I'm Here

Hello, Hello,
I have arrived in Lubango, Angola and I am doing well. I am still healthy- praise the Lord! I have met many missionaries and spent a day at the hospital. I am living at the guest house with Stacy- a 4th year medical student from Arkansas. Our flat is quite nice- kitchen, living room, dining room, 3 bedrooms. Electricity works either when the city power is one or when we turn on the generator. The guest house is only about three blocks from Dr. Stephen and Peggy Fosters home. Becky Loewen- long term missionary- picked me up from the airport; we dropped off my stuff and picked up Stacy for a grocery shopping excursion. Money here in Angola is very different than in Canada- they use the kwanza but eggs are like 25 K each, bananas 3 for 50 K. 1 USD is equal to 75 K- the value of the K is going up because there will be an election in the next couple of years. Dry goods we bought at the store and fruits and vegetables we bought off the street. When we bought food off the street Becky bartered for us.
The last couple of nights we’ve had electricity from 6:00 pm until midnight and this morning we had also had electricity. We have a hot water heater that has the potential to work- sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t.
Yesterday I walked in between operating rooms and observed the happenings here at the Lubango Evangelical Medical Centre. There were people waiting all day. There were line ups when we arrived in the morning and when we closed down in the evening. Some people travel a long way to get medical care here; one boy that was operated on was from Luanda, the capital city in Northern Angola.
I’ve begun reading through Matthew and in Mt. 5 the first beatitude says: Blessed are those who know of their need for God. Since leaving Saskatchewan I have definitely come to know more of my need for God. His faithfulness is evident though through His work in my life. All of my luggage arrived in Angola with me- I was shocked and thankful- 4 flights and 3 airlines and it still got here! I didn’t have too much trouble with airport security in any location and I had no trouble recognizing Becky in Lubango. Thank-you for all of your prayers! God bless.

Flying out Tomorrow

This weekend has been exciting. My life is just one adventure after another! Yesterday I went with my friend from Trois-Pistoles, Quebec, to a quilt show, "Winter Wheat" and to Villa Cornelia, all in the city of London, ON. The quilt show was very beautiful, I do have some pictures, there were many different kinds of quilts. My favorite quilts were of more classic patterns with material that was reprinted from the civil war and the 1920's. Another quilt that was very interesting was made of men's striped shirts! Winter Wheat is a rustic craft shop about 40 minutes outside of London, definitely an escape from city life! Villa Cornelia is an old Victorian house converted into a restaurant.
Today I was able to go to Cynthia's church, an Anglican church close by, and to Sarah's (friend from PRBI) church. It was great to meet many new people and see a bit more of London. What a blessing it is to be able to share with other people what God is doing and to have other people partner with me in prayer! I was able to go to Sarah's soccer game, and here I walked around a park and found a snake, which I fled from. I do not like snakes!!!! We went out for ice cream at "Marble Slab", it was very good. I probably won't be having many of those for a while! We also attended a Bible study with people from Sarah's church and had a campfire and went through the last part of Phil 4:10-end. Such a reminder that being content is a learned emotional state that requires time and energy to develop. The Christian Life is definitely a process.
I watched the BBC news with Cynthia and was saddened to hear of the tornados in Kansas and the riots in France. Please pray for Ariane, my roommate for orientation, as she is flying tonight through Paris on her way to Africa.

I'm almost oriented!

Well I suppose I should be oriented because orientation is almost over. This week has been a huge blessing. There are 7 other girls here who are all heading out on short-term missions trips to the ends of the earth. Tonight we had a prayer meeting with retired missionaries, current missionaries, and short-term missionaries. It was great to be able to share with these missionaries, to be prayed for and to hear some of their stories. Some of these people in the SIM office remember my mom as Dorothy Dyck, from ages ago!
I have good news. One of the girls from orientation, Danielle, will be flying with me from Toronto on Monday until London. We will have a lay over together in London, England. It's wonderful that God has provided somebody to travel with for the first part of my journey.
Today we were able to go to a mosque in Toronto. We were able to hear about Islam and observe their prayer time. It was very hard to see how lost these people are. Please pray for these muslim people, as God loves them very much! Yesterday we went out for Ethiopian food- it was great! The main food in Ethiopia is Injera, which is bread/pancake type of food that is used as a spoon to scoop up different kinds of stew type dishes. It was very good; I would definitely recommend it to anyone!
Through this week we have had lots of time to pray together as a group and share our burdens and joys with one another. Please continue to pray for me: that I would be flexible and that I would remember as much Portugeuse as I can! Love you all!

