T -13 days!

SO i'm leaving for south africa in 13 days!! i cannot believe how quickly the time has flown (didnt i say that in my last post?? you think i'd get used to that by now, huh?) i'm really excited for the trip, but i feel like there's still so much to do to prepare. i know i've gotten many questions about this upcoming endeavor, so i'll attempt to answer some here...

you're going to south africa?!?! why?
short answer: i feel like God is leading me to and through this opportunity and i'm excited to see what will happen!
longer answer: for as long as i can remember, i've had a love and passion for africa. i studied abroad in south africa and since then have always wanted to return to the continent. when my job with the church came to an end, i was given the opportunity to explore any and all possibilities. i came back to innerchange, a ministry that i had explored more than a year ago. they have a team in soshanguve, south africa and i'm excited for the opportunity to join with what God is already up to down there!

how long will you be there?
short answer: this trip is just a short, two-week visit. hopefully in the spring i'll be ready to move on down there for a more long-term commitment.
longer answer: this visit will be kind of an exploratory trip. i'll get to meet the team, get a taste of the community, and meet up with some ministry partners who have already been doing God's work in the township. also while visiting, i'm hoping to get a sense for how long my longer commitment will be. at this point, i think it will be at least a year, and it could be several years beyond that. we'll see!

but what will you actually be doing??
short answer: excellent question. as i like to say, sometimes there are more questions than there are answers =)
longer answer: i'm not quite sure of what my specific role will be. this time of visiting the team will give me a good chance to just be present and see where God is leading me to fit in with what is already going on. it is a challenge to my instinctive desire to always wanna do-do-do to have this time to just be and see how God may be leading me to fit in with the work He's already got going on. i'm also encouraged by the fact that the team leaders hvae read my application and we've had several conversations and given their knowledge of the community and its needs, they see a fit for me there. this adventure has been confirmed and affirmed from a lot of different directions, so I'm grateful for the faith-building exercise!

what next?
short answer: six weeks of travels and then back to new orleans.
longer answer: i'll be in south africa for approximately two weeks. then i head to california for innerchange trainings--first in the bay area, and then in so-cal. then i'll head to chicago at the end of january for my friend's wedding (!) and THEN back to new orleans just in time for mardi gras! at that point, i'll need to put my focus on raising support in order to join the team in soshanguve full-time. the cost is about $1200 per month, which covers the various living expenses, including health insurance and funds for continued training. once i have most of that raised or pledged i will make plans to return to south africa for the long haul!

like i said in a previous blog post, i really like details, and knowing what is gonna happen, step-by-step. well, this adventure is just not like that but i know that God is leading this adventure, so i don't have to worry.