My nomadic life continues...

I've just returned from two weeks in the Windy City. It was a great time being home with family, friends, and working on support raising. Unfortunately there's never enough time to do everything and see everyone, but I did have a blast with those I did visit with.
Now that I am back home in florida, I have about a week and a half left until I leave for Africa... let the countdown begin! :) Once the weekend is over, my life will be a crazy time of shopping, packing, finishing office projects, planning for africa missions, spending time with friends, and much more. I'm tired just thinking about it!
While I was home, I spent some time with friends that I used to see every single day. Two of them I lived with for four years during college, they are two of my best friends and we've been through a lot together. We met for lunch while I was home and gave each other a recap on what our lives have been like. As I was driving home, it kinda hit me what I truly miss when I am away from home. I miss being an active part in the lives of my family and friends. Instead of hearing recaps of lives, I was a part of their life. It's weird now to not be involved as much. However, it's a sacrifice that comes along with my job. I would not give up my life for anything though. I absolutely love what I do and could not imagine doing anything else. It's okay to miss family and friends, but email and Skype calls help to keep in touch. :) God bless the inventor of Skype!!

New skill added to the list!

Well my weekend has been packed full of fun! I am officially now a licensed motorcyclist. :) I just completed my motorcycle basic rider course and passed with flying colors. Praise God! I absolutely love riding motorcycles. It's a lot of fun and there's so much you can do. I would love, at some point in my life, to ride across both American and Africa on a bike. Heck, maybe even Asia while I'm at it. ;-) I'm excited to say that I will hopefully be purchasing a bike when I arrive in Africa next month. Next month?! I cannot believe how fast time is going. I am leaving for africa on March 11th and will be gone for almost 9 months. This year is going to be amazing! Please keep praying for me as I continue preparing and raising the needed support for ministry. God is awesome!

Life!

Life! Something I have been thinking about a lot lately. It's something so precious that people fight for it, yearn for it, and even die so that others may have it. Many work hard to gain the life they dream of. It's also true that the life that many dream of is not the life that they yearn for. The yearning deep within that they try to fill, but only God can fill. Jesus says in John 10:10 that "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." In Christ there is life. True, pure life. Nothing can every compare to it. It is a precious, priceless jewel that pales to nothing. It is something that is beyond words.

The reason why I have been thinking about life of late is that my aunt passed away last Monday. I was close to her while I was growing up and will always wished I called more and made more time to spend with her. She didn't come to the Lord until the end. However, even if it was just a short time here on earth, she is experiencing true life. Our life in Christ is eternal. Eternal life doesn't start at death, friends, but the moment that we are reborn in Christ! How many do you know that don't yet know what a life in Christ is? What is holding you back from telling them? The worst thing that will happen is they say they're not interested. Share life with everyone you know and meet.

God Bless!

A Long Overdue Update

Hey all!

Sorry for the delay in updating. I should be back on schedule now. Life has been crazy and I have so much to share. The conference was amazing as usual, as well as our staff retreat. We just returned from our cruise to the Bahamas which served as our staff retreat. Sometimes I feel like I need a vacation from the vacation! However I came back completely focused on the year ahead and ready to get working.

This is the plans thus far for 2008: My coleader Patrick and I are leaving for Africa around March 11th (about a month earlier then I had planned but very cool). We will be picking up one of our new trucks in Johannesburg and driving it to the base in Zambia. Once we reach "home" we will jump into one of the smaller vehicles and recon for the upcoming expeditions. Our first team arrives the first week of April and is looking to be around 40 people. What an awesome way to start out the year! Patrick and I are also in charge of all of the Africa expeditions, which includes training new leaders, assigning leaders, making sure all tasks are completed, etc. In September, I will be helping to colead our Advanced Mission Training school which is held on our base in Zambia. My eta for returning to the states is in December. It's a ton of work but my excitement cannot be contained, much like how our God cannot be contained. I know that we are going to see God move is awesome ways... no words will ever be able to describe it.

Until I leave I will be focusing on prepping for the teams, and mainly my personal support raising. I need to have a $500/month increase in my support in order to do the ministry needed this year. If the Lord is placing it on your heart to join my team, and/or to share this ministry with others, please go to www.laurainmissions.com and also, tell a friend! :)

Having a support team to me is much more then having the finances available to continue working in the nations. It's working with a team of people to accomplish the work that the Lord has called each and everyone of us to do: "go therefore into all the nations..." That call of the Great Commission is for all of us no matter what role you may play in it. Each of us have a different role but it's all for the same purpose!

Okay enough preaching for tonight, I'll save it for tomorrow when I share at Westside Baptist Church in Titusville, FL. Have a great weekend everyone, and I promise to update more often. BTW- if you're wondering about the lack of updating for my website, I'm still working on getting the right software to work on my new mac but it should be updated sometime this week. Please keep checking for updates here and on the webpage! God Bless

Happy New Year!

Hello all! Sorry about the lack of updates but as soon as I landed here in Florida, I've hit the ground running. We have finished our december missions conference which went great. I'm hoping to eventually get some photos up on my website from it as soon as my new macbook arrives in the mail. Not having a laptop has made me realize how dependent I am on it. All of my work is done on it, but it arrives in one day which is great! :)
I hope that you all had a great New Years. We celebrated at my boss's condo on the beach. It was a great evening of food, relaxation, and fellowship.
For the next couple months, I will be setting up speaking engagements and working on support raising. If anyone has an open door for me to share about the work God is doing in the nations, please contact me and we can set that up!
Have a blessed day!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope that you are all having a wonderful time and are given the opportunity to share the true meaning of Christmas with at least one person this year. The birth of Christ is truly a life changing miracle that was predestined from the beginning of time. God came down to earth and became flesh. Amazing! He knows what it is like to be one of us. He knows our temptations, trials, hardships, joy, love, hope, etc. He knows it because He's experienced it firsthand. How amazing is His love for us that He would do something so great as come to earth not only to live as us but also to die for us so that we might live?
My days here in Chicago are coming to an end until Feburary, when I'll return to work on support raising. That will be one of my main focuses while in the states for the next few months. I've enjoyed the time with my family, despite the continuing battle with jet lag. Also, please pray for my dog, Zeke. He ran off this morning and we still have yet to find him. He has a collar on with our phone number, but we're worried that someone may have decided to keep him or that no one stopped him to check the collar. Hopefully he will make his way home by tomorrow.
Have a great Christmas and New Years. I will update again soon. Oh and if you're wondering, my december newsletter will be combined with my janurary one since my laptop is out of comission. Good news is that my insurance in pulling through and will cover a replacement, which I just ordered. I've finally joined the cool club and bought a mac! ;-)

Welcome to the USA!

I made it home, praise the Lord! Yes, I cried a bit as we landed into Washington DC, but that's a usual occurance for me. Leaving Africa is always hard, but I always know I'll be back soon. This year, I'll be back in March or April to lead expedition teams and to train new expedition leaders. We have plenty of trucks now so we can take many teams each month into the rural villages of Africa. If you want to come on an expedition, sign up on www.overlandmissions.com (we also send team to the amazon, mexico, dominican republic, and southeast asia).
So I've traded heat and mud for cold and snow. What a change! It was strange to sleep without the sounds of the zambezi running through the gorge, crickets and frogs, and our dogs barking as some animal in the middle of the night. I slept well though due to jet lag. It'll take me a couple more days to recover but it'll be fine. It's a good time to relax and take it easy.
My cell phone is working so please feel free to give me a call if you know the number. If not, email me. I'll have email access while home. Have a great Christmas everyone!