It will take some time to get good at this... (blogging that is)

I want to start by saying WOW. Knowing how many of you have been praying overwhelms me with such gratitude. The prayers have truly been felt and I have been so aware of God's presence. I am so sorry that I am just now updating (and even sorrier that the slow internet connection won't let me post the pictures I wanted to). I feel like I have so much to say but haven't the slightest clue how to begin.. So I'll begin with a quote I came across this week:

"Growth means change, and change involves risk, stepping from the known to the unknown."

We have been participating in our Africa-based Orientation this week in Windhoek, the capital. We have been able to interact with most of the people on our Rehoboth team as well as other AIM short termers who will be working in other parts of Namibia. There has been MUCH learning... and a growing awareness of how much of this growth, change, and risk may hurt.

But the process of allowing God to do with me what He wills is also so exciting to me. Knowing it will be a hard road but so filled with joy.

We have had some opportunities to be a part of ministries here in Windhoek. The field director of Namibia and his family have generously opened their home to us to host the orientation. We have been able to catch the vision of their passion for the people of their city and their country.

Some of the opportunities we have had include:

• Participating in HIV testing and counseling
• Visiting an after-school program at an Evangelical church in the outskirts of the city
• Touring the city and beginning to grasp the affect that Apartheid and racism have had on this culture.
  
• Visiting a baby home for orphaned infants.
• Visiting a preschool and remedial school for orphans and vulnerable children... giving children the opportunity to prepare for school who otherwise wouldn't be able to go.

In addition to these unforgettable experiences, we have had many discussions about our own cultural biases, ministry, the Gospel and how to live it out in relationships with those we come in contact with.

Several months before I left someone said to me with compassionate tears in her eyes, “My heart hurts for what you are going to have to learn during your time there.”

This week, the reality of what she meant began to hit me. For so long, ministry in Africa, working with orphans, telling people in desperate situations about the hope of Christ has been something I have longed to do, but so distant from my everyday life. My heart broke for it, but I didn’t understand it. Now that it is becoming a part of my everyday life, I am beginning to understand the incredible desperation of it all. To see desperation at its greatest and to feel so helpless. However, I have been reminded more than ever that I have the ONE THING that truly matters to offer people...HOPE in the Savior Jesus Christ.

We leave for Rehoboth tomorrow morning. Our team is so looking forward to getting to the town where we will be living life and doing ministry for the next several months. I will be teaching in a farm school called //Qua //Quas. (the // means it is pronounced with a click). The children at this school are some of the poorest around the the town. It will be a challenge...and my first real teaching experience outside of my internships and practicums in college. Mackenzie and I will be living with a pastor and his wife in the town. His wife is actually the principal of the school I will be teaching at. We are so excited to get to know their family!

I miss my sweet family and friends (you all!!) more than I can say, but God has been so near and I am grateful to Him for the sweet intimacy of a personal relationship with Him that is ALL that I need. Thank you for loving me and for praying for me, and for letting me know that you are doing both of those things often. It means more that you could ever know.
You can keep praying:

• For our team as we each get to know our host families and become familiar with our ministries. Pray that our hearts would be focused on the most important thing-- sharing Christ through our words and our lives. (I will make sure to introduce the rest of the Rehoboth team to you in another post) :)
• For our cultural sensitivity
• For the relationships we will build with the people who live there (their people group are called Basters)
  
• For sweet and fruitful personal times in the Word.
  

Thanks for making it through this long first official post. I will really be working on doing a better job of making it concise! Hopefully pictures will come also. :)

So much love to you all.