Preparing for Heartbreak

I keep on thinking that I am traveling all the way to Africa to get my heart broken. Sound strange? Yes. Let me attempt to explain. I don't know how anyone can go into this sort of situation...to see some 200 orphans in one orphanage who have seen more terror and hardships than ever imaginable. These kids who will be so, so incredibly happy to recieve the simplest things like stickers or school supplies - maybe some of the first times ever seeing these things. I'm not fooled to believe that little me, the little white girl from MN who somehow is affording international airfare and who definately wears her heart on her sleeve will not be affected by these kids. How can I witness these kids...open my heart to them...and NOT get my heart broken in the process? And in way, yes, I do want my heart to break. I want to know that I am capable of that compassion...that I can give these kids that sort of love and care. I've said this before, but I want this trip to change me in some fundamental way. I just think my heart getting broken is part of the process. That my friends is not something that is easy to prepare for. It's not like remembering your passport or gathering donations...it's so much more. It's trying to mentally and emotionally prepare. *sigh* I just really feel like the "leap" into the unknown is here. Bring it on.

Until next time...

3 Days and Counting

Considering it's past midnight and officially Saturday morning I only have 3 days until I leave for Africa. 3 DAYS! When did this happen? Why am I not completely ready? There is so much to do but I know it'll get done. My goal is to purchase my malaria medication tomorrow and to pack my bags of donations.

First though, let me say how incredibly grateful I am for the people I have in my life. They are so generous and thoughtful and amazing. I really do lead a blessed life. My favorite part of this whole process so far has been collecting the donations. People have volunteered their money and posessions to help. It honestly takes my breath away. Thank you friends. You are my inspiration. You are the reason I believe in the good of this world. You are amazing.

I'm SO excited to meet the team in Dallas. I've never flown alone either...that just occured to me. I guess it'll be an interesting adventure down to Dallas all alone. Who will I tell "I love airports! I love airplanes!" to (on spring break I'm pretty sure Tori heard those two sentences half a dozen times on the trip out to VA). I'll be able to bring a 3rd suitcase on our international flight. I hope my domestic flight doesn't make me pay too much money to bring it along. Yuck. I guess you do what you must do though.

It felt a little more real this past week. I talked to Elizabeth (she's going on the trip) and that made it sink in a bit more. Then today at work I walked around saying goodbye to my co-workers since I'll be MIA for three weeks from work. Can I just say how lucky I am to be an intern and have a job that allows for 3 full weeks off in the middle of the summer? And that they want me to continue on into the fall.

Just a little side note...I'm co-leading a street team for the band the Alternate Routes. Their EP is being released while I'm away in Africa. I'm going to see them after I get back home and excitement can barely be contained.

My sister is also getting married RIGHT after my return. It's going to be a crazy, crazy welcome back to the U.S.A. I'm actually more scared about the return and jumping back into "real life" after such a huge experience.

More to come this weekend as I really start to digest my Tuesday departure. Right now...sleep!

Until next time...

Housing and Donations Collection

I never thought that I'd be living in such a place in Africa! Our team is going to be staying in the guest house pictured above. It's used to house families who adopting children from Addis. It was started by a man named Dave and his wife. You should definately check out their websites:
http://ethiopiaguesthome.com/index.php?id=5
http://daveandrae.blogspot.com/
Such a cool organization and idea. If you are traveling to Africa to adopt a child, imagine what a blessing a safe and lovely guest home would be.

Right now I'm trying to get all my donations and personal clothing and supplies in order. It's quite a task. I feel so incredibly blessed though. After sending out the email to my friends and family I have recieved responses from over a dozen people who want to help. I have two digital cameras being donated as well - maybe three if my parents allow me to use their camera and doante my own. My prayer is that I end up with too many donations! I just found out that some of us can bring an extra suitcase on the trip through British Airways (since it's a missionary trip). Hopefully I get enough to fill that extra suitcase. I have a professor who is collecting donations at her office, a church who is collecting physical and monetary donations, and too many other people to name.

