Spoiler Alert : Longest Blog Ever.
(me teaching in Kenya)
In just 111 days (2,664 hours sounds more intense), I’ll be
getting on a plane to Hawai’i with my family, and assuming
the World Race begins July 1st, go straight to the Race
from there! It’s coming up really fast! My squad mates and
I routinely email, text, and Facebook each other, either
freaking out with excitement or fear 🙂 But this whole
adventure doesn’t begin in 111 days. It’s already begun,
and I want to share with you what this time of preparation
looks like.
Spiritual
Our squad has made some really awesome commitments for these last few months
before the Race. These were not forced on us by AIM staff, but we prayed about
what God would have us do. The time from your acceptance as a missionary until
you enter the field is a time of “consecration” to the Lord. Here’s what we’re doing:
1. Fasting from food. We have set up a schedule so that every single hour of every
day (to the best of our knowledge) is bathed in prayer and fasting by at least one
member of our squad. How cool is that?! I know that fasting isn’t a magic formula,
but we are expecting God to do great things.
2. Fasting from one thing each week. The first week was coffee, the second sleeping
with comfort (pillow, fan, whatever each person ‘needs’ to sleep), and now this
week is “our choice” – i chose Facebook and checking my support account. (Feel free
to surprise me with some awesome donations when I get back in March, wink wink.
haha). These things can obviously be altered for each person. If you don’t drink
coffee, you can’t fast from it. Other weeks include only eating PB&J or rice and
beans (typical food on the race), or a media/technology fast. We want to get in
the habit of being uncomfortable.
3. Daily Bible reading and prayer, as well as sermon podcasts, church attendance,
service opportunities, etc.
Physical
1. Going to the gym or at least being active is crucial for our preparation. First,
who wants to be embarrassed at Training Camp when they can’t participate in
hikes and challenges, but second, who wants to be hindered from ministry because
they couldn’t bike or whatever to a ministry location or village? ALSO my gym
(pictured above) is awesome cause it has a theatre.
2. Certain weeks we have committed to walk at least one mile a day with our
packed backpacks on to get ready!
Financial
1. God has been blessing me in amazing ways with this one. I guess that’s what
happens when you answer His call. So far, you have donated or pledged 74.5%
of what I need (if $50 more dollars come in, it’ll be 75%) – WOWWWW! Thank you
SO much! If you still want to donate or pledge, feel free to click the support link
on the left side of this page. It’s tax deductible and you’ll get a lime green thank
you note in the mail 😉
2. The money I have to raise for the trip ($15,500) covers everything once we’re
on the field (besides spending money of course, including me getting internet
minutes and the occasional bottle of shampoo…haha). BUT we still have a LOT
of other expenses. I need to pay for travel to and from Training Camp, to and
from our starting and ending locations (a domestic airport somewhere),
immunizations (including malaria pills for a year, yuck), travel insurance (another
few hundred bucks), AND spending money while on the race. This adds up quite a
bit. SO I am actually allowed to raise UP to $18,000 (twenty five hundred more
than the race costs) to help cover flights, immunizations, and insurance (not
spending money). If I raise this, AIM will reimburse me for the necessary expenses!
3. To do my part to help with the above, I am working. Goodness gracious it’s hard
to find a job! Literally nowhere is hiring, not even Target! So, I am working about
an hour away from my house at Harvey Cedars Bible Conference (www.hcbible.org)
on Long Beach Island, where I spend my summers. It’s awesome because the
people there are like my family, my schedule is ridiculously flexible, it’s a Christian
atmosphere, and they are aware I’m leaving in June. Sometimes I’ll go a week or
two without working, and then stay at the Conference for a week working every day.
It’s not a top paying job, but God is providing, and He is good 🙂
(this is actually my stuff, I love it!)
Material
1. Gear! Currently next to me is all the gear I am taking on the Race. My backpack,
my WorldRace t-shirt, my nalgene, my sleeping bag, my thermarest, my tent – you
name it! God graciously provided for Christmas and my birthday and almost all of
my gear came in for that! Sweet, eh?!
2. I’m selling a ton of stuff! I’ve already sold a lot to friends, and put that money
towards the race. I also gave away like 15 big black trash bags full of clothes.
Once I moved home from college and had all my stuff in the same place, I realized
how much crap I owned. It was gross. So, “live simply so others can simply live”
became more real to me, and I purged it. Very freeing, actually.
3. Technology. This is a dumb and expensive worry that I really should get over. I
have an iPod, but the battery lasts like an hour (not exactly great when you’re in
the African Bush), and I have an awesome camera and laptop (no complains there),
and I have the little things like headphones and a splitter. It makes me sad though
that I don’t have anything to record video. Part of me wants to smack my head into
a wall for worrying about this on a trip to help the poorest of the poor, but I think it
would be really beneficial to post videos for my supporters and raise awareness for
the people I meet and situations I see. Who knows, God could provide. If not, I’ll
trust Him anyway 🙂
Emotional
1. This one is kind of a pain. And sometimes like Clueless Morgan,
pictured above. It could be weeks, days, or hours when I switch back and forth
from “OH MY GOSH I AM SO FREAKING EXCITED!” to crying like a baby because
I’ll miss my friends and have some stupid phobia they’ll forget about me. But God
has been showing me, as CS Lewis so eloquently stated, that “When I have learned
to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better
than I do now.” Oh I pray that I learn that lesson 🙂
Passion2011
1. GOD HAS BEEN SO AMAZING in providing this awesome opportunity to be
spiritually renewed and refreshed and built into before I begin this trek around the
world. Passion2011 has offered me a free ticket, and I have free housing for the
conference as well! When God wants you somewhere, He provides. I will be
driving down to Ft. Worth, TX with two of my amazing girl friends, Rachel and Kara,
for the first weekend of April. Speakers there include JOHN PIPER, FRANCIS CHAN,
etc, and worship will be by David Crowder, Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman… oh my gosh.
It’s going to be SO good. Check out this video of last year’s conference to see what
I mean. It’s at the end of this blog entry cause I can’t figure out how to put it
in the middle!
SERIOUSLY. WATCH IT! 🙂 please? 🙂
Graduation
1. Some days I think that in our society, since jobs are so scarce right now, that a
college education wasn’t really worth it. At least financially. BUT I figure that if I’m
spending a year trekking around the world telling people about Jesus and helping
them physically, a Bachelors of Science in Bible as well as a Bachelors of Social Work
just may come in handy 😉 So anyway, May 21st, I’ll be the proud new owner of two
8×10′ pieces of paper that cost over $125,000 🙂
Training Camp!
This is the last leg of preparation for the Race! On the same day of graduation, only a
few hours later, I’ll board a plane to none other than Chattanooga, TN for World Race
Training Camp with both July squads and the August squad (I think that’s about…
say… almost 200 crazy twenty-somethings going to a white-water rafting and
paintballing camp in the mountains for ten days, not showering, doing ministry and
even persecution drills, getting physically in shape, eating weird food, and worshiping
God with all our hearts. boo. yah.)
After that, there are three silly weeks that have no schedule before I board the plane!
These probably consist of a few last minute days of work, lots of packing, seeing
friends and family, and possibly a graduation party.
And then, we’re off!
Much love. – S.
steph,
love this post! read it all… so exciting to see how God provides for you. i’m going to pray that He also provides one of those cool flipcamera thingies that take video. it never hurts to ask 🙂
Awesome (longest ever) post.
I love the video. And the pic of clueless Morgan!!!! CABIN FEVER YEAH!! And you!!!!!!!!!!!