Sudan Here I Come!

So, I officially leave for Sudan in less then 12 hours! I have a bit more packing and rearranging left to do, and a few emails, then I'm off to bed for a very early morning! :)

To be honest, I've had some mixed feelings about all this - not that I'm not totally convinced of the Lord's Will in me going to Sudan, but just experiencing a lot of little fears or questions and feelings of inadequacy! :) But, I had a really good time with the Lord today, while sitting on my room porch looking up at wonderful clouds...

I was reading Jeremiah 17:7-8... it says at the beginning, "blessed is he who puts his trust in the Lord, and who's trust IS the Lord." Humm... Then it goes on to say that, "he will be like a tree planted by streams of water, not fearing the drought, and always bearing fruit" (well, that's my paraphrase). But I was just thinking about how, for a tree, life is water - with out it, it will die. And then the Lord brought an image into my mind of what my 'trust' in Him looks like... the picture was of me, eyes squeezed tight and me holding my breath! Ha! - what sort of trust is that!? :) Sure I was willing to "jump" - I trusted that much... but, I was un-trusting enough to feel the need to shut my eyes, hold my breath and wait, or at least be prepared, for the crash! I have not been a tree planted by streams of water, experiencing life...

Wow. Clearly I am having trust issues. I spent sometime praying, and chucking at that accurate image of myself, as the Lord spoke to my heart and pretty much told me to take a "chill pill" :) He reminded me that He has CALLED me here... He has prepared me in ways I don't even know yet... I am more prepared then I think I am, or He wouldn't be putting me on that plane tomorrow morning. I need to TRUST my Father. He KNOWS me. He knows His plans and hopes and dreams, not only for me, but for the people of Sudan. If I'm going to trust in anything - it sure won't be myself... it sure won't be the pilot or the plane... Why not trust in the ONE who holds the WHOLE world in His hands... created it all, and loves me beyond measure. I want to put my trust in the one who produces that fruit in me because the roots go deep into the soil, getting life from the stream.

Who am I not to trust a God like that? :)

Happiness

Hello Everyone! Thank you for your patience as you've waited for me to update this blog! It's been 2 weeks (ish) now that I've been back in Africa, and it's been wonderful :) It feels very normal to be here, yet "new" because I've never before been to Kenya, and Nairobi is very urban!

As you will hear in my newsletter (if you receive those) I arrived with no glitches, all my luggage, and no problems with getting my visa or going through customs! Thank you for praying! I went almost directly to our SIM South Sudan Spiritual Life Conference, where I finally got to meet the WHOLE South Sudan Team, and start getting to know people! Those of you who know me well, know that big group settings like this are out of my 'zone of comfort', which made for some moments of feeling overwhelmed - but overall it was such a blessing! The Lord really started to make it a reality that I will be heading to Sudan shortly... :) The photo here is of the whole Doro Team - both with short term and long term people.

The last few weeks I've been going through orientation, getting my feet under me, gathering supplies for Sudan, and trying to organize my stuff and get an understanding of how things work within the SIM Sudan office, here in Kenya.

I will be flying into Sudan on January 28th ** so please keep that in your prayers!! I am hoping to get another newsletter out this week before I go so stay tuned! Thanks for your interest and faithful checking of this blog, I will do my best to keep it "up to date" with some pictures (although, the internet isn't exactly "fast" here :P So if I can't upload pictures, or at least, very many, be patient with me - and keep reading, even if it isn't as interesting as it is with photos! :)

I love you all and love hearing from you!
More to come... :)

I Go Before...

"My Promise"

Child of my love, fear not the unknown morrow,
Dread not the new demand life makes of thee,
Thy ignorance doth hold no cause for sorrow,
Since what thou knowest not is known to me.

Wherefore go gladly to the task assigned thee,
Having my promise, needing nothing more,
Than just to know, where'er the future finds thee,
In all thy journeying I go before."

F.J.Exley

God's Just Like That :)

HI Everyone!

I'm just writing a quick note to those of you who follow my blog to give you the update on me leaving! The last you probably heard (unless you get my prayer updates - different then the newsletters) was that I was hoping & praying for my support to go back up so I could in fact get on that plane on January 6th!

I am SO happy to report, that the Lord has provided in FULL, and I am indeed leaving for Africa on January 6th as planned! :) I am amazed at the way He works and in His perfect timing! There is so much I could say about that, but I'm trying to keep this short so I can go to sleep! These last few weeks with holidays and final preparations, packing & friends visiting - from near and far - have just been nutzo... awesome, but completely crazy :D You should see my living room floor right now!

Anyway! I hope to update tomorrow night too - before I head off. I had actually wanted to send out another Newsletter before I left, but, honestly... that's a bit too ambitious right now :P

So, that's it for now! Thank you SO much for praying about all this, and for all the encouragement you passed along to me with each "bump" along the way. I can't wait to start updates from Africa :) Stay tuned people....!

Because He is SO Faithful,
Christiane :)