I've been so busy lately with my new internship that the trip has not been my focus lately. It took me a long time to get around to asking for donations. And now I'm trying to get all my clothing and medication and things in order. But, I have two weeks. And God is good. He's making this happen. I get a little teary-eyed when I think about leaving. I'm trying to prepare for the heartbreak...the heartbreak of meeting these children, who I can feel a love for already, and seeing their endurance and hearing their stories. I hope my heart is open enough to soak all that in and give love back in return. I'm so excited to bring the kids all these fun things. It's seem so small...a coloring book or stickers. But to these children, it's a miracle that an odd pale girl from way across the ocean knows of their heartache and cares enough to bring presents.

More updates to come soon. Until next time...

Donations Please!

Hello dear friends,

I'll be updating this site soon. I can't believe I leave in less than a month. Right now I'm in the process of collecting donations. Please read the note I sent out by email below. I'd really, really appreciate the help collecting donations. You can contact me with questions (makohne@gmail.com):

As most of you know, I'm going to Ethiopia is less than a month! I'll be visiting two different orphanages in Ethiopia that desperately need some supplies (each orphange has over 200 kids). I've complied a list of welcomed donations below (the first half of the list is specific requests from the orphange, and the second half is supplies our team needs to do special activities with the kids!) Please take a look at it and let me know if your heart tugs at you to donate. I will be bringing two 50 lb. suitcases along and will pack as little clothes as possible to fit in all the donations.

I leave for Africa on July 1st and will be collecting donations up until that point. Please, please let me know if you'd like to add to the pile. Ask your friends and family if they'd like to help as well! I'll be down in Minneapolis for the majority of the time before my trip, but will be visiting Duluth on the weekend of June 20-22nd. So let me know if you'd like to meet up!

I can't urge you enough to please donate. It will mean the world to these kids that people all away across the world have heard of their hardships and care enough to send presents.

Donations needed:

Technology - no need to buy! simply if you have one you no longer need, there was a special request for both.
- 1 pc laptop
- 1 digital camera
Personal Effects
- Clothes (2 yrs old to teen)
- Shoes (Elementary up to High School)
- Toothbrushes/toothpaste
- Bumbo seats (5 needed – 1 per trip?)
- Bouncy Seats (5 needed – 1 per trip?)
- Vitamins
- Diapers & formula
- Hand sanitizer
- School Supplies
- Pens/Pencils
- Blank Composition Books
- School Books
- Math
- Physics
- Dictionaries
- English books
- Flash Cards
- Crayons/coloring books
- Back Packs
Games / Toys
- Black Baby Dolls
- Soccer balls
- Small Pumps and needles
- Games (Simple ones!)
- Jenga
- Lincoln Logs
- Legos (simply blocks, not the spaceship one)
- Puzzles
- Jump ropes
Activities/Crafts (they LOVE this stuff – every team should go get this stuff b/c it’s a great way to spend time with the kids)
- Crafts - Go to Michaels!
- Bead Necklaces
- Little wedding bubbles packs
- Stickers
- Foam Bookmarks
- Face paint
- Polaroid camera
- Tote bags to decorate with: Paint pens/jewels
- Nail polish – they love to be pampered by you!

Carnival Day
Team members will set up different stations with activities such as face painting, jigsaw puzzles, arts and crafts, and balloon animals
Supplies Necessary:
- Face-paints
- Children’s puzzles
- balloons (both round and long)
- Arts and Crafts Supplies
- glue, scrapbooking paper, and children’s scissors
- TONS AND TONS of stickers
- children’s magazines
- any sort of school supplies
- tape, hand paints, coloring books
Holiday Day:
Team members will spend time acting out and describing different American holidays and the meaning behind them. This is a great means to present Biblical truth and the Gospel through the process.
Supplies Necessary
Any decorations or fun things associated with:
- Christmas
- Easter
- St. Valentine’s Day

