From Dar

(This is J.R. posting an email that was sent to her blog. Please don't feel bad if Elizabeth doesn't get a chance to respond to your comments.)

I love you very much!

I'm here safe in Dar. I'm actually at a weird Catholic Convent thingy right now, but they're being nice and letting us use the Internet. It has been a really rough trip for me, but it has been fun. We are traveling with all 8 of the Americans, and they are all so nice! We get along great, so that is good.

I haven't been able to really sleep at all on the planes, so I think I've slept 4 hours in the last 80. I'm beyond exhaustion. They also lost our luggage in Nairobi, so I don't have it yet. They hope to find it all tonight, and deliver it to us. We are staying at a really nice guest house right now that has electricity and fans and running water.

During our 10 hour layover in London, we did a lot of fun sight seeing. I rode a double decker bus, saw Big Ben, and went to the national gallery and saw some DaVinci, Picasso, Monet, and Van Gogh. It was fun. The weather here is hot, but not very humid. It is better than Texas weather for sure. Even though I'm delirious from exhaustion, and I don't have my luggage, I'm still staying positive. I really like it here, and I have a good feeling about all of this! The Tanzanians are so nice to us, and the group I'm with is so loyal and wonderful to each other. I am having a great time. Tonight we had fish for dinner and the head was still attached. The Tanzanian girl next to me ate the whole head. Gross.

I love you guys all so much! I'm not sure when I'll be able to get online next (maybe in a few months) but I want you to know that I am happy and safe. I can't wait to see my students and get settled in my hut! Pray for me!

Love,
Liz

I'm gone.

By the time you read this, I'll be on a plane somewhere. Or even in Africa, who knows? I don't quite know what to say right now actually. I'm a mixture of so many emotions. I am ready. I know that I have been called to go out, and I'm off! I have about a 12 hour layover in Chicago, then about a 10 hour layover in London, then a flight to Kenya, then a flight to Dar es Salaam, and then an 18 hour bus ride to our village. Rock on.

I am so excited to go out. Pray for me, that I will be bold with the gospel, and that I will teach my little heart out to these kids! Pray that the language will not be a barrier, and pray for my health too! I think that I might be able to email one or two times when I get there. I wish I could contact you all, but I can't, therefore... Do us all a favor: If I contact you, leave a comment on this blog so that everyone knows whats up with me. That would be encouraging to others, and it would be like a fun update chain for all! Hooray!

I've been wanting to go on a trip like this since about junior high. So this is it. This is my dream.

Psalm 37:4 says: "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart."

I love Him, and going out and teaching these kids is the desire of my heart. I'm filled with joy.

Love you guys,
Liz

It's not about me.

Please listen to my new song. It was on the radio the other day, and I just started weeping in the car. Sure, The Newsboys are a little cheesey, but you get the picture. Maybe.

The thing that I love the most about missions is seeing a little piece of how big God really is. Even on my mission trips to Mexico, it was just so cool to see the people there worshipping the same God as me. I don't think that really makes sense unless you experience this. There are so many things that I can comprehend in theory, but to actually experience is completely different. The universal TRUTH of God is incredible, and to see Him all around the world is huge. I wish everyone could experience it. I can't wait to go to Africa now. I'm getting antsy. 

I'm back in Houston now. I wish I would have been able to see everyone and say goodbye. I'm really sad that I didn't get to see my DIGS girls, but I still love them! 

Moving all my stuff and packing was pretty much death, but J.R. helped. We tried to make it fun.  I actually created an intense Project Runway-ish competition in which we both designed a bubble wrap costume for each other. 

Our only materials: 19 feet of bubble wrap, and one piece of tape.

My bubble prom dress.

His bubble toga. 

It was a fierce competition.  Ok, well I am beyond exhausted, so I will blog more later. Bye!

My Utmost for His Highest

Is a good book. I highly recommend it.  The people at Village Schools asked us to buy a copy for the trip. The original version was made in 1935, so the lingo is a little...old school. I had the choice of getting an updated edition of language, but I passed. There is just something about the old language, words like, "vither". (You've Got Mail reference anyone?) Anyways...

It reminds me of when I was in AP English in high school, and you had to analyze passages and write about them.  Except these actually have a point to them (which is nice). Yesterday's had an awesome quote: 

"Are you more devoted to your idea of what Jesus wants than to Himself?" 

