have you raised so far?

So far I have had a few people pledge support but only one person actually sign up with NMSI. If all of the people who have verbally told me they will support me follow through with their commitments I will have a total of $380 per month coming in. That is an awesome start but still $520 per month short of what is needed.


Are you worried about raising the money you need?

NO!!!! God provides! I have seen Him do it before when I was going on short term trips and I have no doubt that I will see Him do it again! I just need to remember that my timing is not His and that through this experience He is teaching me to trust as well as to be patient. I am excited to see Him work!

Possible Job in Africa!

Thank you all for your prayers! I see them working in amazing ways! I may have mentioned to some of you that I was looking into International School in Uganda as a possible job while I am there. There is only one Christian International School that really caught my eye when I was looking. It is called Heritage International School. I emailed the principal of the school about 2 months ago and didn't get a response back. Today, I received the response and it is really excited me...Here is what it said:

Lena,

Sorry for the delayed response to your inquiry. I was just appointed principal and have been working my way through the backlog of e-mails.
We would LOVE to have you come work at Heritage International School!
We have various needs that perhaps you could help with.
* We have just implemented the British IGCSE curriculum and need some serious renovation to our curriculum guides for the secondary school, as well as some updating to the existing guides.
* We also have occasional needs for substitutes for teachers.
* We will most likely need a principal for the 2009-2010 school year.
* We currently do not have a separate job for recruiter and it would be helpful to have that.

I can have our administrative secretary send you our application (which includes our statement of faith) for you to look over and fill out if you are interested in joining us.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions.


The cool thing about the response is that I already gave her my qualifications and these are the areas she feels I may be qualified in. The even cooler thing is that these are the areas I wanted to help serve in... I want to help them with curriculum renovation and making the curriculum more accessible to the students, I also want to help teacher teach better and help to get local kids into school. I know it is a long way off but it excites me that God is working out details now and giving me a little more direction in the way He wants me to go. Keep the prayers coming my friends, great things are happening!

How Do You Pray?

I have a new favorite singer... I bought some of her music after hearing her at my church a few weeks ago. Her name is Kendall Payne and here is the clip of her at my church....Make sure that you really listen to the words of this song - It will change the way that you think about prayer.

Time to Type Holy Spirit!

Posting a blog is the craziest thing...

When I first started posted them I thought that it was a little weird to be writing a "journal entry" and letting the entire Internet community read it...BUT now it's crazy in a different way.

It's crazy because almost every time I sit down to type something, it goes a totally different direction then I was planning it to go and I usually have to change the title because it in no way relates to what I was going to write.

Now that in itself is not too crazy but the fact that what usually ends up on the blog is something convicting straight out of God's word is too much of a coincidence to me... For example:

A few days ago I wanted to sit down and write about a new book I just got about the struggle of children in Northern Uganda. I wanted to write about what a small world we live in because when I read the acknowledgement page of a random book I found off Amazon, the Acholi (Ugandan) girl that wrote it was thanking some Muzungu's (white people) that I had Christmas dinner with in Uganda this past December....small world, huh?

BUT instead of a blog titled "Girl Solder" or "Small World" I ended up with a blog titled "Matthew 9:35-38" and an analysis of Matthew 9:35-38! The funny thing is that I wasn't even thinking about those verses until I sat down and started typing. It just came out...it's almost like the blog writing itself! Boy, I wish my college papers would just write themselves!

But seriously...I think it is the Holy Spirit seeping out into the writing of this blog and I think the Lord is using this blog to speak through me. It might sound odd but really...things like that don't normally happen to me when I am going through every day life but they are becoming a normal occurrence when I sit down to write on this blog site.

Is what I write on this blog an accident? A coincidence? I don't think that it is and that is really cool and exciting to me, but it is also something totally new and crazy to me as well!

I can't wait to see what I will be writing next!