Donated Soccer Balls

Check out all the soccer balls the Stanford Soccer Program donated that I'll be taking over. 24 golden top-notch balls. The kids are going to go crazy with joy.

My World Vision Child Abigail

This is the child I sponsor through World Vision that I will be seeing while I am in Kenya. Her name is Abigail. She lives in Nairobi, Kenya and is 4 yrs old. It supposedly makes all the difference in the world when the child gets to meet their sponsor.

Whoohooo 2 days til I leave!!!!!!!!!1

I'M GOING TO AFRICA!!!!!!

Whoooohooooo!

I leave in 3 days! Crazy.

I have felt so unprepared spiritually for this trip so this past Saturday night I stayed up until 3am prepping with a short-term missions trip book...asking myself questions, reading bible verses, solidifying all that is in my heart for why I'm doing this, what I hope to bring there, what I hope to give to the people of Africa, what I hope to learn about myself and God while there. It was good.

I'm ready. Sooooo ready. With the combination of getting prayed over by the church coordinator Dave on Sunday, staying up late on Saturday preparing spiritually, reflecting on my intentions of why I'm going during my free moments recently, I am ready.

Africa, here we come.

Pray for God to continue to prepare my heart for this trip, for God to speak to me and open my heart, and for God to breathe into me an ease to freely give my heart while there.

Wow, watch this!!!

Click on the link below. It is a slide show of various pictures of Ethiopia. Please look at it. It is beautiful. When I watched it, it really hit home that I am really doing this and going to fall in love with Africa!!

http://www.budgettravel.com/bt-srv/gallery/0711_Ethiopia/index.html?jumpToPic=0

Reminded of this blessing

Today I met with Bennie who coordinates many of the church mission trips. She was helping me go over logistics today. And goodness gracious, I've been getting so caught up in the flux and and flow of busy-ness, interviewing with companies, etc that I forget that I am leaving in almost 2 weeks and will be impaced in so many life changing ways while there. When talking to Benny, I remembered again what this was all about -- my mission, this opportunity, the blessing it all really is even though I want to be a blessing for the people I will meet there. It's all so exciting I can hardly stand it. But goodness do I tend to forget this as I go through my weeks.

So far 810$ has been raised out of 2360$. The support is coming in fast!

God bless
Callie

Hope Runs

Watch the video above btw. It shows the story of how HopeRuns came to exist, the organization I will be a part of in Kenya the first 2 weeks in Africa. It is a refuge for AIDS orphans and is called Tumaini Children's Home -- incorporates running and sports to outpace poverty and keep kids off the streets. While there, I will be with a small team of people building relationships, loving on children, and even teaching them to play soccer.

Let the Games Begin!

I'm starting to get nervous. Today I'm sending out my support letters. I leave in 1 month and know that I will be challenged. Being in the buzz of California gets under my skin and I know when I arrive in Nairobi, Kenya my first day, I will experience a bit of shock I'm sure.

But I am excited. So deeply excited. Being able to be vessel for God’s love and grace makes my heart sing. My personal mission while on this trip is to powerfully make a difference in the lives of youth, the dying and destitute, and the poor and needy, and to leave each and every human being I come across in Africa with the sense that they matter and make a difference on this earth. Amen.

So I will be in Kenya at the Outreach Foundation through the HopeRuns organization for the first 2 weeks. I will also get the chance to see the child (who lives in Nairobi Kenya) I sponsor 35$ a month through World Vision. The last 10 days I will be in Ethiopia with a friend Julie with an organization called HopeEnterprise, a non-profit missions center my church has set me up with that’s been serving the needy since 1971 – we will be a part of several different ministries -- such as feeding lines for the poor, building relationships at Abrahams Girl’s Home (a refuge for girls that have been sold into slavery or prostitution) and also at Mother Theresa’s Sisters of Charity (a hospital for the dying and destitute).

I'm so excited! Let the game's begin! Maybe not the Olympic games now but games for God! One last thing, here are some prayer requests:

Strength and resolve to serve in the face of feeling tired and worn out

Safe travelsUnity with Julie in Ethiopia and my team in Kenya

That God would make us His instrumentsConnections with the children of Abraham Girl’s Home (Ethiopia) and the Tumaini Children's home (Kenya) the dying of Sisters of Charity Hospital (Ethiopia)

Flexible spirits and smiles that would never fadeEase of logisticsThat God would prepare my heart and meet me in the challenges I will face

That our eyes would be open to see the blessing and joy in Africa, not just the pain and suffering

That as I seek to teach, I would be open to learning and He would change meProtection for Julie, my team, and I

Connections among the families

Humility and listening earsNew friends

Luggage that arrives in a timely manner

An easy re-entry home