Huge Blessings

Hey Friends,
Well I wanted to give a report on the garage sale we had last weekend to benefit Sarah, myself, and Africa Inland Mission. It was just fantastic and we raise a substantial amount of money for a garage sale. I think it may have been a garage sale record. We were so blessed for the countless donations from friends and family. We filled my entire garage, sun porch, and front porch with all the donations. The Lord blessed us with perfect weather and lots of people. So thank you for all your help. So that finishes our fundraisers. We feel very blessed with how well our support raising is going. You have extended great generosity and prayers which we are very grateful for. We have just a bit to go financially.
So I though I would address the two questions we hear most about going to Africa. First it is how many shots did you have to get? Since Sarah and I have both already been to Africa, we were mostly caught up on all our immunizations. In addition to the routine ones we had yellow fever, typhoid, and a few extra boosters. So we are set with immunizations. And while we are there, we will both take doxycyline daily to prevent malaria.
The second most asked question concerns our safety. First off, we are not worried about our safety. We are heading to work with a great people group and feel very comfortable about our safety and of course we will be smart. The Lord has protected me in so many situations in my life, and I trust He will continue to watch and guide both me and Sarah. I have been studying the Life of Moses this year with Bible Study Fellowship and last week we studied Deuteronomy 30-31. There is a great verse that speaks of God's protection. Deuteronomy 31:8 "The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." Moses said this to Joshua just before he led the Israelites into the promised land. Think about how scary this could have been. Joshua was leading millions into a land that was full of their enemies. But humble Moses reminded them to trust in the Lord's protection. And Sarah and I will do the same as we venture into land we do not know, but know the Lord goes there before us to prepare the way.
Thanks for tuning in. I am back to Kansas City this afternoon for one more week of work. We have about 7 weeks until we leave. And be praying for Sarah as she finishes her school year.
Hugs,
Emily

Bowling-What Fun

Hey Friends,
Well the bowling event was a great success. We had probably close to 60 people and I think everybody had a really nice time. Good fellowship, great cause! And we were so blessed to raise quite a bit of money which goes direct to Africa Inland Mission to support us for our year in Tanzania. Below is the email I wrote to thank everybody for coming:
Dear Friends,
First off, I would just like to say thank you so much for attending our bowling fundraiser yesterday to benefit Sarah, myself, and Africa Inland Mission. It was just awesome to feel the support you all gave us for this ministry. It was a great fundraiser for us. Thank you for your generosity!
I wanted to take a moment to give God the glory for the blessings in this ministry. Sarah and I both have a heart for Africa and the Lord has really pulled all this together to minister to the D people (full people group name not disclosed for security reasons). We both have a desire to minister to these people because of our relationship with Jesus Christ. As He came as an example to the world of a true servant; we want to share that deep love with others. We are honored to be a part of this ministry.
I wanted to share with you some thoughts the Lord placed on my heart about going to Africa. The apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 2 really summed up well his care and concern for the people in Thessalonica. I encourage you to read this chapter as it speaks well to the heart we have for the D people as Paul had for the Thessalonians. Verse 4 says, “We speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the Gospel.” We are blessed to know the Gospel, have personal relationships with Jesus, and have been entrusted to share the Gospel with all we encounter. Verse 8 is a great verse, “We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you became so dear to us.” We feel a great love for the D people even though we have not met them yet. We are devoting our lives and service to these people for at least a year and our hearts for many years to come. And finally verse 12 says, “encouraging, comforting, and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.” This is a great prayer. I leave you with another verse in John about trusting your lives to the hope in Christ. John 11:25-26, “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.’” What great hope to spend eternity in heaven with Christ.
We leave June 29th for two days of orientation in New York and then leave July 1st to head to Tanzania for a year. Please keep up to date with us on our blogsite at www.emilyandsarahinafrica.blogspot.com. Some prayer request now would be that we continue to effectively use our time in spiritual preparation, continued trust in the Lord, and expand our knowledge in our job roles for our service (nursing and teaching). Thank you so much for your generous love and support!

