Greetings!
     What a great service on Sunday! Sunday evening at Nicholson Baptist Church the message was about prayer...individual, church, and outward. The end of the service ended with the church praying around my parents and me. It was a very special time. Thank you Nicholson Baptist Church for all your support. I am so grateful to be apart of the body of Christ with you all. Thank you Missions Support team...Darlene, Stephanie, and Larry for all your help! Thank you to the anonymous person who called the church to "give the girl going on a mission trip" a monthly donation! God is Great! After the prayer service last night, we went to the fellowship hall for a reception in my honor! I'm not used to all this attention. Thank you everyone who stayed to help celebrate...and I enjoyed talking with everyone that was there. I will be sending a monthly or quarterly newsletter of what is going on while I am in Majuro to Nicholson Baptist...in addition to this blog. Once I get into the routine of school and get settled, I will be posting more regularly here. Thank you for everyone's interest in this new adventure!

     Right now I am waiting to hear back from Verizon Wireless. I talked to them in April and they told me that I would be able to waive the early termination fee since I was going to Marshall Islands where there is not any service. I call today to set up a time for the termination...and I am told, that won't happen. So, I called back and now someone is going to be checking with his supervisor, who was in a meeting, to see if there was not something they could do to help with the fee or something. I may be suspending my service until I get back...$15 for each 90 days of suspension. We shall see after I get a call back...or maybe I should just pay $90 for the early termination fee and not worry about having to pick up the service when I return...job or not.
     I can't believe it. My mom told me yesterday...she counted...as of yesterday I leave in 16 days, now I guess it is 15 days...It is here! Still working on packing up the last few items and clothing to ship. Most everything else should already be there when I get there, is the hope anyway. :) I will arrive Aug. 16 in Majuro...and the students begin that next Wednesday...Aug. 22. When I get there...there will be lots to do!!!
     Some of you have asked about the government in Marshall Island. Here is what I found out... In 1983, the Marshall Islands signed a Compact of Free Association with the US, which went into effect in 1886. Under the compact, the country is fully sovereign in domestic and foreign affairs, but gives responsibility for defense to the US.

The government of the Marshall Islands operates under a mixed parliamentary- presidential system, which includes a head of state—the President, who is also the head of government—and a bicameral parliament—the Council of Iroij (the upper house) and Nitijela (the elected lower house).

Executive: Executive power lies with the President, who is elected by the NitijelaNitijela.

Legislative: Legislative power resides in the Nitijela, which consists of 33 senators elected by 24 electoral districts by universal suffrage of all citizens above 18 years of age. The electoral districts correspond roughly to each atoll of the Marshall Islands. Although no legal restrictions exist against the formation of political parties, no formal parties exist. Two ad hoc parties have existed since the mid 1990s.

Council of Iroij: The Council of Iroij is comprised of 12 tribal chiefs who advise the Presidential Cabinet and review legislation affecting customary law or any traditional practice, including land tenure. I will be learning more about this I am sure, just wanted to put it in here for everyone that was interested. I got this info from rmiembassyus.org

Happy Reading! Have a great week!

Greetings!
     My time here in the States is fast coming to a close. I have less than 2 1/2 weeks before I leave for Majuro. I had a going away/farewell party last Saturday. I am sorry all of you could not have been invited, though I wanted to. This upcoming Sunday evening, July 29, after the evening service at Nicholson Baptist Church there will be a drop-in reception for me. The service starts at 6:00, so if you would like to attend and don't go to Nicholson, you are more than welcome to come! Just let me know if you are interested!
     I have been house sitting this week for my brother. So, I've been working on thank you cards and cleaning off my computer...moving all pictures and files that I want to keep to flashdrives. I will be looking for a new laptop...as that is what my parents are getting me!
I want to get a smaller screen, lighter weight than what I've got, and it has to have a webcam for sure! Before my party I have signed up for a skype account to call landlines and cell phones in the US...I also signed up for a local online skype number with voicemail! How cool is that!? This way I was able to send my contact info home with everyone that attended.
     For my party my aunt, uncle, and cousin even came down from Ohio! They just left last night to travel back home. Thank you to all who were able to attend the party! I truly appreciate your support and prayers at this time for the new journey the Lord is taking me on. Thank you Aunt Theresa and Mom for all the hard work you did to put the party together for me!

Mom and my aunt, Theresa...mom's sister, preparing the food!

 The spread: Lots and lots of yummy food! :) Even Chicken BBQ!

The Lei girl gave out the lei's as people arrived.

My brother and sister-in-law Ashley. Not sure what Joey is doing here...

Parents and my brother Joey

There's no place like home... just with a magic wand, not red shoes!

