Busy Bees....

So all the ladies are currently sitting at Joanna's house without Paul or Bob or Joanna. They are going over to the Women's Training Center to pick some things up for camp. Then they are heading to camp to set up for camp. We are here sitting, cutting, prepping arts and crafts supplies for tomorrow. Cutting fabric for those tie pillows, working on hemp bracelets.
We are having a great time here, but it isn't a vacation. We all have things to do. Joanna can't do anything for us because she needs to get all of these things done for camp tomorrow. So the women are making dinner later, I'm incharge of sorting laundry and putting them on the closeline, etc. Which of course everyone had to take a picture of....haha.
We had some chicken yassa for lunch. WONDERFUL. Joanna had made it for us back in the states. But Joanna's househelper made it because we were at the Women's Training Center all morning. I bought a really nice outfit that they had made there.
I'm excited for camp and what God has instore for us to come. "Greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city".

God Bless!
P.S. I went to the bread box this morning by myself and got bread! Yay!

Jamm Rekk (Peace only)

So all is good here. I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while...we've been so busy, but its a good busy! The first day I was saying we were going to the fabric market, where we all got outfits. I love mine soo much! But a lot of 'tu bobs' aka white people, attracts attention. So we were constantly followed by people, with them asking us to buy this and buy that. Don't get me wrong, these people aren't pushy aggressive, but this is how they make a living. Just think Cowtown with people following you everywhere. But the best part for a lot of us was the "Joanna and Feuline bartering show". Joanna and Feuline are really good at bartering down prices. Since we were tu bobs, they start the price really high in hopes we'd buy.
Later the next day we started the five hour van drive, van COMPLETELY full to capacity of suitcases and people. I was up in the front row between Joanna and Barbara. We had a blast laughing and singing, which made the five hour drive feel less. Let me tell you that this van is a stickshift van. Joanna does an amazing job driving around these towns. If you think US city traffic is bad, you should drive through here. Beeping the horn is a common thing to do to anyone.
We just got back from an AMAZING experience. We had the opportunity to bring 45 school boxes full of items to a French-Islamic school. How God opened this door between our Christian group and this group, still blows are mind on what God has in store for us.
I apologize for not blogging a lot. I'm on the computer now...duh. But many others are showering and getting things ready for the camp. Arts and Crafts prep work is taking a lot of our time. Bob and Dad are doing a lot of house things for Joanna, like putting up fans, fixing screens, lightbulbs, etc.

Hopefully I'll post later...but until then. God Bless.
P.S. One month until I'm at Messiah!!!!! =D

Posting from Dakar!

So right now, Brea and I are sitting in the "lobby" of our hotel. We're here, safe, in Senegal. There was no problems getting on or off of the plane. We thought we might have problems with 'porters' who try and take your bags and put them in a taxi for you and you have to pay them...but thank goodness we didn't deal with any! It is about 7:45 here and 70 degrees. It is wonderful compared to the weather in the US at the moment. We are going to go out and get breakfast from the bakery around the street soon and then head to the fabric market.

Did I mention that Barbara is the only one who has gotten any decent sleep from the plane ride and here?

Update later...hopefully!
God Bless!

Its Really Here!!!!

So tomorrow is the day we have all been planning for a year. I'm basically done packing. I have a list of about three items that I need to pack in the morning. I have been on malaria pills for two days now. Aka. Doxycycline Cyclate = Horse pills. I'd take pills over shots any day!!! I've been going through my room cause I'm always so afraid that I'm gonna forget something vital. So we're meeting at church tomorrow at 10am. Which means I'll be up at the crack of dawn cause I'm so hyper. Here on out...its all skirts and flipflops :) A lot of people ask, but here's tomorrow's plan. We leave by 10:30am. We have a three hour van drive down to Dulles Internation Airport in Washington, D.C. We check in early cause its an international flight. Our non-stop (woo!) flight is at 5:40pm. We arrive in Dakar, Senegal at 5:00am, their time. Which means it is 1:00am where all you are. (Except Katie, you'll still be in Friday. Haha, love you roomie!) Okay here's the rest of our trip because many have asked what we are doing. And it is great to pray for us for specific events. 

Fri/Sat- Flight

Saturday- Dakar: Arrive, rest, fabric shopping (yay!)