Also a big thank you to you for tuning in and praying for us as we prepare. Sarah and I are both so excited because today at 4:30 we meet with Warren, our district area liaison with AIM, and Katie, a lady who just came back from working in the community we will be working. She is from Kirkwood and has been working with the D people for many years. If fact we will probably be living in the house she lived in. We look forward to meeting with Warren and Katie and really learning more about the community we will be working with and what life is like there. I just can't wait for this afternoon.
Well got to run to finish preparing for our meeting! I finish up working in Kansas City in just three short weeks. I am ready to be done commuting every week.
Hugs and Blessings,
EM

Yeah Earth Day!

Greetings friends and Happy Earth Day!

In the wise words of my friend Ginnie, "Every day is Earth Day!" It's quite challenging to keep that in the forefront of your mind each day. I read the Lorax to my students today. It's one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books. It is the tale of our dear friend the Once-ler. You see, the Once-ler was a greedy man who moved to a beautiful place with beautiful Truffula Trees. The Truffula trees had Truffula tufts softer than silk. Soon the Once-ler was cutting down all the trees to make beautiful and multipurpose Thneeds (See the picture above). Before you know it, the Once-ler had built huge factories to produce his Thneeds to meet every one's demands because, after all, everyone needs a thneed, right? Eventually, you guessed it, he had successfully cut down all the trees and polluted the beautiful place he once loved with the dark, dank smog of his factories. In the mean time, all the wonderful critters and creatures were forced to leave because of the destruction of their dear Truffula trees. The title character, the Lorax, tries to warn the Once-ler of his deeds, but he pays not attention, and alas, the Lorax must leave as well. He leaves behind one message for the Once-ler. A word: UNLESS. When someone comes to the Once-ler to hear the tale of the Lorax, he finally gets the message. He sends the messenger on his way with a Truffula seed. Unless you or I make a difference or take a stand to change things, the world will continue to grow dark and ugly. Ok- so this is a story about deforestation, but let's expand this idea. Each of us in our own way contribute to the beauty of our world and we are called to be good stewards of what we have been given. This message transcends Earth Day and the message of reduce, reuse, & recycle. We are all so consumed with what we want and think we need. Pretty soon we're a runaway train out of control so fixed on ourselves we are blind to the outside world. We don't see the devastation we leave in our path until it seems too late...the good news is it's never too late. It's that simple. In researching organizations established to serve the people of Africa, I was so encouraged and humbled by how many were started by one person. One person who said unless I do this, people will continue to be in need without hope. The hope we are given through the One who made us is a gift that, despite our own limitations, allows us to do great things for His glory. Whether it is going to Africa, becoming a Big Sister or Big Brother, initiating a recycling program at your school or workplace, or random acts of kindness, remember the message of the Lorax. Unless. It's scary navigating foreign territory, but with God all things are possible.

PS-This was not at all what I planned on updating today, but I hope this message is an encouragement to you. =)

Peace out,

Sarah

Asante

Asante! Thank you! Words cannot thank you all enough for the generous support we are receiving. God is just so amazing. The Lord is really shining His light on this ministry and providing in unique ways. Thank you for sharing the blessings the Lord has given you with us. Also a big thank you to the many businesses who are donating items for our bowling fundraiser (see below).

Sarah and I are both diving into Rosetta Stone and reading lots of good books in preparation. I just finished Cross Cultural Servanthood by Elmer and it was fantastic. Even if you are not considering missions abroad, it is just great to read about how to serve people and learning to practice humility. Sarah's is staying busy with teaching her 3rd graders and I am commuting every week to Kansas City to work at Children's Mercy. We are both spending most of our free time in preparation. I keep getting more and more excited to meet the people we are working with. We will get to meet them in about 3 months which I know will fly by. So all in all things are going well!

A little update on fundraising activities: We are having a bowling fundraiser on Sunday, April 26th. The invite is copied below. Please feel free to tell others about this, just RSVP so we have enough food.

An event right up your alley:
Emily & Sarah are going to Africa and need your support!
Join us for an afternoon of bowling and fun to benefit the
girls as they prepare to teach and nurse in Tanga, Tanzania.
Who: You and feel free to invite friends
What: Unlimited bowling, pool tables, and good food
When: Sunday, April 26th from 2-6 pm
Where: Saratoga Lanes 2725 Sutton Blvd.
South on Sutton from Manchester Road in Maplewood
Cost: $20 (cash bar)
There will also be a silent auction and raffle.
Please RSVP to Sarah Majino (lilmajino@yahoo.com) or
Emily Arneson (lilarnie@yahoo.com).

