It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I'm sitting here inside listening to Christmas music, while the snow glints off the fresh layer of snow outside, yup starting to look like Christmas to me!
I only have a few more days of work (finished on Friday) and then I'm on holidays! Wahoo! I'm quite excited to be finished my job but a little sad that time is flying by so quickly! Next week I'll be packing up my bags and then travelling around saying good-bye to my friends in variousl city/towns. The week leading up to Christmas I'll be at my parent's house in Sudbury enjoying time with family. I can't wait for CHristmas Day, not just for the presents, but because my WHOLE family will be in one house at the SAME time! This only happens about once a year and as I'll be gone for the next 2 years, who know when it'll happen again.

I probably won't be on here again before I leave, SO I just want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. I hope everyone is able to spend some time with their friends and/or loved ones remembering the true Reason for the season, please don't forget Christ this Christmas!

life continues on...

My mom told me I'm past due for an update, to which I replied, "about what?" Things have been pretty "normal" for the past few weeks, just doing the usual day-to-day stuff of work etc. I have purchased my plane tickets now, so there's no backing out now! I've been asked several times "when are you leaving?" it's beginning to make me wonder why people seem so eager to have me go! ANyhow, to answer the question: I fly from Toronto on Dec 28th, 2010. I will be visiting friends in Ireland for about a week and then continue on to Zambia on Jan 5th. Originally I wasn't going to be able to get to Sakeji until Jan 8th, b/c of the internal flight bookings. However, I am happy (and very thankful) that I will now be arriving at Sakeji the same day I arrive in Lusaka (Jan 6th) This gives me about 6 days to get my classroom and house in order before school begins.

I have just recently been put in touch with a part timer (Rachel Buckley) who will be working at Sakeji for 2 terms (if all works out). Rachel and I are going to be on the same flights into Zambia and Sakeji so it will be nice to have someone to talk to on the planes. This is Rachel's first time to Zambia, so I'm sure she'd appreciate your prayers! They are still working to get her a work permit so she can stay the full 2 terms.

This past weekend I started going through more of my "stuff". I am still in awe as to how much junk I've accumulated in my life! I'm starting to pack up my "summer" (aka Africa) clothes as it seems I won't be needing them here anymore. (I'm really looking forward to warm weather again!)It's hard to decide now much I'll need. Although the clothes are no longer "washed" on the rocks at the river; it seems they still wear out a lot faster then here in Canada (I'm not sure why this is). Do I pack everything now or have my parents send some out in April on the next container so it'll be like getting a whole new wardrobe then? Hmm... these the the "big" descisions i'm making these days. :P Not quite as "life changing" as some of the other descisions I've made in the past 4 months, but sadly just as annoying.

Oh, the other thing people have been asking me about is funding for my trip. I'll try and explain. My trip is what some would consider "volunteer" although I am teaching full time I am not getting paid, in fact I actually have to pay room and board to be there (this keeps tuition costs down, making it the schooling available to more children). My church is commending me and has agreed to pay a portion of my costs, so some of my funds will come from them. Where does the rest come from? Donors. I don't do "fundraising". I am associated with MSC Canada (www.msccanda.org). What does this mean? Basically, if someone wants to make a donation to me for my missions trip they can send it to MSC who will directly deposit it into my bank account (if you tell them it's designated for me). As they are a registered Canadian charity, they can then send you a tax receipt for your donation. Check out their site for a full explanation. Donations can be made by cash/check/money order or they now have a online (PayPal) option. All that being said, I don't want anyone to think this is a plea for money, just trying to answer questions.

Boxes are gone!

Yay! the boxes are all out of the house and in the warehouse in Toronto. My grandma is happy to have her livingroom back and I'm glad it's all over! I guess that's not entirely true, I have a few more items to be shipped at a later date, but I don't have to worry about that as I'll be in Zambia by then :). All i have to do is clearly label the stuff and hope my parents can follow directions ;).

I had a great extra-long weekend (Fri - Mon) with my sister and her family. I'm trying to spend as much time with my family as I can, storing up memories for while I'm away. It will be hard being away from them for so long (especially my nephews!) but I'm hoping they can come out to visit me at Sakeji.