Last Conference Call

So an update. Last night we had our last conference call before our trip to Africa. It is somewhat crazy to think about since we don't leave for several weeks. Our leader, Geoffrey, though is leading the other groups to and will be in Africa all summer. That makes it a little hard to have conference calls into the summer. Our last call went well. I learned a few things:
1) My balloon making skillz need some fine tuning. Apparently we are going to be putting on some carnival days for different kids. Since I all went and got a kit, I should hopefully be good at this. I should dig out that dvd this weekend and practice...
2) I forgot about the weather. It's only going to be around 50-70 degrees when we are there.
3) It is the cultural thing for man to be attracted to women by their thighs in Africa (maybe like men are to breasts in the US? Not sure if it's the same or not...) Apparently, if a woman shows off her thighs by tight fitting pants (or shorts) it most definately reflects her character. I will be shopping for long skirts (are those even made in the USA anymore?!?)

On a side note...sometimes I tend to ramble and instead of bogging down my friends with all my repetitive worries or ramblings I sometimes instead type them. I found this sentence from a recent Melissa rambling session, and although it's kinda sad, I guess it just sticks out a little bit and I really have no clue where that sort of writing came from. It's not typical for a Mel Rambling:
"Where silent confidence paired with giddiness and anticipation once stood, now stands doubt"

Alright. That is all for now. Until next time...

Thoughts

Two posts in one night...I know, it's a lot. But this one probably won't be too long. I just wanted to get down a few thoughts.

First of all, we just had a conference call with our team. We haven't had one in forever it seems. It was so nice to reconnect and feel as a team once more. Not everyone speaks up during the phone calls and seems to want to share. I hope it's only because it's a conference call and sometimes awkward to speak up and not because people are uncomfortable with the team. I'm hoping we'll all be more chatty in person!

I'm still struggling money wise. Technically, my trip is all paid off in the eyes of 963Missions and African Leadership. But, my Dad chipped in a lot of money to help me meet the deadlines. I'm going to try to sell coffee in person these next few weeks and see if I can gain some of the money to pay my dad back. At this point every little bit counts. It's just been so hard for me to come to terms with. I feel like this trip is what I'm called to do, and I've been trusting that God will provide. Yet, it's hard to not get discouraged when it doesn't work out exactly as I had hoped it would. Not that I'm discouraged, just ready for this financial burden to finally be lifted. Please!

My life will hopefully calm down soon and get into a pattern (my fingers are crossed). I just finished up with my finals and have a few days at school, then at home, and then moving into my summer location and starting my job. I'm excited to start preparing more for Africa within the upcoming weeks. I can even start thinking about what to bring!

Now I'm off to sleep. See...not too long tonight. =)

Until next time...

Invite to Join

I just sent out this email, but for all of you whose email I don't have, please considering joining:

Hey dear friend,

Hopefully I've already shared the news with you, but I am traveling to Ethiopia this summer for two weeks with this awesome organization called the Mocha Club. I realize not everyone can give of their time to fly all the way over to Africa to serve, but I wanted to share how you can be a part of the Mocha Club right from home!

Mocha Club functions as a website, where you give up $7 a month (the cost of 2 mochas) to help Africa. Can you believe that the cost of 2 mochas ($7) gives clean water to 7 Africans for a whole year?! It's only $7 but it's changing so many lives. Mocha Club also supports projects like orphan care, relief for the victims of the genocide in Darfur, Sudan and many more. I wanted you to join me! I'd love for you to join my team and make a difference. Mocha Club is giving away TWO FREE EXCLUSIVE DAVE BARNES MP3s if you sign up. ("Someday" and "On A Night Like This" acoustic versions recorded especially for Mocha Club!)

Personally, I've felt convicted to move from just thinking about it, to actually doing something. And I thought it'd be fun to do this with family and friends. The more of us that join, the greater impact we'll make, so once you join, you can invite friends too. Mocha Club updates us through blogs, videos, and podcasts every month so we know exactly where that money is going and can stay connected to our project in Africa.

Please consider joining the team. It's something that can even happen on a broke college budget (trust me, I'm there!)

As always, please keep myself and my team in your thoughts and prayers as we continue to prepare for our trip.

Much love,
Melissa

Click on this link to check it out:https://www.mochaclub.org/mochaclub/invitation/f01416dd5c81331e2604eb0079d57001/7