T-Minus 9 Days

As I look at the calendar I realize that I will be on a plane to Belarus in 9 days. I can't believe it. I feel like it quickly and quietly snuck up on me. I am very excited. There are several things that are happening as the team is preparing to leave. First of all each person on the team (there are 11 of us going) received a few emails of men or women from Belarus that we could go ahead and start communicating with that hopefully we will be able to meet once we get there. I was given 3 pen pals and I have had great dialogue between two of them. One of them is 16 years old and the other is 21 and is studying at the University in Belarus. They both have been very sweet answering any questions I have had and they both have been really interested in my hobbies, interests, what my home is like, and several other things. Most of the people that we have as pen pals are not Christians but our hopes and prayers are that through writing them before our trip we can possibly meet them while we are there and through spending time with them and loving on them they will see that light of the Lord in us. There has also been some small set-backs for our team in preparing for our trip and we know these things are Satan's way of trying to keep us from going but with every set-back we have been able to over come it. I finally ordered some wool socks and bought a very warm coat. It's supposed to be very very cold there and I just hope I am prepared. The highs I have seen have been in the 30's and the lows have been in the 20's. I also have to fit 10 days worth of layers in a 50 pound suitcase and if you know me you know that is going to be my biggest challenge of the whole trip. The Lord has been so good to me throughout this whole process of preparing for Belarus. I can't wait for my first trip out of the country and to see what the Lord is going to do. I know this trip is going to change my life. Thank you so much for all the prayers and support and I hope that you will continue to pray for my team and I as we get ready for the trip. I will probably post again the night before we leave, but don't worry I will have lots of pictures when I get back.

This is a picture of Downtown Minsk, Belarus.