joy joy joy

Joy. how I love that word. it makes you smile, it makes you get a fun feeling in the pit of your soul. maybe that's a little overboard, but I love it. I love being joyful. Right now, joy is flowing out of me. Okay not literally, that may be awkard, but we just recieved an email from Blackhawk and they are writing checks out to Sarah and I for 500$--EACH! how incredible is that?! God is good. so good. It has nothing to do with us and that's a great thing.
So we're going. 2 weeks and we're going.
I distinctly remember awhile ago, when we were still deciding whether or not to go after finding out the proposal failed. I was doing one of my favorite things: running with my older brother and talking to him about our plans and my concerns. We were talking through the options and the consequences of my decisions. I just remember feeling such a sense of peace about the situation, whether we went or not. I was choosing to be content not going and content going. But how joyous I am that we're going and that the funds have come in.
Good bye Funds Paper Chain! We don't need you anymore!

Next Step: Packing!

We are in disbelief that we leave US soil in under 3 weeks. We are a few finals away from summer... and for us summer means concentrating on the important things in life; like living in Africa with the cutest kids in the world. Sara and I are slowly beginning to realize how impossible packing for this trip is going to be. Even if we share all toiletries, shoes and some clothes we will be unable to pack everything we want. Not because we're planning on bringing our entire wardrobes; complete with matching accessories, purses and fuzzy sweaters; but because God continues to bless us with things the orphanage needs. Our moms have found an abundance of children's clothing and shoes to bring to the kids at LCW. Somehow, I don't think that our limit of two 50 lb. bags will suffice, unless we bring the bare minimum for ourselves.

I think this looming challenge of packing for a 10-week trip will be a good exercise in materialism. Why bring 20 t-shirts and 8 pairs of pants when Sara and I are both extremely skilled in doing laundry? What is the point of us trying to live comfortably for 10 weeks while taking away from the opportunity to clothe God's children? There is no point. I hope that we would become selfless in this activity, putting others before ourselves and literally giving them the shirts off our backs.

Easier said than done, right? Although I've been told that with the proper rain gear anyone can survive a South African winter. No one needs to know what's underneath the coat and rain slickers ;)

update on funds

To me (sara) 10 dollars seems like a lot. It means 10 bags of assorted beans or over 10 bags of delicious carrots. So when finishing our budget at a grand total of a little under $5,000, fundraising seems daunting and discouraging. However, again I am humbled. Getting mail has become all the more fun as money from family and friends pours in.
I am always humbled to ask for money, ask for any type of assistance for that matter, and it is good to be reminded that we are supposed to live in community, in support of others. We are designed as relational beings, ones who thrive in fellowship and honest connections with people. Something as simple as fundraising can remind me that I cannot and should not do everything by myself. It reminds me that very practically speaking there is no way I can make $5,000 by myself but through God's grace, people He has put in our lives surround us and lift us up. Thank you.
Sarah, the queen of paper chains, has made a funds chain (if you slur that it sounds like fun chain). It is hanging over our kitchen door and slowly but surely we get to take of ring after ring. It's a great feeling. We both met with Blackhawk missions team coordinators earlier this week and will hopefully hear about how much support they can give by the end of the week.

South African vistor

For the last month we've had the honor of hosting Alistair, Sara's friend from South Africa. It has been a blast experiencing Madison through a new perspective. Our house was treated to countless bread making sessions and South African recipes. Alistair has been the one to connect us to Life Community Welfare and has gone multiple times to the center to play with the children. His visit to the US gave us even more opportunity to grill him about LCW and our possible role. Double bonus of his trip: he brought pictures of LCW with the promise for more to come. What a great guy!

So the pictures are of LCW. The first one is of Tabusile and Kanje. The second one is Ace. 3rd: Mbasa and Patience 4th: a lot of the kids playing in a hose (it'll be far too cold to do that when we're there :))

So here's our first brief picture of what it'll be like. More pictures to come for sure.

Calling all equipment!

Soccer balls, frisbees, jump ropes, oh my!

We are in need of new or gently used sports equipment to bring with us to Life Community Welfare. If you or anyone you know has children that have moved out and left their old sports stuff behind, we'd be happy to take it off your hands for you! Please email Sarah at parker.sarahm@gmail.com if you have anything you are willing to donate. Thanks!

We are specifically looking to bring:
-soccer balls
-frisbees
-jump ropes
-volleyballs
-playground balls
-beach balls
-little orange cones
-ball pumps/needles

In the end... it always works.

PRAISE GOD!

After 2 very long weeks of frustration and dwindling hope, we had some amazing answers to our prayers. African Youth Outreach (AYO, http://africanyouthoutreach.org/) has agreed to help our cause by overseeing all of our finances. AYO is an incredible Madison-based non-profit that is devoted to educating people in Madison and South Africa about AIDS awareness and prevention. This means we can be supported by area businesses, Blackhawk Church and all funding is tax-deductible. Also, we found plane tickets for cheaper than we had budgeted. Can I get an amen? All of this boils down to one major thing... we're officially going to South Africa :)

God is simply wonderful. Though we were upset, we stayed faithful in prayer while we tried to find God's plan in the midst of our frustration.

Please continue to pray that God would continue to be the focus of our planning as we step closer to finalizing our plans for this summer. And that we would remain confident in God that he will provide the funding we need.

Funny Funding

So God is the provider, right?

We just received word that our grant proposal was not selected to be funded by WIF. Good-bye $3,000. On the bright side, since we do not need to be enrolled in an independent study class, we don't have to spend $1,800 for summer school credits. Also thanks to the proposal writing process, we know specifically how we want to focus our time while in South Africa.

You know, maybe it's a good thing that we didn't get money from the UW. We were advised not to divulge information that we would be working with a Christian organization and that our time will be Christ-centered (although we didn't whole heartedly take that advice) in our grant proposal. Do we really want to use money coming from such a source to spread God's love? Maybe not... On the flipside, since we now have to raise $5,000 in other ways we will be sending support letters filled with our passion for Christ and serving His world. Our true purpose of this trip will shine through our writing instead of being hidden in subliminal messages. It gives us the opportunity to boldly share our faith through our actions to the people in our lives.

We have faith that God will provide the money that we need... we just need to find cheap plane tickets and generous supporters.