Details!

So I've realized that most people don't know when we're actually leaving for India... 

Here is the plan:
May 23rd:
Leave from Boise in Heide's car, full of her stuff

Stay the night in Salt Lake with Heide's family.

May 24th:
Leave from Salt Lake to Sidney, NE.

Sleep in a motel... (I have been convinced to value safety over price) 

May 25th:
Leave from Sidney to Iowa City, IA.

Crash with friends...

May 26th:
Leave from Des Moines to YPSILANTI, MICHIGAN.

Sleep comfortably at the St. John's Rectory.

May 27th - 29th:
Heide begins moving her stuff from her car to store at the Rectory until she comes back.
Elaina and Heide ask a lot of questions in last minute prep for India. Potentially, have some fun wandering around Ann Arbor! 

May 30th:
~1pm: Elaina leaves from Detroit to Chicago to Newark to Mumbai
~5pm: Heide leaves from Detroit to Newark to Mumbai
 YES, we will be on the same flight from Newark to Mumbai

May 31st:
Arrive in Mumbai. Sleep in the airport (if jet lag doesn't keep us up all night).

June 1st: 
Leave from Mumbai to Kolkata.
Take a prepaid taxi from the airport to Seva Kendra.
Spend a few days adjusting before we can go to the volunteer orientation on Monday!!!

....And a little bit extra.

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First of all, it took a lot for me to not write the title of this post in ALL CAPS. BECAUSE THAT IS HOW I FEEL!!!!

I want to go outside in the rain and tell every single person that my Father takes care of me so that I can take care of others. My Father rocks.

Let me tell you what just happened this morning, all in the span of half an hour.

8:30am: I check my email and see that one of Elaina's family members donated $50 to us! I text her excitedly about it, knowing that her grin is as big as mine.

8:48am: I get a phone call from an unknown (208) number. It's Diana from St. Mark's on Northview. I instantly perk up because, at the end of February, I had submitted a proposal for the St. Mark's Charity Fund (or something like that), which is a way for St. Mark's to help out community causes through a verification process. For such a big parish, that makes a lot of sense, since they get several requests for funds a week. While Elaina and I both call St. Mark's home, we weren't really sure if our proposal would be accepted because we're a non-affiliated trip. In other words, we could technically take the money and run and no one could do anything about it. We are admittedly a risk.

BUT Diana's phone call gave me some hope. She asked if we still needed $475, and I told her we just needed $425 since we had that $50 donation this morning. Then she said.... "We have it covered."

WHATTT???!?!??!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Actually, what I really said was "WOW" in kind of a whispered, shocked voice.

On St. Mark's home page... I'm in red... thought I'd share :)

Apparently, our reputations preceded us and the honesty of our blog was what made the parish council, who could have denied our request, comfortable enough to give us the funds. In my excitement, I'm glad I was still able to tell Diana (and you, dear reader) that EVERY PENNY is accounted for and I have all the receipts to prove it, as well as a mighty fine Excel Spreadsheet detailing where we've gotten our funding and where it has gone :)

After I got off the phone with Diana, I texted Elaina (who was in class), and told her the news. She responded with, "What!?!?!?" and so I told her more details. She responded with, "What!?! Lol" ... That made me laugh.

She and I... humbled. Surprised. Thankful. Humbled again.

We realize that we don't deserve this charity, this love, from our community, but TRULY it has been a community effort to send us to India.

Before I sign off on this appropriately-long post, there are a few other points that I want to mention:

First are my dear friends Natalie and Amy. Natalie, quite some time ago, said she would love to help us fundraise using one of her AMAZING talents: baking. This past weekend, Natalie came through. She baked wonderful cupcakes and cookies to sell, and, with the cooperation of Bob Barros-Bailey and Chuck Skoro, I was able to sell this creations at Theology on Tap and St. Paul's Student Center. That little bake sale has been a HUGE success - over $80 have been raised. !!!

HAT!!!!!

Also, my friend Amy knits beautiful hats. She actually gave me a deep purple one for Christmas, which I've worn in several blog photos (and I'll post another one). She donated 3 hats in blue, black, and brown to our trip. I don't really know how to sell hats, so I've been waiting for God to use this donation in whatever way He decides. If you would like a hat in exchange for a donation, please let me know. You can't have my purple one, though. I love it too much. :D

Lastly, THANK YOU. Wait...

THANK YOU!
Your support in reading and sharing this blog, donating here and there, have been crucial to our success. And it's not even our success really - it's my Father working for our good. If you'll notice, we're even a few extra dollars over our needed amount. To me, that just reconfirms how my Father loves - He gives us what we need... and a little bit extra.

Thank You, Jesus, for guiding this process. I know our work will be heart-breaking and perhaps I might even get mad that you sent us, but if you didn't know what you were doing, you wouldn't be God, I suppose :) I love you, Lord. Thank you for loving me first.  

A...l...m...o...s...t...

Sooooooooooo close! We are soooooooooooooo incredibly CLOSE!

