Tomorrow is the big day

It is now the end of orientation in Chicago. What a marathon it has been! My world this week has been a combination of sitting, listening to speakers, eating, and sleeping....oh and some exploring of Chicago too. Even though there has been a lot of frustration with sitting, I still have appreciated the long list of information. I would rather have more information than less. It also has been kinda wierd as a lot of topics such as saftey or gender issues are vastly different between various countrys. I think it can be agreed upon that saftey issues I have to worry about in the UK are not the same issues that my roomate has to think about in Kenya. Still, a lot of the presentations clump us together. Oh well, I still feel like I am prepared as much as I can be. What orientation has been essential for is building community among other people who are going to our countries. There are so many cool people going to the UK! One girl is even working about 10 block from where I am at. I would never have known that if I hadn't spent a week here and gotten to know others. God has truly blessed all of us here and it has been a gift to share our thoughts and fears of international living with each other. Prayer has been somthing I have really worked on this week and I have found it really grounding. I really feel God's presence right now and am excited to see the challenges and joys of London. The bottom line is that I am here to learn this year-probably the most vital part of the ministry. I have slowly realized that my going to do this ministry is almost more for me that it is for the people I will be there with. What an incredible amount of love, patience and faith I feel I have the chance to develop abroad! Mission work DOES NOT mean (at least to me) going to go and "christianize" this world. Instead, I will be there in the ministry of presence and partnership. It will be a "give and take" every day. All of us are really excited to embark on this journey. It is time to get out of this LIMBO of orientation and get on that flight to London! It is time for the learning and partnership to begin!

The journey is starting...almost

It is now 10:45pm Saturday, August 18th and I am done packing for my year long endeavor to London, England. Pretty good I might say. Tomorrow is the big day when I leave for Chicago and start a week of orientation. I ACTUALLY leave for London on the 27th. This evening I said goodbye to my girlfriend, Abby, a very emotional time indeed that is a prelude to saying goodbye to the parents. I will be comissioned at my church (Westwood Lutheran Church) tomorrow AND sing a trio with my bother and father at the service. Crazy huh?! It is also crazy that it has now finally hit me that I AM going to London for a year. I know that before these big events in your life, you talk and talk but never truly believe that you are really going until the night before. That has arrived for me most definitely! I have such an incredible mix of emotions that I don't know where to begin in describing how I feel. It certainly is a new feeling that I haven't quite felt before in my life. No matter, I probably will feel many new things in these incredible months. I ask that God help me and guide me through this crazy transitional time and grant me safe travels this coming week. Hang on folks, it's going to be an incredible ride!