April 2, 2006

Dear Friends,

I have started and restarted this letter at least ten times in as many days, and for some reason, no college essay has been as hard to write as this is. To push through the block that is my head, then, let me first lay out the facts.

I am graduating from the University of Florida in May with a degree in English and a Mandarin Chinese minor. My graduation present from Mom and Dad was a ticket to Mozambique, probably the best present I’ve ever gotten in my life! But to continue with the facts… I will be leaving for Mozambique on May 12^th, and hope to stay there until mid-December (funds allowing). There’s a clinic in Maforga, a remote area around the middle of the country, where I’ll join a group of one physician assistant, five nurses and several Mozambican volunteers. I met the physician assistant, Tracy, in Toronto about a month ago, and had some good talks with her. As for the clinic, I know they treat over a hundred patients a day, and hope to increase that to two hundred. They see a lot of malaria, parasites, complications from malnutrition, and HIV/AIDS. The average life expectancy in the surrounding villages is thirty-four years old.

I will be helping out at the clinic, learning as much as I can and, hopefully, being a representative of God’s love to the people there. I’m really excited about this opportunity, because ultimately, I want to work in medical missions overseas. I’m applying to physician assistant programs now, and hope to start school again after I get back, in the summer of 2007. Finally, because I’m a compulsive list-maker, I have compiled three lists as follows:

Things I am afraid of:

Poisonous snakes, particularly the black mambas that apparently like to hide in the open-roofed showers

Scorpions, same as above (as well as in shoes)

Weakness – the kind that might keep me in a warm sleeping bag in the morning instead of up and working, or let out complaints, or in any way keep me from putting others first

Things I am excited about:

Getting reacquainted with the third world

Going to Africa for the first time!

Feeling God’s heart for people in need

Learning how to treat patients in poor and remote areas, and perhaps helping them plan for a better standard of living in the long run

Working with Tracy and the other people there like her – she’s a truly humble person, who seems completely unaware of what a hero she is

Things I need prayer for:

See list 1! J

Funds

That my compassion will overflow for the people there, as His does for me

I would like to ask you to support me in this adventure! I covet your prayers, and I’d love to answer any questions you have – email me at eightythree_eggs@hotmail.com, or you can contact me at:

To the Nations Fellowship
1580 Lancaster Dr., Unit 37
Oakville, ON L6H 2Z5
Canada

(If so led, please make checks payable to “To the Nations Fellowship USA,” with a note specifying who it’s for)

Love and peace to all of you,

anna

The Giving Tree

[A friend mentioned The Giving Tree in her blog, and my response got a little long... really, it became a post. Hence I am posting it.]

Ah, The Giving Tree. One of my favorites, too, and I also had the best experience with that book this week, which I will tell you. You have no choice. Ha ha ha. (But it's not as good a story without my expansive hand gestures... sorry ;)).

So I work at the library next door, yeah? Well, I do, at P--- Developmental School. My boss, who usually does storytime with the younger kids (in fact LOVES doing storytime so I've never offered to do it before, even though I love reading aloud, too)... was sick this week.

"Oh." I said casually. "Well... I could do it... if you WANT..." (trembling with excitement. not really). My second-in-command boss said, "Sure, why not." I picked out a little book about a frog in a bog on a log.

In walks the kindergarten, eyes shining, little pigtails curling, feet and fingers twitching. The epitome of cute and fresh-into-the-world-ness.

So I sat on the little stool and read the little book, pausing appropriately at the rhymes, etc., etc. but I was done in about five minutes. I said, "The End," in my most expressive book voice, closed the cover, and looked into their expectant faces... "And, uh, NOW...," I continued, "for the SECOND book," and grabbed the first familiar title I saw on the shelf.

You really can't go wrong with The Giving Tree. I have yet to meet a kid who doesn't like it. It's always been one of my favorites, so when I read it (I really must abandon modesty here and say- ) I really did it justice. :) I read the final line - "And the tree was happy." There was a pregnant pause.

And then the kindergarten burst into applause.

I kid you not! They clapped. It was a defining moment. It made me wish for a second that I could be a career story reader. I guess I'll have to abandon my role when my boss comes back next week, but it was great while it lasted. :)