This is such a profound greeting. I wish it was a regular greeting in our society. To wish upon one another Grace, grace to forgive, grace to love, grace to live life. Grace. To wish peace, a place of peace in Jesus because in one place all is right, everything is perfect. We find peace from the stress of daily life, we find the peace from our struggle with letting go of the old self and taking on the new. I can't tell you how many times in this struggle so intensely I loose all concept of peace. But to be able to just be able to choose God and find these powerful blessings of grace and peace. I wish grace and peace to each who read this.
A quick "catch-up" on my life. Two weeks left of school and then I submit my nursing school application. Knowing the competition and my grades it's going to be a miracle if I get in. I mean that in honesty not being hard on myself. So I realized I need a plan B for next year. So God has been adimetely leading me towards and internship here at my church. It's scary and way out of my comfort zone. But several of my "but this wont work because..." have been eliminated and I finally relented and said ok God if this is what you want, ok. I'm scared it's going to be hard, but ok. This internship will give me a lot of ministry experience and the opportunity to grow and work in a team to accomplish ministry goals. We will also go on a mission trip at the end of the year and I'll be taking bible courses which would satisfy my bible credit needs in order to enter the mission field with World Venture, who's been working with me to help prepare me for the time to go. I would get one on one mentor ship by one of the pastors' wives on a weekly basis and live in a host home for the duration.
So life is a toss up and a mix of unknowns until around the end of July I'll know which I will be going to do for the next year of my life.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Only an update.
I'm in school, 16 credits right now... and I'm a little overwhelmed.
I am still working at the nursing home job I got after returning from Africa and they are so great. I started having some heart issues related to my medication and was having issues working because of it and they worked with me until that was resolved. Then about a month ago I injured my elbow on the job and they have been great in getting that taken care of. I'm meeting with a physical therapist to see what course would be best to regain use of my right arm.
So things are just going along nothing crazy like another trip planned. Just working hard to be able to apply for nursing school for the fall start. Applications are due in June and I find out in July if I got in. Pray pray pray that things happen now to make that happen then. Meaning: I get good grades in my current classes... so far my grades show that my life is overwhelming right now. I've been studying really hard for my next test so hopefully it'll go better.
I'm in school, 16 credits right now... and I'm a little overwhelmed.
I am still working at the nursing home job I got after returning from Africa and they are so great. I started having some heart issues related to my medication and was having issues working because of it and they worked with me until that was resolved. Then about a month ago I injured my elbow on the job and they have been great in getting that taken care of. I'm meeting with a physical therapist to see what course would be best to regain use of my right arm.
So things are just going along nothing crazy like another trip planned. Just working hard to be able to apply for nursing school for the fall start. Applications are due in June and I find out in July if I got in. Pray pray pray that things happen now to make that happen then. Meaning: I get good grades in my current classes... so far my grades show that my life is overwhelming right now. I've been studying really hard for my next test so hopefully it'll go better.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Post- Uganda Letter
My deepest apologies for taking so long to get this out. I normally wait until after the trip debriefing meeting to prepare the trip report, because the debriefing helps grasp what happened. The way this trip was structured I had to debrief myself which was a little harder than I expected. In addition to this I came home to culture shock, and a life turned upside down and backwards and it's taken a little time to get my world situated again.
All in all the trip was GREAT God moved in great ways through me, the team and those we served. As for me God revealed to me the answer to the question that been burning on my heart, internship or nursing school next? I got my answer loud and clear, nursing school. I am in the process of getting my ducks in a row for applications, unfortunately I missed several deadlines of schools I really wanted to go to so I may do the one year medical assistant program while I wait to get into nursing school. Oddly, I wasn't disappointed by this answer, I really thought I would be but I'm really excited I've grown in the mission part of preparation a lot and so I think it's time to get the school part done. I'm considering doing a year or two as a traveling nurse in the ER nursing school so I get more experience in different areas so I have more confidence to deal with whatever I may encounter in the future. My top considerations right now are TMCC( in Reno), WNC( in Fallon/Carson), and WVC (Wenatchee Valley College). While I do the traveling program I can finish my BSN online through UNR.
I saw God move through the lives of the team and change them too, but the team dynamic was very different from any trip I've ever been on and there was no open vulnerability in the end of the day meetings, so what people were going through or to say specifically how lives changed, I really don't know, cause I really never got know my teammates as much as I had hoped.
