Adventures in Arequipa: Cha-Cha-Changes

I looked at a calendar today and there are 3 full weeks until we all meet up in LA for our orientation - CRAZY! It's hard to imagine that it is truly happening. To the left is my, "This is crazy, I can't believe this is happening!" face.

To the right is my workspace, I'm not a cube monkey because it's a "constellation station". The average amount of time an enrollment counselor stays in Admissions is 18 months and I've been here for over 5 years. I'll miss the community here at ENC, the great friends I have here, the benefits of a world class location and being part of academia, but I am so excited to venture out and trust God to be my everything.

Tomorrow, I'll have the opportunity to speak at Bethel Church of the Nazarene, the church I attend. While many know about what lies ahead, I haven't had the opportunity to publicly share with them because of work travels and the holidays, in addition to sending Dave & Betsy Scott off to Montpellier, France in December.

It was their visit to Bethel, the church Dave grew up in, that sent me straight home to fill out the Mission Corps application. It's funny how my interest in the French language got me to ENC, how my time at ENC inspired a desire to be involved in urban ministry, how my failed attempt to go to France out of college lead me back to ENC which kept me involved in urban churches and fueled my desire to serve in a context like the one I'm heading into. Admissions doesn't seem like a natural seque into urban ministry and my other interest, being missions, never really died either. When Betsy and Dave came through Bethel to speak about their journey with God to France for 2 years - I thought, "this is my chance, God," but over a period of weeks I felt like I was trying to catch a free ride on someone elses "calling". As I prayed about what God had for me and learned about Extreme Peru, I felt like all of the intricate details of the years I've been at ENC were coming together to meet face-to-face with an awesome opportunity to serve the way I feel I was designed to. Interesing how things work out.

I feel very blessed to share with the folks at Bethel tomorrow and look forward to a sending off of my own from a church community that has impacted me with its committment to holistic stewardship locally and globally. With 3 weeks left, I am hoping to raise the last third of my funds and wrap up the details tied to getting rid of my car, as well as, the million other little things, such as: packing, selling or giving away possessions, paying off bills, traveling to NYC for work this weekend, visiting with family and hosting friends whom are in town, saying farewell to many wonderful people, and attempting to get a little sleep. Speaking of sleep, it's now less than an hour until tomorrow, so good night! Please keep me, all of Extreme Nazarene Ministries' staff, and the Peruvians we'll minster to in your prayers.