In 24 hours, I'll be leaving this island and flying to another. It's so strange how it has come up so quickly, yet at the same time, I feel like I've been here forever. I'm really ready to go and I'm so excited for what God is going to do through us! This is going to be a life changing experience. I just know it.
Our team had breakfast with the school leaders on Saturday. They were in Haiti in February and were telling us all about it. They said if we can get through this, we'll probably be able to go to any country in the world. They said Haiti was one of the hardest places they've ever been, but so rewarding as well. This makes me so excited! I'm ready to be rocked and changed. I don't think I'll ever be the same after this. It's going to change me dramatically. It's going to change all of us.
Our team still has some pretty significant needs. Our team leader, Cyrielle, still needs around $900. We also are still in need of a video camera for the movie. Please be praying for these needs. We have faith that God will provide all our needs. He has called us to this country for a specific purpose and He promises that He will take care of us. The India team is also in need of lots of prayer. Quite a few of them still don't have visas and they leave on Thursday. Please pray for everything to move quickly and easily and for peace among their team.
I don't know if I've told you about the track yet, but I'm almost positive it's what God wants me to do. I filled out the application form for it yesterday, so I'm pretty sure. God has been placing it on my heart for a while and I think it sounds crazy and fun. I'll be taking a big risk. It's a lot of money that I don't have, but I believe if it's what God is calling me to, He will provide a way. It's basically a program through PhotogenX where you travel around the world for a year and a half studying cultures and people and injustices and taking pictures of it all. After traveling, you come back to Kona and make a publication about what you've seen, then travel with it, telling people about what you've seen.
Here's sort of what my life would look like starting in January:
January 2011: Photographic Communication Course somewhere in central or south america. This part focuses on documentary photography and photojournalism.
April 2011: Outreach in South Africa.
Mid-May 2011: Biblical Core Course in the Middle East. I will be studying the bible where it was written
September 2011: Humanities and Science in Northern Europe and Asia. This will give me an opportunity to engage in cultures all over the world.
Mid-November 2011: Outreach in South East Asia.
January 2012: Publication production in Kona.
April 2012: Publication distribution wherever God leads.
June 2012: ???????
December 2012: THE WORLD ENDS!!!!
Pretty good way to spend the rest of my life, huh? :)

  I just realized I haven't updated everyone in a while. It's really just because I don't feel like anything has been going on that's worthy of writing of. Right now, I'm just doing all the tedious little things like organizing my hard drive and shopping for outreach and doing all that random stuff.
I went to Costco tonight. It was glorious! It reminded me so much of home and made me miss everyone. It also made me miss the days when my mommy used to buy me food and vitamins and shampoo. It's funny how much you take for granted when you just have things all the time. I've learned while living here that diet coke is not a necessity and that I probably don't have to use so much shampoo. Mom - thanks for buying good food and being the best chef ever.
The Slovenia team from youth group back home is leaving this week. It's making me miss all my European friends so much. That trip last year was so much fun and such a stretching experience for me. I'm so excited to see what God does through their lives and the relationships they'll be making with the kids at the camp. If you want to read about what they're doing and how you can pray for them, click here. There's also some posts left on there from last year if you don't know what I'm talking about.
I leave for Haiti a week from tomorrow. I'm so excited to go! People keep asking me if I'm ready, but I don't know if I ever will be. What can prepare me for the crazy things that are going to happen there? It's going to be an incredible experience and I can't wait for what God is going to do through our team. Thanks so much for your prayers.
Please let me know if there's anything I can be praying for you about. I'd love to hear how your lives are going and what God is doing in your life.

