Thursday, April 26, 2012

The end of some things, the beginning of others

Firstly,  I thought it important to address the situation in Guinea Bissau since so many of you have been asking me about it.  A few weeks ago, there was a coup that upset the government of Guinea Bissau.  I have been in good communication with my team there, and village life in Catel is very unaffected by what's going on in the capital.  Plans have not changed for me - I will continue to pursue my plans for departure in August.  If you are looking for more information or updates about what is happening in Guinea Bissau, I would recommend searching for "Guinea Bissau" on Al Jazeera (http://www.aljazeera.com/) or BBC's website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/).

The school year is finally coming to a close for me.  It has been a rather difficult last two weeks wrapping up classes when I would much rather be raising support or talking to you all about Guinea Bissau.  In fact, even as I write this blogpost I have a paper waiting for me.  I'm kind of hoping it writes itself. :)  I will be taking finals all next week and graduate on May 12th.  I will arrive in Lancaster County, PA sometime on Monday, May 14th.

The third order of business for this post is to update you on fundraisers.  We had a very successful, high energy fundraiser at my church here in Indiana on Sunday.  There was rather large turnout and I was very excited to have some of my international friends there as well.

We also ate a very yummy African lunch (thank you to all who helped to prepare it)!

I then shared about God's journey that brought me to the place in my life that I am moving to Guinea Bissau.  I will be in Indiana for a few more weeks and then it's off to Pennsylvania!  I would love to meet up with you one-on-one to tell you more about my journey if you'd like - just let me know!

Fundraisers remaining:
April 30 and May 1 - Eat supper at Yoder's from 4-8, present the coupon (found on my facebook page), and Yoder's will donate 15% of your bill to my fundraising efforts in Guinea Bissau

June 10 - The Village Experience at Weaverland Mennonite Church: silent auction, ethic food, and activities for kids!  Tickets to come.

I have felt so very blessed along this journey.  Thank you to everyone who has been praying for me and is behind me in this adventure that God has me on.