Not much else to report on for right now. For those who know my brother CHris, I'd like to ask you to pray for him and his wife Laura, as they are "in limbo" waiting for his American work visa to come through. Please pray this will come through quickly and things (finding an apartment/moving) will proceed smoothly.

green to go!

So it is official now. I've got my green light to go, I'm in the 2011 Missionary Handbook and I'm working on getting my plane tickets! The Lord is good! :) also thanks to all who prayed and send encouraging notes etc.

I am still working on packing up the final things to send on the container, but that's nearly done. Friday I take it all down to Toronto and send it on it's merry way (hopefully I'll see it all again in 6 mths!). Once that is done I think I'll breathe a big sigh of relief. Thankfully I only have to do a big shipment like this once, it really does a number on my nerves and bank account!

the latest update

Well, we survived the 'purge and pack' stage, my Grandma's livingroom is now piled high in boxes, waiting to be shipped down to the ACCTS container next week. Although not everything is done, we got through the sorting of all my 'stuff' (who knew you could accumulate so much in 30 years!)which was the hardest part of the process.
For those who read my blog and are looking for things to pray about I have two items. The first is a bit hard to write as I can't give you all the details, but basically it boils down to, things aren't fully "official" afterall as far as my returning to Sakeji goes. I just found out there are a few more things that need to be said/done first. So your prayers that all the kinks get worked out soon would be great as I don't want to ship all my stuff and then find out I'm not going.
Secondly, I'm not sure if i've mentioned this in my blogs before, but Sakeji has a rather large, ongoing project going on in the building of a new diningroom. They have set the project in stages for financial reasons, building as they are financially able. I would ask for your prayers that these financial needs would be met and our new dining room would be build in a timely fashion.

THanks again for following this and to all you Canadians across the globe, have a Happy THanksgiving!

Purge'n'pack

So i can now tell the world (or the small group of people that read my blog) that (Lord willing of course) I will be returning to Sakeji School in January! My church has decided to re-commend me to serving the Lord in Zambia for 2 more years. I will (as far as I know)be doing pretty much the same as I was before; teaching grade 1&2 and filling in where needed on the many other tasks and supervision duties that happen at a boarding school. So my next step... getting all the paperwork filled out. :( i'm not a fan of paperwork, but i guess its a nescessary evil. Thankfully I already have my work permit, which will be good for most of the 2 years, and is much easier to renew than it is to obtain in the first place! Now i have to focuss on things like health coverage (OHIP), and what the Canadian government expects from me.

of course on top of that i now have to sort through all the stuff i've gathered in throughout my life and decide if its nescessary to keep it in storage, send it to zambia or just toss it. being the grand daughter of an infamous packrat, i know i have tendencies to be one myself, so this could get messy! this week coming up i'll be taking some time off work to do this in order to get the boxes for zambia packed up in time to catch the next container. to answer your question (i know you're thinking it) if i'm leaving in january, why am i sending boxes now? well, the boxes will leave ontario in late oct/early nov. but they won't actually get to Sakeji school until late Jan/early Feb (if i'm lucky). my parents have graciously agreed to come and help with undertaking this task for which i'm very thankful especially as they've been through this purge'n'pack process themselves.

well, must be off, heading down to the dungeon (basement) to begin the sorting...

Nervous tension is starting to get to me

I'm not sure if anyone is following this now that i'm back home, but I tho't i'd put up a quick post (i'm kinda bored at work).

I've now fully adjusted (i think) to being back in Canada, but it's still hard to come to grips with. i still have the feeling that any day now i should be heading back to Zambia.

Tomorrow I'll be giving my first ever 'missionary report' to my church which has my stomach all in knots just thinking about it. I'm not a public speaker at all and get extremely nervous beign up in front of people, so despite at the 'helpful hints' people have been giving me, I can't wait for it to be all over! That being said, if you want to come and listen and see the pics etc it's at Arkell Road Bible Chapel at 7:30pm tomorrow (Tues Sept 14th). For those in the 'north'. I'll be heading up to Sudbury this coming weekend and will be giving a report to the Ladies Missionary Group at Sudbury Bible Fellowship on Tues. Sept 21st. Sorry guys, only ladies welcome at that one. ;)

After my report tomorrow I'll be speaking with my elders about my possibly return to Sakeji School next year. Your prayers would be appreciated for this as well. I will let you all know the final outcome as soon as I can.

Thanks again for all your prayers and support!