I'm Ready

The Lord is so good to me! Today at my home church in Glenbush Sk, the Hoffnungsfelder Mennonite Church, they had a commissioning service for Paul, who's going to North Africa, and me. It is such a blessing to have the support of my church family and my family family. (My mom is hemming my scrubs as I write.)
My bags are packed and I'm ready to go. My family has been so helpful; I'm sure I haven't forgotten anything. I've decided to take 2 bags instead of one. I have a big backpack and a suitcase. I may end up using the large back pack as an extra carry on once I get to South Africa, as they only allow one checked bag, as far as I understand. It'll be an adventure and I'll let you know how everything works out.

The end! or perhaps the beginning...

I have finished my last final. It feels good to be done. this year has been great, as I have learned lots and made lots of new friends. School was rather enjoyable most of the time, except when I was madly studying!
Now, I must move on and transition rather quickly into preparing for Angola. I leave on Monday, April 30. Only 3 more sleeps! Right now I'm at my parents farm, I'll be here until I leave on Monday.
On Wednesday I finished packing my suitcase or so I thought. I was rather shocked when I put in everything I had wanted to pack (and more) and my suitcase closed with very little difficulty. I did not realize there was a problem until I lifted it up. It was rather heavy but I thought all of my time spent studying has meant that my muscles have wasted away to nothing. I packed it in my car and drove home. My brother, Stephen, helped carry my suitcase to the house. He stated that it weighed 75 lbs (purely estimation). Upon calculating its weight I have discovered it weighs 75 lbs. I think I can bring 44 lbs. I have a little work to do in the next few days!
Thank-you to all of you who are praying for me, I have been so blessed and encouraged by your support! God bless!

Nearing the End!

Hello folks!
I have now written 5 exams and I only have one more left. Biology 110 on Friday at 9:00 am that means I will be done my first year of University as of Friday 12:00 noon! This year has gone by so fast I'm shocked.
You may know the song "Johnny Appleseed" well today is a great day for me to sing that particular song especially the beginning. It goes like this, " Oh, the Lord is good to me and so I thank the Lord, for giving me the things I need..." You see I now I have someone to sublet my apartment for the whole summer and my English exam is over (which I was not looking forward to but it went well). I have almost everything I need in my suitcase and their appears to be a little room left! I am amazed. Tomorrow Cassidy, my roommate, and I will clean the apartment and prepare to move out. My tickets are booked I leave for Toronto monday, April 30.

It's been a long time since I've informed the world that I'm still alive! Not only am I alive I am doing well. I have finished 3 exams and I only have 3 more left to go! Next Friday I will be done my first year of Univeristy.
This last monday April 16, I wrote the MCAT, which is the Medical College of Admissions Test. Thank-you very much to all of you who prayed for me. If I pass this test I can apply to go to medical school. The test was a grueling 4 hours and 20 minutes with 3 ten minute breaks. It covers general physics, general chemistry, biology, organic chemistry, 2 essay questions and verbal reasoning. I felt the test was pretty difficult but I will find out in 27 days if I passed or failed.
Plans for Angola are coming together. I am half way packed, I have all of my immunizations that I need and I have my plane tickets but no visa. Lord willing everything will continue to come together.
I've been reminded constantly that God's hand is at work in my life. Everywhere I go people offer to pray for me and support me in going to Angola. The first travel nurse I went to was a Christian and offered to pray and to get her kids to pray for me, yesterday I went out for breakfast with my mom and we met one of my friends who I worked with at Redberry Bible Camp and she also offered to pray for me. Why did we go to that restaurant or how did I get that travel nurse? It's definitely God's work, may He be praised!