(The Neema 9 = 9 babies under 6 months of age at Baby Orphanage we will serve at)
Just one example of how God has been making Himself known through all this: I do a lot of our trip planning late at night when everybody else is sleeping so I have time to just think & search & pray through what we need to figure out before we leave. When doing a search on youtube.com for tanzania christian organizations or orphanages or something like that a 'suggested video' popped up along with others on the right side of the screen - it sparked my curiosity so I clicked on it....
This is what I saw: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bilnCQkMBNU&feature=my_liked_videos&list=LLBvZDi553VG176jF5Mqu1nA
...& before I reached the end my eyes were welling up with tears and I knew in my heart I just had to get there. You see, I'm one of those people that allows themselves to believe they don't have much to offer... literally my only desire apart from your average missions goals of serving & spreading the gospel... was just to hold babies. Well, I had no idea how hard it was going to be for me to FIND babies that needed holding in Dar!!! I mean, you'd think they'd be everywhere from the stories you hear... but there was not 1 open door for me in this (& if you've caught on yet, I believe God had a plan with this).
Upon further research, I realized with a heavy heart that this baby orphanage was in Arusha, Tanzania... and we were flying into Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania... that's about a 10 hour difficult journey by bus (one way). We had decided earlier on not to travel too far from Dar during our stay so we weren't wasting time traveling when we could spend it with the children/people in need. Faced with insurmountable odds I did what any determined, impatient woman would do... I woke my husband up for answers! I just had to ask him what he thought about it because, well, I needed to know right then and there! :) My gracious hubby listened to my blubbering and mumbled something or another and somehow I translated: 'that's a long drive.. and to fly... if we can't afford it we can't go' and rolled over and was snoring again in seconds. Well... that wasn't exactly a no! There was still hope :)
I scoured through the website and the attached blogs all the while asking God why this was resonating through my very SOUL when I had seen other orphanages and websites that didn't wreck my focus from all else in life! I quickly came to this 'knowing' that God was trying to show me... "You think 'all you have to offer' is to hold babies... which essentially, is a calling to be a mother... look at what's in front of you! You are needed... go." I emailed the directors and started getting information about the bus ride details and was encouraged to go the plane route, but when I finally found ticket prices was a bit disheartened because that was not something we had budgeted for... it wasn't a part of 'our' plan...
Now, we're quickly realizing that where God guides He provides - you can bank on it. Everything we have is His. Every donation that comes our way, we ask God what to do with it! So, because we had already purchased our plane tickets I had a round about idea of what we still needed 'just to get there & back' and we were looking ok. I just really felt strongly that the funds were going to come in and we were going to get to Arusha to serve at the Neema (Grace) House Baby Orphanage and help take care of the 15 little ones under age 2 in their care... the precious little lambs of God that most orphanages will not accept because they are just too expensive and time consuming to care for... the ones that have been found at bus stations, hospitals, door steps, and even in the forest... left by those unable or just unwilling to care for them, we may never know the why! I told Steve this (awake, coherent Steve this time) and he said well lets just plan on spending half our time in Dar and half our time in Arusha! ....OK... COOL! Now... we wait... well thankfully the timing was right because the very next day THE EXACT AMOUNT NEEDED FOR 2 ROUND TRIPS FROM DAR TO ARUSHA CAME IN (like within $2, actually $2 more than we needed...) is this not CRAZY to anyone else?!?! PRAISE GOOOOOOOOD!!!
It can not be denied... God wants us to go to Arusha...
Now, aside from this fun/inspiring story (only 1 of several) this is the plan thus far:
We will be flying out of Sioux Falls Wednesday, Nov. 14 connecting in Chicago, London, & finally Dar on Friday, Nov. 16 - that day we'll just be getting our bearings and seeing the city and asking God where He wants us during any & every spare moment available whether it's quiet times with Him, prayer walks, random acts of kindness, etc.. Saturday & Sunday we will visit Kurasini orphanage with over 100 kids ages 4 on up past 18 and we've got some fun craft supplies, puppets, & maybe a film about Jesus in swahili to enjoy with them. Monday & Tuesday we will serve at Salasala kids club where disadvantaged kids come for a fun afternoon that's similar to what we call bible school, sure to be a good time with 200+ kids coming through! Wednesday we will fly to Arusha (EEEEEEEYAAAAY!) ...ahem, and will stay at Neema House and serve wherever we're needed (but of course I will try to stay near the babes as much as humanly possible) and then we will fly back to Dar Saturday, Nov. 24 - Not sure where we're staying that night, but maybe at a cheap hotel near the airport for when we leave Dar to go home (with many tears, but happy ones 2 because I'm going to miss Sarah SOOOOOO much it's sickening!) Nov. 25 around 9:30am connecting with London, Chicago, & finally Sioux Falls (with some VERY long layovers unfortunately but it will give us some time to process everything so it'll be ok). The time difference is 8 hours ahead, so if it is 12:00 noon on Sunday in Sioux Falls it is 8:00pm on Sunday in Dar :)
Hope this gets you up to speed, guess that got a bit long but hopefully you're feeling informed and aware of ways to pray for us as we continue to prepare our hearts for all God has for us on this adventure. Blessings!
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