Welcome!

First off, I want to say welcome to my blog.  I started this mainly as a way to document my summer, and more importantly, my mission trip to South Africa.  I leave June 17, fly to Boston, where we will stay for two nights training and getting to know our fellow members, and then fly to South Africa.  I fly back to Boston sometime June 18 (not exactly sure on my return date, but I'll let yall know).

I am so unbelievably excited for what God has in store for me this summer.  I have such high expectations and I am 100% confident that it will be an amazing summer.  This past week (I've only been home a week... crazy! It feels like it's been a month) I have reached a new level of laziness.  It has consisted of me bumming around on the couch and watching Law and Order (I've become obsessed, so much I am scared to go to the bathroom at night for fear that someone is going to kill me).  I didn't even know I had it in me to be glued to the couch for a whole day and not leave my house, but I've decided that I get my week of bumming around and now I'm back to working out and being productive.  So starting Monday, I will be swimming at 6:30 am and babysitting from 9-3pm. 

My big, Tati, went on the same mission trip, through Campus Crusade for Christ, a nationally Christian ministry, last summer.  So when she told me about it, I started looking into going on some kind of mission trip.  I have always wanted to go on one, but it just never really worked out.  I figured God knew I wasn't ready or something, but first semester, God really laid it heavily on my heart to dedicate my summer serving His kingdom.  So I applied to the South Africa summer project as soon as the application was available and basically checked the website everyday to see if I had been accepted or not.

I have $4,300 out of $5,000 raised, which is an unbelievable amount.  I still have a ways to go, but I have to continue trusting that God wil provide!  He is so good and has been showing me snippets of His grace and soverign hand this whole year. 

I will be blogging a little up until I leave for South Africa and possibly during (I haven't decided if I'm bringing a laptop yet), but after I will definitely be updating yall about my trip! I don't know too many details about what we will be doing exactly while we are there.  I do know that I am going with a team of about 25-30 students for a month to South Africa, specifically Pretoria (one of the South Africa's three capitals) where we will be serving in the township of Mamelodi.  About five years ago, a team went and established a tutoring program at the University of Pretoria (tangent, but one of the girls who lived on my floor last year, Carla, is an exchange student originally from the University of Pretoria studying at MIT for a year!), where kids ranging from elementary to high school come and basically give up their summer to learn and get to know Jesus.  We will be responsible for teaching different classes for the entire four weeks.  This summer project is designed to establish relationships between these precious kids and show them Christ's love in hopes that they will eventually be able to get into college.  We will be working from about 9-5 pm and have nights and weekends "off".  I think one of the weekends we are going on a safari (!!!) and playing with baby lions and tigers (!!!!!).

Needless to say, I am beyond ecstatic for this trip, and really am praying that God would wreck my world and make this trip and summer about Him and not about me.  I anticipate some amazing things happening and a different view of the world.

If yall could join me in praying for some certain things I would be so grateful:
-that God would continue to deepen my commitment to serving His kingdom and make all the glory be to Him and not about me
-for my parents that they would have a peace about me being in some foreign country for a month
-for my team, that we would be able to share God's unconditional love to these kids and citizens of South Africa and they would know who Jesus is
-for boldness to share my testimony and the Gospel.

Thank yall so much for your support and prayers.  One thing I have learned this past year is how blessed I am, through my friends, home, family, and just life! 

I hope to have another post about my freshman year at MIT.  Hopefully that will come soon!

Love yall!
Eann