Well the time has come to take one more step towards my life long dream of going to Uganda. I remember back in grade five counting down the years until I would reach the point of graduation and would be free to go off to Africa. Even then the dream of going resonated strong within me. In less than a week I will have reached the point that I so looked forward to when I was ten. Looking back I am almost amazed at how this desire to journey across the world has stayed true! On one hand I cannot wait for next Friday! This stage of my life will come to a close and there is no telling what the next months and years will hold. On the other hand I wish I could turn back the clock and relive the last twelve years, if only so that I might appreciate them more knowing how fast they will fly by. Though to some it may be a surprise I am not one who likes change. I love having my own little niche of life and knowing exactly where I fit and what to expect. Funny, going to Africa will be a huge change and yet I am initiating it  anyway! Though I am incredibly excited and have so many plans for the next year I am loath to say goodbye to all that is familiar here. The place I have grown up, the people who I have been with for so many years, all my childhood memories. They are all wrapped up in this place and  not all, but many, of these things will become part of the past. There are so many things that I have been blessed to experience and yet I must now leave them behind. I know that there are many people who I will remain in touch with, and I am sure that I will be back to Sundre again however there are so many people who I will not see again and not matter where I am the world keeps turning and changing so even when I do return home it will not be the exactly the same as when  I left  it behind me. Even if home were to remain the same I will not. Life changes each of us and I know that I am no exception. With that in mind I know that I am excited for grad and yet there is a bitter sweetness to it for the innocence of youth is about to be replaced with the reality of adulthood.  However after next Friday, even if I have yet to receive the go ahead from Watoto to join their team, I will have taken one more step towards my dream. Up until now it has been a long process and I do not expect it to get any easier before I jump on a plane but slowly, step by step, I am headed towards Africa.

In the last week I have been working on putting the finishing touches on my application to Watoto 360. I have been going over it to make sure I have said everything that I needed to, getting all the contact information for my references and double checking that everything is signed and dated as it should be. Yesterday I spoke to my last reference, today I scanned in the papers with my signature and this afternoon I sent off all the papers to the head office! Now all that is left to do is send the application fee and wait. I must confess that now that my part in this process is over I will be spending the next weeks very anxious to receive the reply as to whether or not I have been accepted into the program. I have been warned that the processing of the application can take up to three months!! My prayer is that it would only take one so that I can continue preparing myself and can plan for  the next year. I can not think of a better grad present than learning that I have been accepted.  If all goes well I will begin the program on January 6,2013 and will be involved in  daily bible classes, outreach ministry, and many other life changing activities. The thing that I look forward to most though is the chance to spend time with the children. This is where my heart is drawn, how I love the kids! I can think of nothing better than to be in a program where children are so cared for and loved.

           Well, I have never written a blog before so I am not really sure where to start. Oh well here goes! From a very young age it has been my dream to go to on a missions trip to Uganda, Africa. I remember how I just could not wait for the day when I would graduate and then I could be on my way. Well in a little over a month that day will be here.
           As the years have past I have spent numerous hours pouring over the information for various programs, searching for the one that I felt I was being called to. One such program was a YWAM ( youth with a mission ) program that would have me based out of Sydney Australia. Being as I have traveled Down Under before with my family and that I happen to love it down there I felt that this would be the program for me. Everything about it was appealing and it fit much of what I wanted to do. However there was one small problem, though the outreach portion of the program did travel to Africa, it did not include a visit to Uganda. For quite a while I was bound set on going with this group any way. It drew to me in a way that I knew I would enjoy my time and I also knew  exactly what joining this group would look like as I have had many friends and relatives who have gone to participate in the six month DTS. A second program that I had heard about briefly was a six month ministry school called Watoto 360. Set in Kampala Uganda the program offers outreach to the poor and hungry, bible classes and so much more.
        In retrospect I cannot believe that I did not jump at the opportunity to join watoto instantly, however for many months I was torn between which of the two programs I should apply for. In truth I really did not want to join Watoto, for it was more of an unknown than YWAM. I did not know what to expect from them and I knew so many people who could vouch for YWAM. During the summer of 2011 I found that often what I want and think is best for me is not what God knows will be in my best interest. On a rare Sunday when my family and I attended a church in Red Deer rather than our home church in Sundre I found this out first hand.  To this day I cannot remember what was said or what worship song it was that affected me so but on that day I felt God telling me that Watoto was the place for me, whether I liked it or not. Since then I have been seeking him out and gathering as much information on the program as I can and in the last six months I have begun the process of following God's leading in this matter. I have come to love the Watoto program and this week  I will be sending in my application form. From there it will be a waiting process to see what happens next. No matter what happens I know that God has had his hand on this whole process from the beginning till now. I have been repeatedly taught about patience and provision so now I plan to leave everything in the hands of the one who is trustworthy to carry on the good work he has started in me until completion. Again I may be required to learn about patience is as it can take up to three months for the application to be processed but as I am trusting that this is where God is leading me at this point in time I am planning and thinking as if I already have the acceptance and will be flying to Uganda in January 2013.