The bake sale at my mom's church went wonderfully! On top of the donation from the consistory, I made $1006.00. Praise the Lord!!
We had planned to book our plane tickets that afternoon, but came upon some complications when we realized that the donated miles for my ticket were not frequent flier miles, but miles off of a credit card, so it wasn't enough to really cover the ticket. We decided to not book anything and just wait it out to see if the prices would go back down, but they didn't.
Finally, yesterday, Jeff (the President of OAFA) and I were searching and came across the idea of booking the ticket for just 6 months (it gets more expensive after that amount of time) and then changing the return date when the 6 month mark gets closer.
This allowed us to find a ticket in the allotted amount of miles. SO WE BOOKED IT!!
We did move the departure date up, so Dana and I will actually be leaving the 16th of April instead of the 23rd.
I couldn't be more excited, although I will say that after it was officially booked, I just sat on my bed and cried for about a half hour realizing how REAL this is.
I received my passport a couple weeks ago, got 3/4 immunizations on Friday (my other is tomorrow) and just need to get my visa and try to save a little bit more money for other expenses.
The other week, I was on Skype and was able to talk to/see Breana, Peter and was introduced to ALL of the kids. It was the most amazing thing I've ever done before. Having them see me and wave to me and talk in their foreign language.
My friend Christa was there with me and was able to share in that experience. They sang and then did the Lord's Prayer in both English and their language. It made me SO PUMPED to get down there and just hug them and pray with them! I could almost feel their joy radiating off of them and felt it through our web chat.
Breana has been a HUGE blessing to me, and I would not be half as calm as I am without her guiding me and giving me peace when it comes to everything I have to do.
Last night, Christa sat down with me and we talked about our lives; how they have been in the past, what they should be like the future, and what we should be doing now to prepare for them.
Besides school, I am going to be keeping a lot to myself and just staying at home, preparing my heart and mind to go.
I have been SO stressed out lately with trying to get things done, that I haven't had time to do things like clean my room or get boxes to start packing.
I got home from work today and there were a bunch of boxes and I walked in my room and it was the cleanest I've EVER seen it, and in the corner, were some blankets hanging, bright colored pillows on the floor, little lights strung across, books on Faith, prayer and India, and a little bowl of chocolate. While I was gone today, Christa had gone, and gotten me boxes, cleaned my entire room and created a Prayer Corner for me to spend time in during this last month.
What an AMAZING friend. I must say that God has clearly blessed me with the people He has placed in my life. I could not ask for anything/anyone better, and walking into a clean room with a spot to spend one-on-one time was the best thing that could have happened to me.
I will have to post pictures of it because it's so amazing.
I think over this next month, although I will be anxious and scared, as long as I can keep my focus, God is going to be doing some great work in me and will be preparing me a lot for this journey.
It is so hard for me to think about leaving everything/everyone behind, but I know God has got me and is going to be walking with me the entire time, no matter how hard or bumpy the road is.
As far as communication, I think I may have written about this before, but just in case, I will have access to wi-fi in the orphanage (although the electricity and internet go out ALL the time), so feel free to email me, or else look me up on Skype so we can talk voice-to-voice and face-to-face for free! You can also chat on there as well.
It's an awesome program and FREE. You don't need to have a webcam if you just want to talk.
I was able to talk to my friend in China for 2 hours the other day over it and he brought his computer to the window so I could see his view of China! Seriously, it is an awesome thing for anyone who knows someone far away.
Anyway. Enough of that.
I do ask that you pray hard for me during the next month.
My last day of work is April 3, but because I'm leaving early, it means I have a lot of cramming for school to do. This includes large papers, presentations, and my final exam will be taking 11 days earlier than everyone is taking it.
OH ONE MORE THING:
On March 24, Open Arms For Asia is teaming up with Celebration Cinemas on Knapp's corner, and will be doing a special showing of the Oscar Award winning movie, Slumdog Millionaire at 7pm. Tickets are $15 and include the ticket, popcorn and pop and all proceeds will be going towards OAFA.
I was asked to speak at it. I'm not sure about what, or if I'm just going to be introduced or there for questions, but if you would like to come out and support the organization, let me know and I can hook you up with tickets. It should be an incredible night!
I suppose I've written enough for now. I do have a large presentation for school due tomorrow that I should work on. :)
Thank you to everyone for your continued prayers, encouragement and support in every way.
I am including a copy of my itinerary to India just for those who are interested.
Pleace contact me with any thoughts or questions.
Love and Blessings to you!
-Jenna
My Itinerary:
Your Itinerary
Flight
| Depart: Arrive: | 4:00PM 7:25AM | Chicago OHare(ORD) Frankfurt Intl(FRA) | Thu 04/16/09 Fri 04/17/09 Duration8hr25min | Air India126 Nonstop | |||
| Coach(G) | Aircraft: 77W | ||||||
Flight
| Depart: Arrive: | 9:25AM 9:05PM | Frankfurt Intl(FRA) Delhi Gandhi(DEL) | Fri 04/17/09 Fri 04/17/09 Duration8hr10min | Air India126 Nonstop | |||
| Coach(G) | Aircraft: 77W | ||||||
Flight
| Depart: Arrive: | 12:05AM 2:05AM | Delhi Gandhi(DEL) Hyderabad Begumpet(HYD) | Sat 04/18/09 Sat 04/18/09 Duration2hr0min | Air India126 Nonstop | |||
| Coach(B) | Aircraft: 320 | ||||||
| | |||||||
Depart:
14:30
Arrive:
15:25
Saturday, 18 April 09
Hyderabad , IN (HYD)
Saturday, 18 April 09
Vijayawada , IN (VGA)
KINGFISHER AIRLINES
Non-Stop / IT 2831
Cabin: Kingfisher Class/Kingfisher Red / ATR 42/ ATR 72
