I am in PA school at the University of Florida. I barely have time to eat or shower or breathe properly. I hope all of you are living well and doing interesting things, but I'm sorry, I don't have time to read any of your blogs to find out! Maybe next year...
love, anna

The Return

Dear Friends,

--------I have been wanting to write you all for a while – I’ve been home in Kunming for over a month now – but I wasn’t sure what to say. A brief timeline of my actions these past six months is as follows:

- Stayed at South African School of Ministry for about two weeks
- Drove three days to our destination in Mozambique, a place called Maforga
- Lived in Maforga for three months at a boys’ home
- Helped start a feeding program for thirty village children in July
- Moved to a small town called Gondola in August, closer to the villages
- Drove back to South Africa and flew home in late November

--------As for mentally? Emotionally? Spiritually? I know at least that I’m a changed person. At the school of ministry I had a very difficult time. It was like spiritual boot-camp for me, actually. I often felt angry because I saw friends around me, Tracy and other warriors of the faith, deeply experiencing the presence of God, while I felt forgotten by Him. How foolish of me, I know. But those couple of weeks were ultimately good for me, because I was able to rely on God with more faith, to believe He loved and valued me as much as anyone else, no matter what I was feeling. In the end I was able to believe once again in His closeness.
--------Of course, that was only the beginning of the struggle. I went to Moz and had other problems. I found myself working almost exclusively with children – the boys at the boys’ home, five orphan toddlers who lived across the street, the children in the feeding program out in the village – and felt completely overwhelmed. I had prayed that God would show me His heart for the people there, and He did. I began to get a sense of the infinite value of those children – their personalities, their talents, their potential. And it almost broke my heart. There was so much need and so much they deserved to have, and what I could give them was not nearly enough, would never be enough.

--------Don’t worry, there’s a happy ending. Or, a joyful one, I should say (there’s a difference). I read Mark 14, the story of when Mary anointed Jesus’ feet. The disciples were annoyed at the waste of the expensive perfume and started to criticize her, but Jesus said to leave her alone. “She has done a beautiful thing to me,” He said. “She did what she could.” I was so struck by that sentence. Jesus doesn’t see our projects as “big,” or “small,” or “useful,” in the way the world does. He wants our eyes on His face, our motivation to please Him, and for us to do what we can. It was such a relief to have my idea of “usefulness” corrected like that.
--------So here’s what I did in Mozambique: I helped start a feeding and nutrition program for thirty kids in a village called Canhunda, and then ran it for three more months after the other two girls I was working with went back to school at the end of the summer. I participated in bush clinics (with short-term teams from Canada, England and the States) where often over a hundred people were treated in a day (our record was 309).
--------I also read bedtime stories to and played soccer with and put band aids on cuts for some orphan boys. I took some toddlers on their daily walks. I sang songs and danced with village children. I prayed for lots of people (and got prayed for by lots of people). Honestly, the walks with the babies were my favorite thing. And while God taught me about their value, He also taught me about my own.
--------So thank you all so much for your support. I know many people were praying for me – as proof of that, let me tell you that in six months I never got malaria, intestinal problems or painful insect bites, and never got closer than fifteen meters to a snake. What I did do was love some babies, make some friends, and grow stronger in my relationship with God. And it was with your help that I was able to do it. Here’s a Mozambican feather for you, and a few verses from Matthew:

--------Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?... Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. (Matt 6:26, 10:29-31)

--------As I said my difficult good-byes in Mozambique, I knew that God sees the true value of those children and will continue to care for them long after I have gone. May this new year bring you, also, a greater awareness of how much he loves and values you. God bless you all.
----------------------------------------------------------
Love,

anna

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. :)

ROAD TRIP!!!

Awesome Awesomeness.

Yeah, just... yeah. Just read it.

http://www.themanwhofellasleep.com/gossip.html

The best I ever heard was "I've got no respect for her. She's a silly pig."

But I only had a semestre's worth of experience to draw on...

Halloween...

I know it's out of season, but I'm adding this picture in honor of Claudia. She was my suite mate, and now she has gone to England to be with her own red-headed, skinny version of Ron Weasely (or Mr. Bingly, although she strongly refutes this). I will miss her terribly.

Three things to note:
1) In case you can't deduce for yourself, we are, from left to right, Audrey Hepburn, Pocahontas, a butterfly, and... um... I'm not sure. I think I was going for Roman goddess... (looks sheepish). So yeah, that's Sarah, Carolina, Claudia and yours truly.
2) That is koolaid in my hand, I swear. Koolaid.
3) I had to stand far away from Claudia because she was deadly with those wings, and the tips were right at eye-level. Seriously. We went to a club afterwards, and she kept whapping people over the head with them. If she wasn't so cute, somebody would have kicked her ass... But she was, so in Claudia's own immortal words, "It's all good!!"

I'm gonna miss you, hoochie!