Monday, March 30, 2009

Peru, Here I Come!

Finally, I am figuring out my summer plans! I will be heading to Peru for 2-3 weeks in July. My church is going to be making a trip down there and I am going along with them. I actually joined my church this past Sunday. It was exciting but also made me feel like I am really saying goodbye to Orlando for good, which is bittersweet for me.

I also heard back from Liberty University and I have been accepted to the Master of Arts in Teaching program with a concentration in Elementary Education. I will begin in May! Most of the classes I need will be online, but I will take 3 classes on campus. Liberty is in Lynchburg about 3 hours away from Virginia Beach. My plan is to take one or two this summer and then take 1 or 2 in the fall (they offer the classes I need on campus in 4 intensive weekends per class). My student teaching can be done in Virginia Beach. Looks like I can finish all of my classes by next spring and do my student teaching in either the summer or fall of 2010. Then hopefully I can head overseas somewhere to teach for a year or two.

So no Africa or London for this summer. I am really excited about going to Peru though. We will be working in an orphanage, teaching ESL, and there will be a medical group that will put on some clinics. I am especially excited about working in the orphanage. There are about 15 kids who live there with special needs and it will be neat to interact with and spend time with them.

I also got a job for the month of August. I will be the manager for about 3 weeks at one of the local pools. I worked at this pool when I was 15...actually, it was my first job ever! Well the manager will head back to college in August and I will take over for her until Labor Day. I am hoping to get my job back for the fall and if I do I would start back up again the week after Labor Day, so that works out great. Plus in between all of that my old teammates from Kenya will be visiting me!

Looks like it is going to be a pretty busy summer!

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Making Plans

I have been feeling swamped lately. Between work and studying, I don’t have much free time. Fortunately, there was some nice weather last week and I was able to study in Michael and Ashley’s (my brother and sister-in law) backyard, which backs up to a lake. It was absolutely wonderful to be outside after feeling cooped-up for so long. Moving to Virginia from Florida in the winter has been an adjustment and I am ready for Spring! Anyways… I took off Friday from studying and now I just feel guilty about it. Oh well, guess it’s time to play catch up today.

I have been praying about what God wants me to do this summer and there are so many things up in the air right now. What I really want to do is spend the summer in Africa.
However, I am not sure if that is God’s plan for me. I have been talking to World Harvest about going to Kenya for a couple years once I finish my education (which is a whole nother story). Anyhow, the missionaries from Kenya will be in the States this summer, so there will be no opportunity to visit them in Kenya. However, I am hoping to see them while they are in the States.
I have an opportunity to go to Tanzania to work in an orphanage and school that was started by a Tanzanian man and his wife who will be graduating from Reformed Theological Seminary in May and returning. I got connected with them through some friends in Orlando and now I am just trying to see if there is an organization who would send me to work with them (World Harvest will not).
World Harvest has encouraged me to apply for a summer internship in London ministering to South Asians. I have really never had a desire to go to London, but I think God could really teach me many things through this. For one, my life is not my own, no matter how much I sometimes think it is. World Harvest’s reasons for wanting me to go to London are that I will receive excellent training in discipleship and evangelism. I will also be exposed to another cross-cultural setting, and I would be working with seasoned experienced missionaries. All of these things are great and I have applied for the internship. I am praying that God would give me a real desire to serve Him wherever He sends me, including if I end up staying in the States this summer, which would be a real challenge for this wandering girl.

Taking anatomy has confirmed in me that I have no desire to go into the health field. The class is interesting but a TON of work. I don’t want to study this stuff for two+ more years…so now I am just trying to get through the class. I could really use your prayers because my motivation is really dwindling.
However, God has given me a love for teaching. I don’t know why I have fought this for so many years. I have just tried to talk myself out of being a teacher. But it really makes sense…I love kids and I love seeing them blossom and grow. So it makes sense that I would enjoy being a teacher. I love going to work and being in the classroom. I have applied to graduate school to get my masters degree in elementary education. I even found a school in Africa through SIM (Serving in Mission) that allows students to do student-teaching in Africa! Which would be awesome! But I know there will be opportunities for that in Virginia Beach too.

So I am just waiting now…waiting to hear about grad school, and to figure out plans for the summer. I am looking forward to August because all of the interns that were with me in Kenya last summer are coming to visit me in Virginia Beach! I miss them and can’t wait to see them again and reminisce about our time last summer.
I’ll be keeping y’all posted as things fall into place!