Eli and I have been fundraising since the end of February, and, as you can see if you scroll down and look at our "fundraising thermometer", God has affirmed our mission by blessing us with the funds to go. So far, we have our tickets, our visas, our most essential supplies, and now we're just trying to raise that last little bit for the small costs (like travel food and India-appropriate clothing) and emergencies.....

A "salwar kameez"... super cheap, super modest, super fly.

So many of you have donated your money, remembered us in your prayers and given us encouragement... please keep praying!!

If you've read our last few posts, you know that we're both, shall we say, uneasy about what we're doing because we don't actually know what to expect. We're also, however, INSANELY CONFIDENT that God wants us in India. So we know He'll provide financially. We also know we should be prudent and safe, hence the importance of our emergency money. We'll be donating any extra money directly to the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata.

Our mission, while grounded in our faith, is truly a universal one - we're going to work for the oft-considered "dregs" of humanity, giving them dignity and using the gifts we've been given as 2 young American women to love others.

I know I use archaic language sometimes, but, at the risk of sounding totally cheesy, we truly YEARN to love in the deepest, most sacrificial, most humble ways possible... We hope to do that in India, where we want to be challenged to the core of who we are.

We don't want to come back the same.

... but we do want to come back, which is why our emergency money is so important...  

Perhaps this is asking a lot, but would you maybe consider posting our blog as a Facebook status one day? Or sharing it with co-workers, family, and friends?

Thank you for sharing in our mission. Pax.

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Terrified? Yes. Determind? Absolutely.

Today I received a text from Heide that instilled a unique combination of excitement and terror in my soul. “I GOT MY VISA!!” Upon reading this text, I called my mother and sure enough, my approved visa was waiting for me at my parent’s house.  It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that I am terrified of going to India.  (It’s usually the first thing out of my mouth when someone asks me about our upcoming trip.)  But this time was different.  Getting our visas approved was (hopefully) the very last big obstacle Heide and I needed to overcome to ensure this mission was going to happen.  I started thinking to myself….we have our plane tickets, we now have our approved visas, we have some of our supplies, and we are almost done fundraising.  This was the first time it hit me.  I’M ACTUALLY GOING TO SPEND TEN VERY DIFFICULT AND VERY LIFE CHANGING WEEKS IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY, DOING GOD’S WILL. 

What kind of crazy people would do such a thing?

Oh that’s right….

Heidemarie and I.

When I got home, I lay down on my bed and tried to compose my racing thoughts and calm my nerves.  I looked over at my nightstand and saw the book about India that Heide had given me three days before.  I hadn’t looked through it yet (I’m not sure if I was too nervous or too busy) so I cracked it open to take a peek.  Let’s just say what I read didn’t do much to calm my nerves.

“ Around 25% of travelers to India will develop a respiratory infection that starts as a virus and is exacerbated by environmental conditions such as pollution….

“ Many female travelers experience sexual harassment in India – predominantly lewd comments and an invasion of privacy…..”

“ India has a number of armed groups fighting for increased political representation….”

As you can probably guess…I started to panic a little bit as I was reading this.  Then I remembered something…..GOD LOVES ME.  I was instantly calmed and filled with a strong sense of peace as I realized God wouldn’t be asking this of Heidemarie and I if He weren’t sure we could handle it.  We are answering His call to serve and if it were easy…it wouldn’t be a sacrifice.  I am 100% correct in thinking that this summer is going to be difficult.  I am about to be tested like I have never been tested before.  This experience is going to be life changing.   But I have no reason to be afraid.  He is watching over us and this is part of His plan. 

Isaiah 41:10 
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Please keep us in your prayers, we are praying for you :)

PEACE,

Eli and Heide.

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Admittedly apprehensive....

I just got a text from my dear friend Natalie asking if I'm excited for India. And it made my heart seize. Yes, I'm excited..... if by that I'm allowed to admit that I really mean terrified. India is not Boise or anything close. I mean, they both have people and they both have Jesus. 2 things. 2 things in common.

Okay, so that's a bit of an exaggeration. But still. Going to India feels like I'm about to go deep sea diving - I don't know what kinds of wonders and terrors are hidden in the Unknown, but I know they're both there.

How did I get here?? HONESTLY. I NEVER wanted to be a missionary or anything like that. In fact, I asked God many many times during my childhood to never send me anywhere, please and thank you. I prefer the comfort of my bed, my community, my world.

... "Words are failing. My melodies falter. My voice is breaking. My heart is burning. Cause blessing and honor, glory and power, praise and worship... They belong to YOU."

Thank you, Ms. Audrey Assad for singing what I need to hear in your "New Song." Everyone in the St. Paul's Student Center just looked at me oddly as I turned up my earphones to the SUPER EXTRA DEAFENING level on that song. I told them I'm allowed to listen to my music loudly. :)

I feel better. I'm processing my fear, because I know that God does not give the spirit of fear (2 Tim. 1:7)... but of POWER, and LOVE, and SELF-CONTROL. YEAH!!

Okay. India is happening. And I get to swallow my fear, trust in the Lord, and relax, knowing that He is directing my path. (Prov. 3:5 - 6)

Pray for me. Pray for Eli (Elaina). And pray for the people we'll be serving. Pax.

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