My bandamate Erika is flying out in just a few days! Please pray that she'll have a safe, uneventful trip and that she'll settle in well. She has a blog that she's used since her three month trip to Karamoja earlier this year - check it out if you want to learn more about the missionaries and see some great pictures and videos.

Checking off the to-do list this week:
Applied for life insurance. They have to come to my house next week and draw blood :( Of course, every time I complain about ANYTHING around here these days, everyone just says, "you're going to Africa, so toughen up!" I still don't like getting my blood drawn.

Setting up my appointment to get malaria pills (I think I'm going with mefloquine this time) and my Hep A #2... hopefully I won't need too many shots besides that.

Sending out my next batch of support letters. I've raised over 1/3 of my support, and I'm still saving like crazy to cover my college loans while I'm gone. THANK YOU to those of you who have supported me financially! I can't thank you enough.


Here's a map of Uganda, and that pretty red dot is (roughly) the location of Namalu. So, to those who have inquired, YES, I will be in the middle of nowhere :)

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared,  he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,  whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior,  so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.  Titus 3:4-7

Finishing Well

I listened to these John Piper sermons yesterday and was really blessed by them. If you have a few minutes to spare, check them out (or if you can only listen to one, listen to Finishing With Joy).

Finishing What?

Finishing With Joy

Finishing Well in the Face of Death

My Kenyan Stalker

My dad preached at the Oswego RPC this morning, so my mom and I went, and I brought my photo album from Uganda to share with them. We had wonderful fellowship at the Plummer's house (and amazing food - she used to run her own Italian restaurant!). A lot of people asked me why I was interested specifically in East Africa. I gave them vague responses about my involvement with Project Okello at Grove City, a group which raises awareness about the use of child soldiers in East Africa. But WHY was I drawn to Okello in the first place?

During my senior year of high school I took several community college classes. I overheard someone say the library had four floors, so one day I decided to take the elevator up to the very top. There was no one there. I looked around and found myself a desk which made me completely invisible to anyone who might come in, and got cracking on my reading.

I hear the elevator ding. I ignore it. Then an African man with a thick accent turns the corner, walks straight toward me and says, "The Lord told me to talk to you. Can I sit down?" This is weird, I think, but I invite him to sit.

Now, let me clarify. Up to this point the extent of my exposure to Africa were the images of starving kids with flies on their faces you see on Save the Children commercials. Africa (and the Third World in general) was completely off my radar screen.

This man introduces himself as Ernest, a Kenyan refugee. Some of his family had been killed there; he and his brother managed to save enough money to go to community college in Rochester, of all places. We talk about our faith. Then he very bluntly says, "I had a dream that I would meet someone here who would become a missionary to East Africa." Later on he would email me telling me that he had prophesied about my work in Africa. Now, being Reformed, I took all this with a grain of salt. And he certainly had ulterior motives - he basically proposed to me that very day, and every other time we passed in the hallways. He really became a stalker and I spent my last few months there hiding in hallways and sneaking around corners to avoid him.

Nevertheless, whatever really happened that day, God's hand was on our meeting. Ernest's stories opened my eyes for the first time to the realities of the suffering in East Africa, specifically, and a seed was planted. So when I arrived at Grove City College the next year and wandered around the IM room during the Organizational Fair, Project Okello caught my eye. If I hadn't talked to Ernest, I wouldn't have given Okello a second glance. If I hadn't joined Okello, I wouldn't have learned so many lessons about the unbelievable power of prayer, and I wouldn't have learned about Uganda, and I wouldn't have gone to Karamoja, and right now I'd probably be a librarian, with not even a thought for missions work. So, God's hand was mightily at work every step of the way. Consider your conversations! They just might be the seed of real change in someone's life!

OPUM Articles (New Horizons)

Reaching the Karamojong in Uganda by Herbert Prawius (1999)

Needing Jesus More than Anything Else by Al Tricarico(2011)

Rejoicing in East Kopetatum by David Okken (2011)

Accepted.

This afternoon I got the official email from the OPC mission board appointing me as a Missionary Associate. I guess I've done things a bit out of order - I've already booked my flights and bought my traveler's insurance. I guess I was just trusting the Lord that they would accept me... and if they'd said no, I guess I would have spent seven months hangin' in Kampala, or maybe tried to beg and plead my way into the Cush4Christ team for a while! In any case, I'm so thankful that this is settled and the Lord has clearly opened the door for me to go.

Another milestone for me today - I got my driver's license. Yes, I was license-less at 23. Pathetic. But I passed my road test today with no problems. So glad that's over with! Hopefully I won't have to parallel park again for a very, very long time :) According to the kids I nanny, inability to drive meant I was NOT a grownup. Now I'm "all growed up for real."

Now to catch up on all the things I've been neglecting in pursuit of the Perfect Parallel Park...

Emily

Come be a Nobody for Christ - by Muchael Oh

Tell the students to give up their small ambitions and come eastward to preach the gospel of Christ. — Francis Xavier

Many people leave college with the goal to “be somebody.” And this usually means getting a good job, making good money, buying a nice house, driving a nice car, attaining some important position, and helping your kids to do the same.

For the Christian, “being somebody” usually means all of that and faithfully going to church on Sundays and Bible study during the week.

But I believe that Jesus is calling for people to be a nobody for him — people who would forsake the “American dream” to be a part of bringing gospel hope to the nations. People who don’t mind if they are not recognized, respected, praised, or promoted — as long as the name of Jesus is cherished, exalted, and adored. People who understand that Jesus didn’t come to this world and die on a cross so that we could have a comfortable suburban life and enjoy going to our local church's corporate gathering on Sundays. 

