1) Continual study of four chapters of the Bible
2) Two 2-3 minute sermons ('nuggets') practiced and prepared (the topic will not be hard for me. Getting it down to 2-3 minutes will be!)
3) Additional fundraising
4) Practical stuff (i.e. buying long skirts, cables and adapters, Air Miles)
5) To "practice" being stretched so that when the "real" mission comes, we will be more ready! As he said, we will have no excuse NOT to be ready to heal the sick, raise the dead, pop out a sermon, or share the gospel with someone at any given moment.
We will have three more meetings. I personally want to learn everyone's name by our next one (Sunday.) For me, community is key. I would love to take time outside the meetings to get to know people. Additionally, I want to research/talk with/learn more about the country, the customs, and the people.
I am the youngest on our team, probably by two or three years...but I have been told that I will be put in a place of leadership on this trip! If I landed here, it is because God trusts me. Getting ready for this mission trip is definitely more work than I realized...but all the prayer, research, practical stuff, etc. will be worth it. In the end, I will have amazing testimonies from this trip and more time to focus on what is going on. When I think of the hours of hard work I put into my SYA France application and papers, my passport and visa, and my language learning, it was so worth it. By the time I got to France, all the practical details (like my metro card, school lunches, host family, after-school options, and travel arrangements) had been prepared, so 50% of that work was done. Within five minutes of meeting me, my host family said I spoke French better than any student they had hosted. I also think of the many hours I put into my advanced Music Theory classes in high school. Because I had skipped a level, it took me three times the amount of time it took the students in the Opera classes. But seeing the A+ on my final composition was all worth it. I was working so hard for something I loved...not just something I liked.
It is still not "real" for me that I leave for South Africa in less than a month! Thank you again for all those whose prayers, readership, and financial donations are making this trip possible. On that note...my team is still raising a few thousand dollars for supplies, gifts for our hosts, toys for orphans, and remaining balances. ANY amount will be helpful. Please donate by going to this link: https://missiontrips.ibethel.org/transactions/new/1708