How challenging. I guess it's the ol' faith vs. works discussion. Also, it describes Luke 18, and the story of the rich ruler, where Jesus says, 

" 'One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.' But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich." Luke 18:22-23

What a perfect example of throwing away all that entangles us to run the race; for the prize that is Jesus. There are so many things that we are "rich" in, that we are still holding onto, and that hinder us from abiding in Christ. Things in our lives that we are unwilling to "sell", even if asked to. I feel that right now I'm willing to give away my worldly possessions, but I know that I have some selfish things in my heart that I am rich in- and unwilling to sell for the Lord.  I need to be more focused on the spiritual aspects of my trip, rather than logistics.  I'm working on it! 

See ya later!

Logistic Stuff

Hey! Things are getting better with me logistically!

1. I have everything done medically! I got my final round of shots. As you know, I've been bff with my pharmacist Sassan. He is a quite serious older Indian man, but I try to joke around with him all the time. Yesterday he joked back with me, and even coined the phrase "Righty typhy, lefty heppy" to remember which shot goes in which arm. (Typhoid vs. Hepatitis) I died laughing. So far I have gotten:
-3 rounds of Hepatitus A&B vaccines
-1 yellow fever vaccine
-1 typhoid vaccine
-150 daily malarial pills
-3 rounds of antibiotics for stomach parasites

Want to see how gigantic my malaria medicine bottle is?(Hulk bottle vs. regular prescription bottle)

2. I think I got my final shopping done. It was really fun to go to REI and get some essential stuff, and every purchase was justifiable! These are some things I've gotten for my trip:

-thermal leggings to wear under my long skirts (It is about 40 degrees at night inside the huts and in the mornings on the way to school)

-a warm-ish jacket (layers are the way to go, since it will vary between 40-100+ degrees)
-a battery powered alarm clock that also tells the temperature!
-a crank flashlight, and a little lantern for my hut
-travel bottles that are 30z for my carry on (we will be living out of our carry on bags for about 4 days while we travel to our training place)

-a water bottle purifier and a replacement filter (that allegedly gets out 99% of parasites!)
-super deet bug repellent
-really warm socks for night

-chacos for climbing hills/bathing in rivers/running from cheetahs:-a really good heavy duty travel bag/purse to carry my stuff
-a big fat journal
-an extra 2G memory card for my camera to hold all my pictures
I think that's all. It's a lot, but they will all really help me while I'm over there.

3. I am getting everything done and closed off here financially. My sister is going to take care of my my money stuff while I'm gone. Most of my stuff will be auto-drafted from my account, but she'll be there just in case. Thursday I'm moving the rest of my stuff into storage at J.R.'s. There are a lot of little loose ends that need to be taken care of, like registering with the US embassy and getting health insurance while I'm gone. I think everything will be good though.

4. The hardest thing is saying goodbye to everyone! I'm meeting a lot of people and having a lot of dinners/goodbye stuff. I got to go back to my old school today, and that was good/weird. I missed them though! I think that I'm going to sub there when I get back in January. We'll see. I don't even have time to really think about that yet.

I got a really awesome book yesterday and I want to talk about it! This post is way too long, so I promise to talk about it next post!

Bye!

Back from Pine Cove!

I had an incredible week at Pine Cove! I had the best campers, and Wild Woods was quite the experience. I loved it. Here are some pics.All of the Pink Ponies with Cassie and Keith. Love them.

During CQ time with a camper (please excuse my perm.)

Riding horses in flattering helmets.

It was the best week ever! Really! I'll tell you more about it later!

How to help-specifically.

Hey!

(If you don't want to see a money-related post, skip to the next one.)

A few people have been asking me details about how to donate online, and how they actually know it goes to me. Fear not friends! I will show you the way. I think it might be easier to donate online, but you can mail in a check too.

-Go to http://www.crossworld.org
-Click on the 3rd tab "Give"
-On the "Give to Support the Work" paragraph, there is a link that says "To give to a specific missionary's work, click here. Click on the link "here".
-This leads you to step 1, your info (address stuff)
-Then there is step 2, more info about the donation (no biggie) under "Gift Information" check "missionary/project/other" so that you can give it to a missionary. Hey, that's me!

STEP 3 IS THE WINNER!
This is where you write my name, so that you know it goes to me, and not some other strange, but still needy missionary. I'm Elizabeth Williams, and if you want to write my account number there just to be sure, its #033652.
Rock on!


If you decide to write a check, you can send it to:

CrossWorld
306 Bala Avenue
Bala-Cynwyd, PA 19004

make sure you indicate Elizabeth Williams #033652 on the info line of the check.

