Well let's see... I just finished packing all of my stuff! The backpack is full and i'm ready to go. My stomach is doing flip flops I am so stinking excited. I've counted months and months, gone through sooo much to get to this final point. I can't believe that it is already here.

Today, I found my invisible children video and decided to watch the section about an orphan Roseline who has the HIV virus. The video was shot in Northern Uganda and was mainly used to spread awareness about the war in this area. Watching the video about the orphans and how the HIV virus is so present in Africa made me realize what I am truly getting myself into. I don't think I have really wrapped my head around what I will be seeing and what we will be doing. I really want to have an impact on this small country in Africa. Here is the first part of the Invisible Children video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qds5MQCqWnk . Watch it! It's amazing.

Anyway, back to our mission. Tomorrow at 3:25 pm, twelve students and leaders will be getting on an airplane to travel to Entebbe Uganda. From there we will travel to Kampala Uganda and from there to Masaka. It will be a long, but very exciting journey. We will then spend two weeks traveling, teaching, talking, (wow lot's of t's) with lot's of different people in all different walks of life. I am so excited to connect with the children there.

There is a small chance that we will have internet access while in Kampala so I will try to keep my blog updated with what we are doing (for the few that actually read this).

Please pray for our safety and for good health (as I am kind of nervous about this).
Much love.
Anna

Well, I don't know if anyone actually reads this blog but I thought that I would post a few more times before we depart. Today we had our last meeting as a group. This gave us a chance to follow up on any questions that were going through our minds and also gave us a chance to pray with our parents about the trip and the results it will hopefully have on our lives. We prayed for God's grace and for the safety of everyone on this trip. I am not allowed to take the malaria medication unless I get really sick so I would very much appreciate some prayers for this as I am very nervous. We prayed for his guidance as we try to share the Gospel with the people we will meet in Masaka and Kampala Uganda. This is going to be especially important for me. I am a bit shy so it might take me a little bit of time to come out of my shell. I hope that God will help me get over this fear and allow me to really do his work. I would like to continue to do this kind of thing for a future career, so this is really a test for me and to do that I need to put all my trust onto him.

I will leave you with this last verse. It is from Philippians 1:6. "..being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus". I pray that our efforts will not be for selfish reasons, but to share the love of Christ and to truly do his work.

much love.
anna

We leave on WEDNESDAY!!! SO CLOSE :)

Spaghetti Dinner!

For all those in the ithaca area-

tomorrow is our spaghetti dinner! Come enjoy some wonderful pasta (and brownies that I cooked myself :) ) and help support our team!

Here is a little video that a few of us made. It will be shown at the dinner tomorrow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb1MrRQg0fw

much love.

Well.. it has been a while since I have posted anything on here. I haven't really had any inspiration. Today however, I was reading Philippians 1:12-30 and was very inspired. This passage is about having courage to preach the gospel to others. It really connected with what we will be doing while we are in Uganda and the future mission trips I hope to take. "Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death." This is how I want to live my life. I want to live my whole life for Christ and to be courageous no matter what situation I am put into. I hope that I feel this way as I am put into many different situations in Africa.