First Two Days

 I had a wonderful day on Sunday, getting sent off by my church family.  It is such a comfort to know I have a great support group and prayer warriors I'm leaving behind.  My mom made my favorite meals, and my family stayed home to play several games and have our last movie night.  My mom graciously took me shopping since I had a last minute change of mind on what shoes I'd be bringing.  After purchasing two pairs of shoes, I got home and changed my mind again.

 Monday morning was a pretty rough morning for me.  My amazing family got up super early to take me to the airport.  As many people warned me, the airport goodbye was the hardest.  Leaving my family for six months is the one thing I'm most scared about.

  The flights went quickly and smoothly, and for that I am grateful.  We are staying in a beautiful building with dorm-style rooms and a large community room that we can all hang out in.  There are 25 of us all here right now with 13 on my Caribbean team and 12 on the Africa team.  My two leaders are awesome and very welcoming. And my ten team mates are also amazing, and I'm enjoying getting to know them.

  Today we started our orientation.  We've had two sessions, each three hours long. The hours have seemed to fly by, but they are theologically deep and challenging.  The discussion that happens, though, is real, spiritually stretching, and definitely helps us get to know each other.  We will be serving in New York with the Africa team as well, so it's fun to get to know them, too.

 On Friday, we will all jump in some vehicles and begin the 10+ hour trek to New York. I'm so excited to finally visit NYC!!

 Thank you so much for your continued prayers!
A few new prayer requests would be:
   • that God would reveal Himself to each of us throughout these tough discussions
   • we will have safe travels to New York
   • our team time will be fruitful and fun

Love,