Jesus Is Calling Gifted Nobodies
Jesus is calling people who could compete in the corporate rat race (and win) — but either choose not to so that they can share the gospel with the neediest in Thailand or choose yes so that by excelling in their profession they can give gobs of money away for God's global cause (something their co-workers wouldn't understand). I believe that Jesus Christ is calling for well-trained, well-educated, godly, capable, wise, talented nobodies.

John Piper reminds us that we have three choices – go, send, or disobey. And it’s my hope and prayer that the very best of this generation will go — young people who could be somebody in this world choosing to be nobodies for Jesus.

And that doesn’t mean that you have to be a preacher.  There's hardly a job or profession that you can have in America that you can’t do in the mission field. 
You can be a musician, a physician, a professor, a dog catcher, a secretary, an actuary, a bartender, a mixed martial arts fighter (it doesn't matter). My point is that missions is simply doing what the Lord has gifted and called you to do — where there are few or no Christians — so that those who cannot be saved without believing in the gospel would hear the life-giving good news of Jesus through you.

It’s choosing to forsake the comforts and glory of the American dream to live in an African jungle, or any foreign land, and speaking in a foreign tongue, choosing to be slightly uncomfortable and really need God so that he might have have the glory he is worthy to receive.

But Why Make This Choice?
Why choose to be a nobody when you could be a somebody? Because life is not about us. It’s not about how much money you can make; it’s not about how secure and comfortable you can be; it’s not even about living a quiet life and being a consistent church attender. And not only is it not about us, it’s also not even about the nations that are lost without the gospel. Ultimately it really is about God. God is worthy to hear from each of his servants for whom he died – "Lord I would go anywhere for you. Lord, I would do anything for you."

We must realize that we have absolutely no right to tell God, “I’ll do this for you, but not that.” We must understand how globally worthy he is to be loved and adored, how incredibly hard the task of making him known is, and how great are the sacrifices needed to see that happen. This is how much we want to see Jesus worshiped by every tribe, language, people, and nation — we are willing to be nobodies to see it happen.

He must become greater; I must become less (John 3:30).

From DesiringGod.org
________

I apologize to anyone who has a blog I'm following who may notice semi-stalkerish levels of views from me! I've been having phone issues which were causing my browser to open on your home pages. I think I've sorted it out now.... I'm not a creeper, I promise :P

Life is good. Stress is high, but God is higher.
I just read through Titus... there are some choice verses in there (especially end of chapter 2, beginning of ch.3). Keep reading the Word! What a gift.
In Christ,
Emily

Currently reading:
The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
When Helping Hurts: how to alleviate poverty without hurting the poor... and yourself by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert
Radical by David Platt

I also just ordered Operation World, and I'm looking forward to delving into that.

What are you reading?

It's official!

My flights are booked - there's no turning back now! My departure date is October 12th, and I'll be returning April 20th. Now to sort out visas, work permits, shots, malaria pills, and all that good stuff.

I'll be teaching Veritas Press's Omnibus III curriculum, which encompasses history, philosophy, theology, and literature. I'm trying to read as many of the primary readings as I can before I go. Here's the reading list, to give you an idea (I feel like I'm back at Grove City again!):

Westminster Confession of Faith
The Pilgrim's Progress (currently reading it - amazing)
Of Plymouth Plantation
The Social Contract
Foundational American Documents
The Federalist Papers
The Anti-Federalist Papers
A Tale of Two Cities (just covered this as a writing tutor a couple months ago, so there's one down!)
Reflections on the Revolution in France
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Lincoln's Speeches
Slave Narratives (I'm guessing this includes Frederick Douglass, which I've read a trillion times)
The Communist Manifesto
The Treaty of Versailles
The Great Gatsby
Mein Kampf
1984
Books of the Bible: Philemon; I, II & III John; I & II Peter, Jude, Daniel

They'll cover a few of these before I get there. There are also 16 books on the secondary reading list. Needless to say, we'll be busy! I'm excited though, this is right up my alley. I LOVE history and literature. As long as I don't have to teach math, I'm all set!

I appreciate your prayers as I spend the next eight weeks ironing out my plans. I've already raised 1/3 of my support - thank you!

In Him,
Emily

RP Short Term Missions

A series of helpful blog posts for anyone interested in short term (2-8 week) mission trips, from the RP Missions website:
But Why Should I Go? Pt. 1
Why ME? Pt. 2
WHERE Should I Go? Pt. 3

Martyr's Oath

My Facebook sidebar led me to the website for Hopegiver's International, which sends out pioneer missionaries. All their missionaries have to pledge their lives to these things before they're sent out to some of the least-reached places on earth. Of the many they've sent, 17 have been martyred. I was inspired by this list so I thought I'd share it. I'm so far from the mark, but everything in me wants to say "yes!" to these statements.

• I stand with the Apostle Paul in stating that “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
• I take a stand to honor the Lord Jesus Christ with my hands to serve all mankind.
• I take a stand to honor the Lord Jesus Christ with my feet to spread the gospel to all the ends of the earth no matter what the cost.
• I take a stand to honor the Lord Jesus Christ with my lips by proclaiming the Good News to all who hear and by edifying the body of Christ.
• I take a stand to honor the Lord Jesus Christ with my mind as I meditate upon His Word and His promises to me.
• I give my earthly treasures and all that I possess to follow the way of the cross. ➵ I commit to love my family, orphans, widows, lepers, the wealthy and the poor the way that Christ loved the Church.
• I surrender my will and life to His will and life.
• I commit to the service of the Lord by being a good steward of my time.
• I surrender this body on earth to the perfect will of Jesus and should my blood be spilled may it bring forth a mighty harvest of souls.
• I pledge allegiance to the Lamb. I will seek to honor His command. I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes.
• Lord Jesus, Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. ➵ I love my nation and my fellow citizens and I claim my nation for Christ.