32 DAYS!!!!

Wow! The weeks keep flying by. 32 days until I am on the plane to London. 35 days until I walk onto this ship, the Anastasis, and have the experience of my life!! March 20th I will be flying to London. I will get there on the morning of March 21st and spend a couple days with my dear friend Adriel who is living there doing missions with YWAM (Youth With a Mission). She will be WONDERFUL support and encouragement for me before I fly off to Liberia on March 23.
In booking my flight into Liberia it was quite interesting in that there are 2 airlines that fly into Liberia from Europe- one out of Brussels and one from London. There are 2 flights per week from London- one on Friday, one on Monday. Surely is different than getting around here. My return flight from London is scheduled for June 25. That date is subject to change as Mercy Ships will be transferring equipment and staff from the Anastasis to the Africa Mercy. Depending on the continued progress for the Africa Mercy the Anastasis may stop doing surgery in May sometime. If that happens as scheduled I am not really sure what they will do with me!
Thank you for taking the time to read this regularly and for praying for me. Prayers are such a gift right now as I am preparing for this. Please pray as I wrap things up here. There are a lot of small details that come up that I need to find time to take care of. This Sunday I am going to teach my 3rd grade Sunday school class about what I am doing with Mercy Ships and why. Then I am going to do a brief presentation for the rest of the grade schoolers on my trip as well. Please pray for that. It is exciting sharing with others what God has called me to do- very humbling too. As the day draws nearer I am humbled to think that God thinks I can do this! I am honored to be going!

Praise GOD!!!

Wow- I am overwhelmed by my life recently. I had no idea less than a year ago what God was going to be doing in my life. When I went to Brazil last May I considered that that may be the start of something more for my life but I really didn't expect this!! After returning from Brazil I had a co-worker pull me aside to talk to me and encourage me to ask God for more. I say this not to boast but to tell of how powerfully God can speak words of wisdom through His people. She looked at me so intently and said, "Dara, you need to start expecting more from God. You need to start asking God for more and expecting Him to do more in your life because He is going to use you!" I was stunned! Those words have not left my mind over the last 9 months. God is truly blowing me away!!! I sent out about 100 support letters in November with the hopes of getting some money by Jan 15. Then I figured I would need to get creative as to how I could raise the rest of my support. Well, to give all the glory back to God I share with you that I got responses back from probably 3/4 of the letters (and support from others who I hadn't even contacted) and God has given me over double of what I prayed for!!! That is unbelievable!! What is God doing in my life! Either everyone wants me FAR away or God really wants me to be a nurse on Mercy Ships in Liberia!!! I think it's the later:)So, I can't thank all of you and praise God enough for your support and belief in serving the Lord. Believing in "going to the nations." Believing in ministering to the "poorest of the poor." Believing in taking care of "widows and children." And mostly...entrusting me to be used as His hands and feet! Know that every prayer you are praying and every penny you sent me is to do God's work alone. Whether I underestimated the costs of this trip or I find someone/thing that is desperately in need of finaces or I use this money for further missions- this money that I have been entrusted with will go back to the Lord in some capacity.
If for any reason this whole process came to a hult tomorrow and I didn't end up going to Liberia, the last 9 months have been truly incredible!!! I am in awe of the majesty of who God is. I always knew this before but WOW! How honoring to be serving the King of the Universe! He is alive and doing powerful things!!! Keep praying and "EXPECT MORE!"

Where is Liberia?

It is on the West coast. West of Nigeria, bordered by the Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone. Click on the map to make it bigger.

Psalm 27

Psalm 27
Of David.
1 The LORD is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When evil men advance against me
to devour my flesh,
when my enemies and my foes attack me,
they will stumble and fall.
3 Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then will I be confident.
4 One thing I ask of the LORD,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple.
5 For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle
and set me high upon a rock.
6 Then my head will be exalted
above the enemies who surround me;
at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make music to the LORD.
7 Hear my voice when I call, O LORD;
be merciful to me and answer me.
8 My heart says of you, "Seek his face!"
Your face, LORD, I will seek.
9 Do not hide your face from me,
do not turn your servant away in anger;
you have been my helper.
Do not reject me or forsake me,
O God my Savior.
10 Though my father and mother forsake me,
the LORD will receive me.
11 Teach me your way, O LORD;
lead me in a straight path
because of my oppressors.
12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,
for false witnesses rise up against me,
breathing out violence.
13 I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.
14 Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD.

Thank you!

God has been so gracious as I am preparing to go on Mercy Ships. He has made it completely clear that this is where He wants me. Things have fallen easily into place as I am getting ready to go. I want to thank all of you SO much for your gracious financial contributions to support me in this. I have been awed by each sacrifice. Thank you. Each dollar that I have received is the Lords and as He calls me to Liberia your money will go to His service. I will prayerfully use everything that has been given to me. I received word a couple weeks ago that I am still scheduled to arrive in Liberia on March 25 or the latest April 1. The only change has been that the Africa Mercy is not ready to set sail so I will be joining the ship that has been in use, the Anastasis. The Anastasis is currently in Ghana and is scheduled to leave there in the middle of March to start the mission in Liberia. So, next on my agenda is to get my immunizations and start talking to travel agents. I have also been graciously blessed that my dear friend Jaime has decided to take a travel nursing assignment back in Phoenix and stay in my apartment while I am away. She will even be able to sleep in her old bed that I bought from her when she left Phoenix. God has sure ironed out the details that I, at one point, was stressed out about.
Please pray for me as I start getting further information and start organizing the actual travel. I am a bit nervous about flying to Africa by myself. This too will be a time of growing my trust in the Lord...what I am eager to do.

A blog?

In an attempt to keep in touch over the next few months and while I am away I think this may be the easiest and most efficient way for me to keep you updated. I am new and not totally into "blogging" so I will see how proficient I can be and see if this really works.