Ok, sorry, I don't want all my blogs to involve money. This really isn't about the money, but I also need to live once I'm over there! :) They bought my plane ticket, but I need support to eat and live over there as well!

Also, thank you soooo much to all of you dear friends that have already donated to my trip. You really are impacting so many lives, as well as mine! Thanks for your support!

I'm baaaaaack.

Sorry friends, I haven't been a very faithful blogger.

Ok, so here are some not-so magical updates:

1. Rosetta Stone is awesome... but Swahili is hard! Seriously. There are too many consonants together in a row, and it is not instinctive for English speakers to say. For example, "mw" is a very typical blend. The word dog is "mbwa" and man is "mwananume" (wa-muh-new-may). Practice makes perfect. Rosetta Stone has this microphone thingy that you speak into, and they grade your speech. After a few minutes of red sad faces, I totally rocked the green smiley face!
Ok I'm done being a spokesperson for Rosetta stone. Except for this: Mwanamume na mwanamke katika gari. (The man and woman ride in the car!) Yesssss.

2. I have been looking at GoodWill for skirts, and I found this one that would be very heinous in the United States, but is AMAZING for Africa. I was with my friend Julie (whose parents were missionaries in Kenya for a while) when we spotted it. Picture this:
Imagine the traditional colorful intricate African patterns, but rather than bold colors, see pastels. And small jingle bells on the drawstring. It is so incredibly awesome/ugly. I also found another skirt, but it's nothing to write about.

3. I'm pretty much BFF with the pharmacist at Tom Thumb now, since we have talked possibly a dozen times about my medication and shots and stuff. I came back this week for shot #2. I don't think they train you in how to give shots in pharmacy school because ow. I got my malaria medicine, and I think it is in the biggest prescription bottle in America. Literally, it is 8 inches tall. There are 150 horse pills inside. In a week and a half, I finally get my 3rd round of Hep A&B shots.

4. I watched the opening day ceremony of the Olympics with my friend Sarah, and she made olympian-esque food: American fried pickles, Chinese chow mein, and French brownies ala mode. And Sangria. The Chinese really had the coolest ceremony ever! We watched the entire thing, including the entrance of all 200-something countries. The Americans looked way classy in their Ralph Lauren, but I was much more excited about Tanzania!!! I cheered and yelled "Jambo!" at the TV. Hopefully they heard me.


5. I also went shopping for flashlights today. When the sun goes down, it will be very dark in my hut, but I also had to think about power/batteries. I got a crank flashlight that is super cool. You crank for 1 minute, and it gives 30 minutes of light; no batteries needed! I also got a lantern thingy for my hut at night to read and stuff. I'll need to bring some extra batteries for that.

Next on my shopping list: A water purifier water bottle!

I leave in three weeks.

Week 1: Spent at camp (Aug 10-16)
Week 2: Moving and tying up loose ends in Dallas. (Aug 16-24)
Week 3. Spending time with family in Houston. (Aug 25-29)

Miss you already!

To Do List

In 28 Days, I need to:

1. Learn Swahili.
2. Receive $3,160.
3. Move my whole apartment into storage.
4. Find overseas health insurance for while I'm gone.
5. Get everything I need and magically pack it into 1 fifty pound suitcase.
6. Figure out what my job is/where I'll live in January.
7. Work week 11 at Crier Creek.

Awesome.

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
2 Cor 12:9

Jambo!

Yessssssssssssssssssss.
Guess who just got Rosetta Stone: Swahili style?

It's me, and don't even be jealous.

My friend Magan went on this trip last year, and she really recommended knowing some of the language before I got there. So I have 28 days to jam pack my brain with as much Swahili as possible. It's weird, because sometimes (for fun) I try to translate stuff that I'm thinking into Spanish. Hopefully in Tanzania I won't by default, talk to them in half-Spanish, half broken-Swahili jibberish. People say that Swahili is relatively easy to learn. From what I've seen, the language uses the same alphabet characters and letter-sound correlation. So if I see a word, I should be able to pronounce it correctly by reading it. Phew. Back in the day, I thought Swahili was the African language with the click noises, but it's not. Bummer.

So far I only know 3 things in Swahili:
1. Jambo=Hello
2. Ndiyo=Yes
3. Rafiki=Friend (Yes, like Rafiki the monkey in Lion King!!!)

Anyways, I will be sure to update you on any new and exciting happenings.

p.s. Isn't the new layout so cute???