Max even got in the party mood when the party was over... :)

Greetings!
I know it's been a little while...
     I have been working on the green skirt I started on awhile back. I finished it! And while I've been out and about I have found the smocked material on sale...so I've made 3 new dresses with that material!!! I also made a cute strap for the red travel purse/bag I will be using on the trip for my purse. Don't worry, I have pictures for all of it, well I just noticed putting in the pictures one of the dresses did not get in here. I will have that for you at a later post. I wanted to finish all my sewing projects before Aunt Theresa, Uncle Rich, and Krista came in from Ohio for my going away party. I had to clean up my sitting room for my uncle to sleep in there. We put a single matteras and box springs for him to use. My aunt and Krista sleep in the living room. Tomorrow is the day for the going away party. So, stay tuned  next week, there will be an update with pictures from the party for sure! It will take a few days, as on Sunday we will be going to White Waters Six Flags and Monday we are going to the Georgia Fair.
     We did get a surprise yesterday when we came home from the store...My mom, Aunt Theresa, and I...Adam, my cousin, flew in from the Army to surprise us...my uncle planned this 2 months ago!!! He is on a base in New York, I think. He took some time off. How cool is that! So, we found anothe place for him to sleep!
     I found out there will be four of us in the apartment on the island. There will be Ingrid, Lucy, Deeyon, and myself staying there. They are from the islands around Marshall Islands. I have emailed Ingrid and Lucy, and they are doing a summer camp in Guam now. I know Ingrid has not been to Marshall Islands before, so we for sure will be learning everything about the island and cultures and all together! I can't wait to meet everyone! I can't believe it is almost time for us to meet and see the Lord do GREAT things over the next year!
     Majuro is the political and economic center of the Marshall Islands. The islands that are inhabited along the southern side of Majuro Atoll have been joined over time by landfill and a bridge that forms a 30 mile road from the extreme eastern end called Rita to Laura at the western end. Both villages were so code-named by U.S. forces in WW II after the favorite pinups of Rita Hayworth and Lauren Bacall.
Have a great weekend! Thanks for reading!

Greetings!
     I know, I know, it's been a few days since the last post. Not much has been happening on the home front until today. I sent another 2 packages today...one being shower caddy, tool box, etc. We will get to the other package in just a second. The director's wife, Jackie Buck, said that the store is about 3 miles from the school. I am wanting to get a big metal folding/collapsible "shopping" cart. My idea is to maybe take a taxi for about $2 to the store, with my cart. Then after shopping...and I mean grocery shopping... :) I could walk home with the cart. I figure it won't be that bad since I will not be doing this as a fast paced walk for exercise. I can do that later on... So, the other package I shipped today is one of those huge golf size umbrellas! It seems to rain a lot in Majuro, so I figured if I had one of those huge umbrellas, I could still get to the store and walk home, and the rain wouldn't stop me. Also, if I decided to at least not walk some time, at least the cart would be handy to place all of the bags into one with wheels to help transport to the apartment. Another idea for the cart...take my laundry to the laundry mat...apparently there are several close by...again this would save taking the taxi because of the load of clothes, but I would also be able to walk there. 
     Something I purchased today was for two reasons. One was because I needed it in general~didn't have one. Reason two is because it rains a lot, at least it seems to. I bought a light weight (folds into the pocket) rain jacket. Was so excited to find it! Another exciting purchase today was because of some very strategic planning! Kmart had the face cleaning cloths that I've started using to wash my face with on sale...for $3.75. I comparison shopped at Wal-mart for them. It gets even better! I actually bought on eBay $1.00 off coupons for the product...before they were on sale of course. So, in the end, I got the Garnier skin care cleaning cloths for $2.75 each, regularly $4.96!!!! I bought 10 of them, and wiped Wal-mart out...as I hope to stock up since I will be gone for the year. So, the total before tax came to $27.50, instead of $49.70. I think that is like a 45% savings! What a deal! The coupons expire 8/6/12...so I will be buying more...maybe on sale, maybe not. But I have 10 more coupons to use.
     I think I've mentioned before that Majuro is the capital of Marshall Islands. It lies about 2,300 miles southwest of Honolulu and nearly 2,000 miles southeast of Guam. Majuro is west of the international dateline, which makes it 17 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.
Thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful week!

Greetings!
     So, I will get information for everyone. I found out this morning that those that would like to support me on a regular basis...every month, or once a quarter, whatever...and claim deductions, such as a charitable donation, may do so by sending it to my home church Nicholson Baptist Church. I will be getting my information to them in the next week or so. I will be sure to post how to send me money that they will directly get to me. Also, I will be sending out a monthly and/or quarterly statement of how the funds were used and a newsletter to let everyone know how things are going. I am so excited everything is falling into place!!! I know the Lord has His hand on this new journey, adventure, and ministry! Please keep me in your prayers as the time here in the states is quickly coming to a close for the next year or two...however long He leads. I have my first box of clothing items that will be going out this week for Majuro! And a few personal books, journals to write in, and cards will also be going out.
     There is a beach/ocean 20 feet behind the school. Mrs. Buck, the director's wife, said though this is not a beach I would be used to. She said that our end of the island is the most populated than the other side. Which means, not only does our beach have sharp coral and such, it is dirty and the area children swim there. The pretty sandy beach is on the other side of the island (about 30 miles). But due to the fact that there is only one 2-lane road and the speed limit, it takes over an hour to get there. I guess that will be a Saturday trip sometime!

Have a blessed day!