When?

I hope you all are enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! There is much in my life to give thanks for including family and friends to being almost done with grad school and an amazing Lord and Savior!

So we have already talked a bit about who I am and what is happening in my life and now that I am officially appointed the natural question becomes when... When am I leaving for Indonesia?

To be honest it is a tough question to answer. The easy answer is as soon as possible however there are still many things to do. These include for example:

• Taking and passing my comprehensive exam and board exam to officially become a certified nurse-midwife. These are two separate tests - one for the school and one for national certification. I would love to be done before Christmas but there have been a few issues getting my final paper graded and getting the paperwork processed to get listed to take the exams.
• Lots of books to read and training to do to help me be better prepared for serving long-term in a developing country. Some of these include language acquisition and cultural adjustment training. I am also hoping to take a few more classes and training to round out my education in nurse-midwifery and focusing on practicing with low resources in the developing world. 
• Finally I will be raising financial support to cover my living and ministry expenses while I am serving in Indonesia. My monthly budget is going to be around $3,500. I will be sharing more about this in the coming months. 

How you can be part of the team?

• I am going to need lots of prayer in the coming days. Pray especially for my health that my Lyme Disease does not flare up. Pray that I will successfully pass my exams. Also be praying for the long list of things I need to do in preparation for departure and that I can take it one day and one step at a time. 
• If you are interested in helping out with my financial support please contact me as I would love to set-up a time to sit down one-on-one and talk with you about this partnership. 

So as you can see there is not an easy answer as to when I will be leaving but I trust in God's plan and His timing. 

Officially Appointed

As the picture of the name tag above shows... it is official! I have been appointed to serve as a long-term missionary with WorldVenture in Indonesia!! I have to admit it is a bit strange to know that this dream I have long had is one step closer to coming true. I have been told several times since I got here that my life will never be the same. So exciting and a bit scary!

Now I am in the midst of 10 days of training. So much information and things to learn. On Monday we also spent the day celebrating and this included time with my parents. It has been a lot of fun but also a lot of work. It is going to take me time to process all this. I am looking forward to getting home!