It's Christmas day, and in the quiet following the festivities, we find ourselves once again counting down the days until we leave for South Africa. Only 18 days to go! The days have been filled with many last-minute activities.
We had another team meeting with Ian--this one to guide us in spiritual preparation for our trip. Ian had many great insights and ideas to help our team.
We wrapped up our Aurora giving tree at co-op, and were blessed by a great outpouring of support in the form of school supplies and other items--so many items that there was concern about being able to pack everything in one extra suitcase. Since each extra bag costs $80, we needed to fit everything in one bag, and it needed to weigh in under 50 pounds. God took care of it, as He always does--every last pencil, crayon, and glue stick fit into one suitcase, and when we stepped on the scale with bated breath to check the weight, it came in at 47 pounds! Perfect!
We purchased short-term missions trip journals to guide our devotional times for the seven days preceding our trip, during our trip, and seven days after returning. We plan to start each day in Africa with a time of prayer and debrief together in the evenings.
Many other logistical details have occupied us of late, including working out arrangements for making local and long-distance calls, getting trip insurance, determining how we'll pay for things in-country, even how we'll do laundry. Not to mention curriculum planning for the classroom!
Finally, I am tickled to report that we've reached and exceeded our trip budget! God has been so faithful! We'll be able to use additional funds to purchase something for the school, if the need presents itself when we are there.
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