Watch out Tanzania

Watch out Tanzania, here we come. What a special day of orientation at AIM. I felt the Lord's presence and comfort overwhelming me. All the women who are at orientation this week for short term missions with AIM had the opportunity to share their testimony. Each one was so powerful. God has such a strong calling to missions and I am a part of that. Thank you Lord for this calling! I look forward to more opportunities to share my testimony.
So tomorrow is the big day. I car service picks us up at AIM and takes us to JFK for our journey to Dar es Salaam, the capitol of Tanzania. Heather, who will be training us, will be waiting for us in Dar where we will stay for a couple days before we head up north to our village. I am anxious to meet the other missionaries and the people we will be serving. I have updated our prayer requests about our travel and transition.
There is so much excitement in this time. I have been flipping through my Bible all day reading and praying through much of God's Word in preparation. He has given us a whole book of His Word and precious promises. I need to walk with those on my heart. My prayers for this year are summed up well in Colossians 1:10-14, "And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." Put your trust, faith, and hope in Jesus for He will never disappoint and will always walk with you, through your joys and challenges.
Thank you for tuning in. We will try to update as time allows! Please be consistently praying for us. And keep us up to date with what is going on in your life as well.
Blessings,
Emily

T Minus 5 Days & Counting...

What up faithful friends?  I am currently writing from my friendly neighborhood Kaldi's Coffee in Clayton.  My friend Melissa is on her way and I am preparing for another goodbye....though it is more of a "see you later" than a goodbye.  I've been saying see ya later to a lot of people lately, so praise Jesus for our amazing group of supportive and loving family and friends.  This is crunch time.  Emily and I are so excited to actually get to do what God has been leading us to for so long, and at the same time these butterflies in my stomach keep reminding me of just how different life is going to be for the next year.  Over all the emotions (and I've been experiencing a lot) I have an overwhelming joy.  God has blessed this mission every step along the way, and it's time to dive in head first and trust Him even when I think am I really doing this?  It's going to be so hard, but I wait in eager anticipation to learn so much more about God, the world and me.  We will update again soon, but for the time being please be praying for safe travel to NY on Monday and Tanzania on Wednesday.  Please also pray that our visas and everything get through so we can arrive and get going right away!  Most of all please pray that God prepare our hearts to serve the people with humble hearts and that we will join the team in place with a unified vision!  Thanks for your love and support!!!

Until later,

Sarah 

T minus 21 days

I cannot believe that Sarah and I leave for orientation 3 weeks from today. To be honest, I cannot wait. I am ready for all the preparations to be finished and get this started. The application process started in September and have spent so much time preparing in these last few months, so now I feel just ready to get there. Of course there is still so much to wrap up. I finished work about 3 weeks ago and have been going non stop ever since. I made a quick trip to Uganda with Children's Heart Project, a ministry of Samaritan's Purse, and then to Kiawah Island with my family and head this afternoon to Kids Across America Kamps (a division of Kanakuk Kamps) to work as a nurse for the next 8 days. Sarah finished school a week and a half ago and now she is catching up on life and doing a little relaxing.
So a little update on everything. First off, please be praying for our visa's and residency permits. We do not have these yet, so please cover them in prayer to come in on time. Also pray for my nursing license to be approved when I get to Tanzania. We are gathering supplies and starting the packing process. Heather, our short term coordinator in Tanzania, has given us a good list to work with. Pray for us as we pack to use discernment in what we bring. Two fifty pound suitcases each for a year is not much. We do not need much as far as clothing goes as we will get it sewn there. We will wear traditional clothing. Can't wait to show you pictures. I have never been much of a skirt person as many of you know. If you would like to help with supplies, gift cards to Walmart would be great. There is so much we will be buying there. Swahili is coming along with Rosetta Stone. Of course it could always be better. Learning Swahili is critical to our ministry. And the most important preparation is spiritually. Pray that we can clearly hear how the Lord is directing us in this ministry.
I promise it will not be this long in between updates. Just an incredibly busy May. Can't wait to report on our progress!
Hugs,
Emily