We are also having a garage sale at my house on Saturday, May 9th with all the money going towards our trip. If you would like to donate any items for us to sell, please email us and we will pick it up the weekend before.

Thanks for tuning in. We are blessed to have many care about this ministry. I thought I would paste in a picture of some cute African kids from my trip to Uganda in October. I visited a school and the kids just loved to have their pictures taken.

Hugs, EMILY

New News!

Habari! (That's hello in Swahili). We hope you all are doing well.  I am currently typing from my the house of my dear friends, the McKillips family, in Oakland, California.  I have come to have some great renewal and fellowship over my spring break.  It has been a wonderful, encouraging trip.  In the mean time, Emily and I have been in touch with Heather, who we will be working with in Tanzania, and she has given us more detailed information regarding what we will be doing while serving there.  I will be teaching English classes to all students in the school as well as art and PE if I so desire.  I am ecstatic at the possibility to be creative and active with the kids.  I am picturing playing soccer outside with 30 little kiddos running around.  To prepare for my English teaching roll, I have spoken with the ESOL teacher at my school.  She has given me some great insight and suggestions.  Emily will be the school nurse and will be responsible for giving exams and checking in with the children regularly to ensure they remain healthy.   Another important roll for her will include health education for the community.  She will teach the people some preventative measures and practices to avoid unnecessary illness or breakouts.  We are both eager to prepare for our jobs and every little piece of information helps us put together this puzzle.  We will be meeting with our recruiter and a woman returning from Tanga in April, so we are excited to ask her all sorts of everyday questions about life there.  We will be moving into her house, so she will have a wealth of information and insight to share with us.  The best part of this story is that she is from Kirkwood Missouri!  Just in our own back yard.  It's so funny how God works.  We were concerned about having no idea where we were going to live, and now we find out the person we are replacing actually lives in St. Louis.  God continues to provide just what we need and more.  That being said, we are still working on support raising, so stay tuned for some fun events in April and May! 

Grace & peace,

Sarah   

June 29th it is...

Hello Friends,

God is good all the time, and all the time God is good.  Now that we have officially begun our support raising, God has proven faithful yet again.  We are humbled by the cheerful giving our friends and families have shown us thus far.  Both of us are close to 20% of our goal.  Though we have far to go, I have a no doubt God will provide.   There are days I ask God, "Is this really going to happen?"  Then I go to the mailbox and there is another encouraging message supporting our efforts in His mission.  It has been exciting to share this experience with you all, and we continue to be grateful for your prayers.  Emily and I just found out we are leaving June 29th.   We will spend a few days in New York at orientation and arrive in Tanzania on July 3rd. It's a little earlier than we had thought, but we are excited to get going.  We also purchased Rosetta Stone, so we will be speaking Swahili in no time...wink wink.  Now we are in the stage where we are spending time preparing logistically, as well as emotionally and spiritually.  It is a fine balance working and living life in the present when we are both looking forward to this big adventure that will be here before we know it.   It has been challenging at times, but it is affirming to see God working in so many ways.  We will continue to be praying that He will provide and use this time to bring us closer to Him.  

Peace,

Sarah 

Things are moving

Well friends, the ball is rolling. I have sent my letters for support out and Sarah's will be out today. And I am so blessed by the response already. Praise Jesus! He is so good. I have had fun telling more and more people about what we are doing. We want to share this opportunity with others. It is exciting.
The budget is coming from Africa Inland Mission this weekend. We want to see the exact numbers to have a goal to reach. I got a great book from my church called Funding Your Ministry by Scott Martin and I have been looking through it. One thing it says is that we should fully expect all our support to be raised. I am praying to have this attitude towards support raising and fully trusting the Lord to provide. And He will. I can think of many stories in the Bible where God so graciously provided like feeding the 5,000. He is the true provider.
I start work back this week in Kansas City at Children's Mercy in their Pediatric Intensive Care. I will be commuting back and forth most weeks so I can be home preparing. There is lots to be done.
Some things we are working on now are following up the support letters, contacting local businesses for donations, planning a bowling fundraising party (date to be determined), reading through books with our mentors, and just spending time preparing.