The day that I felt I could really see how God was using us to change lives was when we went to the Uganda Jesus Village (UJV). We came there because one of the translator/evangelists we were working with for the medical clinics is the pastor at this orphanage of sorts, it's all older kids, 8-19, and the majority are social orphans and the orphanage acts as a boarding school because of political issues. Within the month before we got there, the organization that had recently bought out the prior owners, decided it was time to reintegrate these kids into society and put them back in their homes up north. Most came from abusive families, no family, or elderly family that REALLY can't care for them. So they were left to care for themselves searching for food, eating dirt and grass. This resulted in worms and all sorts of digestive issues, the exposure to the elements, particularly mosquitoes, resulted in outbreaks of malaria and yellow fever. Even just a weakened immune system from poor nutrition can cause a malaria recurrence for someone who has already had it because the virus hides in the liver between outbreaks. When we heard what these kids went through we were astounded to see how many of them still had joy in their eyes as they worshiped our Lord. Though there were others whose eyes only hinted at the horrors they've been through. A brother and sister from Canada who has worked with UJV before found out about what happened pulled all their savings and sent a bus up to track down all these kids and bring them home. All but two of the 70 were found when I was there, but nearly all were sick. So Memory, the pastor, had posted on his Blog the week before we left for Uganda what had happened and asking people to pray that someone would send doctors and medicine because there was no more money to get medical help for these kids. None of us were aware of this (we didn't even know he knew what a blog was... ) but we offered to come back in 3 days and do a clinic, and that day we de-wormed all the kids because we did have that medicine with us. When we came back we found out that Memory had been praying someone like us would come. We were able to give all the necessary medicine for all the kids. This included anti-malaria medicine, Tylenol for fevers, re hydration salts to prevent having to take any more kids to the hospital, cough medicine, anti-biotic, even asthma medicine. In total we had over 50 medications available in our traveling pharmacy. I spent the majority of my time in the clinics working in the pharmacy.
This is the first of many parts of my report on the trip. The next part will be video and photos of the trip I will post links to Facebook and my blog. Then finally I will get out the detailed prayer journals for those who were on the prayer team. If there was a specific day that God moved on your heart to pray while I was gone, let me know what day and I will get you the detailed report of that day, so you too can see how God was moving through your prayers. Thank you all so much for your patience prayers and support! I will make much more of an effort to keep in contact with you all and keep you updated on the process of my education, which is ultimately the last few years of my preparation for the mission field (Lord willing...)
All in all the trip was GREAT God moved in great ways through me, the team and those we served. As for me God revealed to me the answer to the question that been burning on my heart, internship or nursing school next? I got my answer loud and clear, nursing school. I am in the process of getting my ducks in a row for applications, unfortunately I missed several deadlines of schools I really wanted to go to so I may do the one year medical assistant program while I wait to get into nursing school. Oddly, I wasn't disappointed by this answer, I really thought I would be but I'm really excited I've grown in the mission part of preparation a lot and so I think it's time to get the school part done. I'm considering doing a year or two as a traveling nurse in the ER nursing school so I get more experience in different areas so I have more confidence to deal with whatever I may encounter in the future. My top considerations right now are TMCC( in Reno), WNC( in Fallon/Carson), and WVC (Wenatchee Valley College). While I do the traveling program I can finish my BSN online through UNR.
I saw God move through the lives of the team and change them too, but the team dynamic was very different from any trip I've ever been on and there was no open vulnerability in the end of the day meetings, so what people were going through or to say specifically how lives changed, I really don't know, cause I really never got know my teammates as much as I had hoped.
The day that I felt I could really see how God was using us to change lives was when we went to the Uganda Jesus Village (UJV). We came there because one of the translator/evangelists we were working with for the medical clinics is the pastor at this orphanage of sorts, it's all older kids, 8-19, and the majority are social orphans and the orphanage acts as a boarding school because of political issues. Within the month before we got there, the organization that had recently bought out the prior owners, decided it was time to reintegrate these kids into society and put them back in their homes up north. Most came from abusive families, no family, or elderly family that REALLY can't care for them. So they were left to care for themselves searching for food, eating dirt and grass. This resulted in worms and all sorts of digestive issues, the exposure to the elements, particularly mosquitoes, resulted in outbreaks of malaria and yellow fever. Even just a weakened immune system from poor nutrition can cause a malaria recurrence for someone who has already had it because the virus hides in the liver between outbreaks. When we heard what these kids went through we were astounded to see how many of them still had joy in their eyes as they worshiped our Lord. Though there were others whose eyes only hinted at the horrors they've been through. A brother and sister from Canada who has worked with UJV before found out about what happened pulled all their savings and sent a bus up to track down all these kids and bring them home. All but two of the 70 were found when I was there, but nearly all were sick. So Memory, the pastor, had posted on his Blog the week before we left for Uganda what had happened and asking people to pray that someone would send doctors and medicine because there was no more money to get medical help for these kids. None of us were aware of this (we didn't even know he knew what a blog was... ) but we offered to come back in 3 days and do a clinic, and that day we de-wormed all the kids because we did have that medicine with us. When we came back we found out that Memory had been praying someone like us would come. We were able to give all the necessary medicine for all the kids. This included anti-malaria medicine, Tylenol for fevers, re hydration salts to prevent having to take any more kids to the hospital, cough medicine, anti-biotic, even asthma medicine. In total we had over 50 medications available in our traveling pharmacy. I spent the majority of my time in the clinics working in the pharmacy.