Sunday- Dakar, then heading to Saint Louis

Monday & Tuesday- Meeting with people, prepping for camp

Wednesday-Saturday- CAMP!! (Thursday is Brea's birthday!!)

Sunday- Church in Saint Louis, beach, packing for Dakar

Monday (my birthday!!) - back to Dakar, shopping, dinner

Mon/Tues- Flight 

Tuesday- Home in the US at 6am! (your time)

Don't forget that the group will be speaking at all three services (8:30, 9:50, 11:00am) on Sunday, August 22.

Thank you for all your prayers and help!! I will keep everyone posted.

God Bless!!

Surreal...

Honestly, this whole week is surreal. Can someone pinch me? (not really!) Just looking back. A year ago we were talking about this trip...and now it is only two days away. I really think that I'm gonna be in for a cultural shock...but I'm excited. I love learning about different cultures. So I have been hugged many many times this week. I have been told not to get married, not get AIDS, to come back alive, basically everything you'd expect when you say you're going to Africa. I love my music loving friends because they actually know what a djembe is! DJEMBE = Amy's birthday present. I'm very excited.

This past week has been an emotional week...I've had every emotion there is about this trip. I honestly don't know what to expect. I've reread all of the papers that Joanna has given us. I am two or three things away from being completely packed. Which isn't until Friday morning.

Okay...so everyone knows, this is whats happening Friday. We are meeting at TUMC at 10am. Then we're heading out to Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C. by a 15 passenger van. It's a three hour drive. Then we have a 6pm flight. We get into Dakar, Senegal, the capital, about 5am. We'll be in Dakar for a day or two before heading up to St. Louis, which is where Joanna lives, the camp will be held, and a five hour van drive.

My theme song for this whole mission trip is Chris Tomlin's "God of the City". One of the best songs he's done...especially cause praise band does it amazingly, if I don't say so myself.

There is no one like our God.

 For greater things have yet to come and greater things are still to be done in this city.

One Week! Gah! Exciting!

So the title is what it says....the mission trip is one week away. Wow! It just felt like it was 6 months ago, when we were all planning things out, just waiting for this time to come. Now it is here! That is one of the biggest blood rushes a person could get. This past Wednesday, we all gathered at the Beske's house with the daunting task to pack everything we had...and it was a lot. It filled up a lot of the living room! So with the 50 lb maximum limit, our challenge was on. We had a great time doing it. Who knew that taking all the little plastic and cardboard off of many things would save us room! We packed all seven suitcases to 49.5 to 49.7lbs. We need to take advantage of the space we have. We do have some of small things in our personal bags, but that is the least that we all can do.
Tomorrow we get commissioned for this mission trip. The second one that Trinity is supporting this year. It is really kicking in that next Sunday we will be with Joanna in Dakar, Senegal. Eeeh! This is so exciting! I feel so blessed to be going on this trip. On the trip we will be having two birthdays!! Brea's is July 29th and mine is August 2nd! (any rumors of my arranged marriage and wedding is completely untrue!) 
I'm working on packing my own suitcase at the moment. I never realized how well skirts and shirts pack. If you roll them up into tight rolls, they only take up 1/4 of my suitcase. How I wish my room could be as organized as my suitcase. Between college shopping and Senegal packing, my room is completely messy, yet I still know where most things are. And just normal life makes my room very interesting to maneuver.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Phillipians 4:6-7

These two verses are showing my attitude is about the preparation for this trip and the trip itself. Below, I've attached a picture of the group going over.

God Bless!

[From left to right. Top Row: Kelly Slobodjian, Debbie Clift, Bob Beske, Paul Melson. Bottom Row: Barbara Beske, Brea Slobodjian, Amy Melson]

 

 

Oh the Place's You'll Go...

So I feel really bad for not being able to blog, but every time I think of it, I'm away from a computer. This past month has been amazing for me. On June 22, I graduated from Woodstown High School. Graduation is a great feeling, but waking up the next morning realizing that you have one month til you leave is a little daunting. Let me just say this whole experience has gone faster than any of us in the group would have imagined. Things have changed since the last time I blogged. The last time I blogged, we had nine people going on the trip. Now we have seven. Due to medical and family issues, both Ralph and Adrienne will not be going to Senegal with us. It is very heartbreaking for all of us. They got this far and then had to pull out because of things past their control. They will be missed very much.