Sorry I don't blog as often as I should. It's getting crazy as we're preparing for outreach and there's so much to do and think about. Only 16 days until I leave! When I'm in Haiti, the updates will probably be few and far between, just so you know. Internet will probably be scarce and for not very long.
This weekend has been just crappy. Emotionally, it's just been crazy. I don't really want to talk about it here, but please just be praying for our school leaders right now. It's a really difficult point in their lives and they just need comfort and hope.
I got sick on Sunday and laid in bed all day. Seriously. I only got up for dinner. My whole body feels so weak and my voice sounds like a man. Today has been equally as crappy since I'm still sick, but actually had to get up and do stuff today. A bunch of us got immunizations and we were at the doctor's office for two hours. The health care here sucks. They don't even take insurance. An immunization should take like 10 minutes at the most. It was just ridiculous.
A team that went to Haiti just got back on Saturday and some of us have been talking to them about it. I think we'll be meeting with them sometime this week, but they have already helped us so much. The things we are going to go through there are just crazy. They said every single one of them had vomiting and diarrhea at least once a week from dehydration. Apparently the water tastes really bad, even when it's filtered. The demonic forces there are apparently super heavy too. They said we'll feel it as soon as we get off the plane. I have a peace about everything, though. I definitely didn't at first, but after praying about it a lot, I feel better. It'll probably be one of the hardest things any of us will ever do, but totally worth it. God has so much planned for us and our trip and I'm just so excited to find out what all of that is!
Want to know what I learned last night at 1:30 AM? A fan blowing directly on your face while you sleep can either kill you or mess up your jaw. Seriously, google 'korean fan death'. And then, just imagine trying to understand all that while someone wakes you up in the middle of the night while you sleep so you don't mess up your face or something. I was so confused. Oh, living in community. Life is never boring here.

This weekend was crazy but awesome! A bunch of us went to volunteer at the Ironman 70.3 and it was so much fun! The people that do these things are crazy. They are all SO in shape it's ridiculous and makes me feel so lame. They swim 1.2 miles, bike 56 miles, and run 13.1 miles. By the end, people are falling over and just about dead, but so glad they did it. And this is only half of the real thing. In the fall, they have one that's double all that. Can you even imagine? You basically have to be superhuman to do these things. I was exhausted just being in the sun all day; I can't even fathom trying to do one of those. We were gone basically all day (4:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.). Crazy, right? I never get up that early. NEVER. I'm so glad I went though. Plus, they gave us a bunch of free food. There's nothing better than that. And free diet coke! Oh man, it was so good.
When we got back we went to 'YWAM Idol'. Pretty cheesy, but fun. On Sunday, Alyssa and I walked around town, bought groceries, a UV filter, Wendy's, and took pictures of strangers for our photo assignment. Here's one of the ones I turned in:

I leave for outreach in 1 month! How crazy is that? Lecture phase has flown by and I can't even believe how soon it is until we leave. I thought I would let you know a little about what we'll be doing there.
We leave July 1, and we'll be flying into the Dominican Republic. We'll stay there for a week, adjusting to the time and preparing ourselves for the rest of the trip. Then we'll take a bus ride to Port-au-prince, where we'll be staying in a refugee camp for three weeks. Then we'll be going to the YWAM base in Saint Marc for another three weeks. While in each of these places, we'll be doing various different things. We'll be running a mini DTS for the refugees, ages 8-adult. During that, we'll be teaching them on the different topics we've been learning about in lecture phase. We'll be doing some photo projects for the Voice for the Voiceless book and Unicef. We'll be filming a movie about the character of God in the midst of the devastation. We'll be doing some community and construction work. And, obviously, we'll be sharing the love of Jesus with the Haitian people. After all this, we'll head back to the Dominican Republic to share in the churches there about what is going on in Haiti. We'll be speaking about Voice for the Voiceless a lot. We don't know a whole lot yet about this part of the trip, but I'm sure it will be great.
The whole trip is going to cost $4,350. Although I have all the money I need, many of my teammates do not. We are also in need of funding for Eyes of Hope, the movie. Please contact me if you're interested in donating money. I also need some equipment, such as a backpacking backpack, extra batteries or battery packs for the Rebel xsi, a mosquito net, and possibly some better lenses. If you have any of these that you'd like to donate or let me borrow, it would be much appreciated! But most of all, we are in need of prayer. Pray that our team will grow in unity. Pray that Haiti will be encouraged by us in the midst of all their suffering. Pray for safety and health for all of us.
I'll have the trailer for the movie up soon. We're filming this week and will hopefully be done soon.