hold fast

I leave in 5 weeks today. That is not an adequate amount of time - I'm telling you all now. I have about 3 boxes of stuff to bring down with me, and I will also need to bring some of my own clothes. If anyone has one of those magical Mary Poppins, secretly massive bags that Hermione had in the last Harry Potter I would be super grateful. So, here is the reason for this post. A  number of people have asked me about how they can give financially while I’m away. This is such a massive load off my mind. I am supposed to have 80% of my monthly support  committed  before I leave. Like I said, not. enough. time. Now, rather than you having to listen to my disjointed, stressed thoughts when you ask about financial issues in person, I thought I would try to put the deets down here. My required monthly income is $1000 - but Carachipampa are paying about $200 of that, which still leaves me with $800 a month to raise. That is, according to Google today, £508.78. So

There has been a serious difference of opinion on whether my constant  photo uploading while I was gone was delightful and enjoyable, or just excessive and annoying. (I vote the former, obvs.) Therefore, I have brought a second blog into the equation. Since I have zero intention of ceasing with the constant photos, and since text is not really Tumblr's forte, I thought I would bring Blogger into the loop. Here I will write words, sometimes (probably not all that often...) and there  I shall do what I have lovingly named plogging or photo blogging. I will link only to this one on Facebook, but my Instagram shall continue to be inundated with pictures of all my Cochabamba-ing. And if you don't like it, unfollow. (Jokes, don't unfollow, I'll be sad...) I will aim to update this blog relatively regularly, with all of my classroom antics, any fun I have with the CDA babies and whatever other madness Cochabamba living leads me to. This is a really dull blog post, I know

For someone who didn’t leave the UK until 16 I’m making up for it now. With connections, 8 flights - just to get myself to Bolivia. (I do have some stops to make, however.) So, primarily for my mother, but also anyone else who cares (or wants to pray, please!) - here’s my “itinerary”. 20th June Dublin - Toronto (WestJet - apparently they’re legit, and I probably won’t die.) 21st June Toronto - Memphis (Delta) Then I have Pre-Field Orientation - in Mississippi. So look forward to many pictures of me wildly sunburnt. And whatever else people do in Mississippi. (Also, one day I may be able to write Mississippi without spelling it in my head. Such a satisfying word to spell.) So after 10 days of sun avoidance and seminars and apparently there’s a talent show and lots of other fun things (a trip to Chick-Fil-A, fingers crossed) I get to fly more. #yay #jokes Get ready for the most connections of anyone’s life, ever. 1st July Memphis

Tonight Dan and I fed back to church about our time in Bolivia.  We talked about the kids for so long (sorry, not sorry) that I didn’t get the chance to answer one question I was eager (read: terrified) to answer. So I thought I would do it here. How do you be a missionary, when you’re struggling? (I’m sure Lee said it more eloquently when he asked me to talk about it…) I always had this idea that missionaries were super holy people, who had it all sorted, and so they went to another country to be super holy there. I think the past seven months were a lesson in the falseness of that statement. I went to Bolivia with depression. I went to Bolivia with 8 bottles of antidepressants. I went to Bolivia with doubts, about my salvation, about God, about everything. I went to Bolivia unsure, unwell, and unconvinced it was a really good idea. But I did know I was meant to be in Cochabamba . I know the next part of this story is to tell you that I leant on God wh