It is pretty daunting how fast this new adventure is coming. By my latest count-down via Facebook, it is down to 24 days. Wow. That is a little more than 3 weeks. We are done medical-wise. Which means NO MORE SHOTS! Barbara and I hate shots, so that is a big blessing! I am basically ready clothing-wise for Senegal. I have gotten pretty attached to my skirts I got. I love them. They are so comfortable, stylish, and much modest compared to the latest fashion of mini-skirts. Long skirts are starting to come back into fashion around here, which is good, but despite that I'd still wear them. In addition to the mission work we will be doing, I am looking forward to their culture. I'm little bit of a culture geek, I love this stuff. I can't wait to buy and wear traditional dress, have their traditional meals. I warned the praise band that I WILL be wearing traditional Senegalese dress the first Sunday back. 

This whole mission trip makes me think of one of my favorite hymns, "Here I Am, Lord":

Here I am Lord, Is it I Lord?
I have heard You calling in the night.
I will go Lord, if You lead me.
I will hold Your people in my heart. 

Difficult Times...In God We Trust!

So I realize I haven't blogged in a while, mainly its due to my busy schedule. So we are about 82 days away from leaving. I'm getting more and more excited by each day. I still need to do many things like getting skirts and other things for the trip. That is not the 'difficult times' I am talking about. Our group has been plagued with some difficult times in our group and in their families. Debbie's husband Don, broke his ankle and has been in a wheelchair for at least two months. He is doing better now, slow recovery, but good. He is slowly working his way to walker. Adrienne's husband, John has been having problems with his knee after an knee replacement. It was infected, had to be taken out, and he is waiting for the infection to clear before getting another knee replacement. Needless to say, we have been having wheelchair races at church. You have to laugh sometimes, it makes the painful moments easier. And yesterday we just found out that Ralph got in a coach bus accident, he is a coach bus driver. He is doing good, but they are taking everything day by day. Everyone's faith has honestly gotten stronger by these difficult times. It makes it easier to say "In God We Trust". Thats what we have to do right now, take each day as it is and let God be in control of our lives. We are praying that everyone will be able to go on the trip, but this is God's choice now, not ours. It is no longer in our hands, it's in better hands. Like the Natalie Grant song, "In Better Hands" says,

It's hard to stand on shifting sand, It's hard to shine in the shadows of the night. You can't be free, if you don't reach for help. And you can't love if you don't love yourself. But there is hope when my faith runs out...Cause I'm in better hands now

God is SO Good.

This past week has been one of my best weeks in a while. First, Saturday we had our auction for missions where we raised over $17,000!! Secondly, I got accepted into Messiah College's music program. I will be attending Messiah in the Fall. I can't believe it is happening. I've been wishing for that for 4 years!! I'm floating on cloud nine!! God is soooo Good. That's all I can say. And I'm thankful for everything that everyone has done to support me and help me get to this point. That is another reason why God is so good. He put these people in my life for this reason and has made me better. So it is 120 days until we leave for the mission trip and 153 days until I leave for Messiah.

"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? And I said, "Here I am. Send me!" Isaiah 6:8.

Koinonia, Crabs, and Cornrows

So, I've been real busy, a surprise right? Well this week we had our monthly meeting for Senegal. (I love the meetings!!) And the Right Reverend Joanna Beske, our missionary spoke at all three services today. She spoke of about partnering in missions with missionaries. She spoke about the Greek word, Koinonia, which translates out to fellowship. I have heard that word many times but I wasn't sure of the meaning about it. After being introduced at all three services to the congregation we had a luncheon where the members going on the trip and all their family members were invited to join. We had a great time, and Joanna showed us pictures of the crabs that they have at the Kids Camp which is right on the shore line. We 'pow-wowed', or so my dad and Mr. Beske thought. They thought we were scheming about who was sleeping outside with the crabs. We were actually talking about the fashion over there and what we should bring and wear. Then it was brought up that we could have cornrows in our hair, which I'm not doing my whole head....And we could also get henna tattoos. Imagine me coming home with henna around my ankles. It was a really great day, though I was on little sleep from my show the night before, it was all good. Because God is Good!

God Bless!
Alxumdulilay!!