This is the first of many parts of my report on the trip. The next part will be video and photos of the trip I will post links to Facebook and my blog. Then finally I will get out the detailed prayer journals for those who were on the prayer team. If there was a specific day that God moved on your heart to pray while I was gone, let me know what day and I will get you the detailed report of that day, so you too can see how God was moving through your prayers. Thank you all so much for your patience prayers and support! I will make much more of an effort to keep in contact with you all and keep you updated on the process of my education, which is ultimately the last few years of my preparation for the mission field (Lord willing...)
Friday, January 29, 2010
Pray that we would leave a lasting impact of God's love pouring through us as we reach out to the sick and dying. Pray that God would use us to share His joy and hope. Pray for the team members who God reveals need to make life changes when they get home. Pray that they would have courage to obey and the faith to trust it is worth it.
Pray that God will renew the spiritual passion of the Ugandans and empower them to reach out to help their own people.
Pray that God will renew the spiritual passion of the Ugandans and empower them to reach out to help their own people.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Pray that we will have perseverance to finish strong to the end and we will run this short race with endurance. Pray that where we lack, whether it be energy or grace or wherever, that God would fill that gap and be our completion. Pray that we will have the faith to allow Him to fill in this gap. Pray that the hearts of the locals in the various rural areas we work in will be open to the work that God has for us.
Pray that God would use us to challenge the ideas of locals that are mixed with Christ and mysticism and that we would be a tool to help find truth from lies.
Pray that we will have perseverance to finish strong to the end and we will run this short race with endurance. Pray that where we lack, whether it be energy or grace or wherever, that God would fill that gap and be our completion. Pray that we will have the faith to allow Him to fill in this gap. Pray that the hearts of the locals in the various rural areas we work in will be open to the work that God has for us.
Pray that God would use us to challenge the ideas of locals that are mixed with Christ and mysticism and that we would be a tool to help find truth from lies.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Pray that God would open hearts to the truth that He will reveal through us. Pray that we will allow ourselves to be used as the hands of God at the medical clinics. In any adventure into a different culture there are always going to be some miscommunications. Pray that God will give us grace to deal with these humbly and gracefully.
Pray that the current system of displacement camps is changed or ended and people may regain the land they had before they were displaced and begin to build their families again.
Pray that God would open hearts to the truth that He will reveal through us. Pray that we will allow ourselves to be used as the hands of God at the medical clinics. In any adventure into a different culture there are always going to be some miscommunications. Pray that God will give us grace to deal with these humbly and gracefully.
Pray that the current system of displacement camps is changed or ended and people may regain the land they had before they were displaced and begin to build their families again.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Ugh Ugandan internet....
It's taken almost an hour to get this to load to be able to post this so I hope it's appreciated. Almost half the team was down sick today and tonight the Biola group leaves. We're going to the African market tomorrow and a graduation party for one of the mommas at the orphanage. somewhere in there we will be going back to sanyu baby home and help out a little more.
It's been a really good trip, I'm getting anxious to go home though I've been feeling icky for a few days now and I'm having to take a lot more pain medicine. It's sooo hot here. I know that's horrible for those suffering from the constant cold of Washington but with no ice or air conditioning to cool off after a hot day of work, It's getting old and I think all of us have a tinge of heat exhaustion not to mention the fever that has been going around.
my second luggage bag still has not shown. I've been praying that it'll come on the plane that lands in 2 hours. I won't find out until the morning though if it does. It would be nice to have it and not have to worry about it anymore.
I look forward to telling you all about the trip when I return home I have hours of footage and loads of pictures to share. I think it's time to let someone else on the computer though.
LOVE LOVE
Nicole
It's been a really good trip, I'm getting anxious to go home though I've been feeling icky for a few days now and I'm having to take a lot more pain medicine. It's sooo hot here. I know that's horrible for those suffering from the constant cold of Washington but with no ice or air conditioning to cool off after a hot day of work, It's getting old and I think all of us have a tinge of heat exhaustion not to mention the fever that has been going around.
my second luggage bag still has not shown. I've been praying that it'll come on the plane that lands in 2 hours. I won't find out until the morning though if it does. It would be nice to have it and not have to worry about it anymore.
I look forward to telling you all about the trip when I return home I have hours of footage and loads of pictures to share. I think it's time to let someone else on the computer though.
LOVE LOVE
Nicole
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