Financial Breakdown

I just realized that many of you probably don't know what the $5,500 is going toward, so I figured I'd break it down for everyone.
$700/month for living expenses  ($2,100 for three months)
        -$350 for accomodations (exludes meals)
        -$200 for transportation to Watoto from accomodation
        -$150 dinner/spending money
$600 for a general facility fee
$40/month for laundry     ($120 for three months)
$50 for a VISA
$150 for a Special Pass (required for volunteers in Uganda)
$2550 for a round trip flight to Uganda  (price can vary)
$350 for vaccinations    (price can vary)
So far that's a total of $5,920
As mentioned above, flight and vaccine costs can vary and I don't have a concrete price for them as of now.
When I'm in Uganda I also plan to buy a phone over there and purchase air-time so I can call home sometimes. I'm also debating whether or not to buy a mobile modem for internet purposes. It costs $100, but I may also be able to go to the mall in Uganda to get internet service.
Other things I wanted to do while in Uganda were tourist options they provide for us---which happen to be on my bucket list. My bucket list contains 93 things...#30 is to go white water rafting and #57 is to go on an African safari. Both of these things are options for me while I'm in Uganda. I don't feel right asking people to financially support me do to these fun things so I've decided to raise the money for these things on my own. A 3 day, 2 night all inclusive safari is up to $525 (the price dereases depending on the size of the group and particular destination) and a half day of white water rafting is $75.
Hopefully now you have a better understanding of where the money I'm raising will be going/how it will be used.
As of today I have about three months to raise the remainder of the support...I can't wait to see how God does it :)

Continually Encouraged

This past week I've been struggling to believe that I could raise $5,500 by the time I leave in June. As of Friday I hadn't raised any more support and was stuck below $1,000. I realized today that my problem was thinking that I was going to raise the money I needed, when the reality is that if God wants me to go to Uganda this summer He'll raise the support I need. I wasn't trusting the Lord to provide for me, I was freaking out and trying to control things on my own---clearly that wasn't working out too well. Last night I called my parents to chat and I remembered that my mom told me I recived some support letters throughout the week (4 letters to be exact). I didn't want to wait until I went home this weekend to open them (go figure...me impatient) so I asked my parents to open them for me and let me know what was inside. Along with some encouraging notes there were four checks for financial support. To be honest, I was expecting the checks---ususally when someone sends back the self-addressed envelope I put in with my letter it has money in it. But what I wasn't expecting was the amount God would give me from those four checks. For the past couple weeks I had been "stuck" below $1,000 and I was stuck thinking that I was in control of this support raising process. With my phone call last night that all changed. From four checks I received $1,120 toward my trip. That brought the grand total of support raised so far to.....$1,835!!! Nearly enough to buy my plane tickets to Uganda :) Ten of the eighty something people I sent support letters to have sent me financial support, and from those ten people I have nearly $2,000! In less than a month the Lord has blessed me with more than 1/4 of the money I need to go to Uganda!! I don't expect support raising from here on out to be easy, but I do know that God does/will work all things out for my (our) good. I know that He has encouraged me through people throughout this support raising process, and He's done nothing but confirm that going to Uganda is what He wants me to do this summer. I just wanted to share that exciting news with all of you and thank you again for all of your support!

All Shot Up

Today I went to the Marshfield clinic to find out about vaccinations I'd need to get before going to Uganda. After an informational meeting with a great PA (Physician's Assistant) I headed down to urgent care to get my shots. I got shot up with a Polio booster, Meningococcal, Typhoid, and (the piece de resistance) Yellow Fever. I can barely lift my left arm, but it's nice to have all of my vaccinations done and out of the way---just one less thing to worry about. Today I also got my prescriptions for Malaria pills. Fun story about that....At first I was told that the brand of Malaria pills I was getting were $648! Yeah...I wasn't too thrilled about that. But after some brilliant work from the pharmacy manager (and God's blessings) I was able to get all the Malaria pills I need (for before, during, and after my trip) for a grand total of....wait for it...$40!!! I was on cloud nine :)
As far as support raising goes, I have (at this point) been given $715! I sent out my letters on February 7th (exactly 10 days ago) and the Lord has already given me over $700 dollars! WOW! As of right now I have around 3 months to raise the remaining $4785. I am a little nervous/scared it won't happen, but the Lord has done nothing but confirm that this is what He wants me to do, so I'm going to do my best to keep trusting He'll provide in crazy, awesome ways.
I also got in touch with a travel agent recently and was able to find a round-trip flight for $2550. Now I just have to wait for the support money to come in to buy those tickets---then it'll really sink in that I'm going soon :) I want to thank all of you who are reading this; friends, family, total strangers. I would love if ya'll would pray for me, for this trip, and for the Watoto organization. I would encourage all of you to check out the Watoto website (http://www.watoto.com/home) and see for yourself what this organization is all about, and all the amazing things they're doing for the children and people of Uganda.
God Bless.

First Letters Out

Tonight I delivered my first support letters to some of my neighbors/guys I've known for a while. It feels so good to finally have my support letters all stuffed in envelopes, addresses, stamped and ready to be mailed out tomorrow morning. It's less than 4 months until I leave, and I'm so excited and nervous all at the same time. I'm stressing out a little about getting everything done and raising all the support I need, but in the end I know God is going to work as long as I'm willing to stretch myself and take risks/steps of faith. I'm so excited to send these letters out and see what God does with/through them.
I recently found out what shots I need to get before I go too...super exciting! (That's sarcasm, incase it didn't translate over the world wide web). It's getting hard to focus on school when all I want to do is go to Uganda already...but I'm trying my best to enjoy this last semester at Point, and not wish the time away. Wow, four years of college flew so fast! I've changed so much, but am so much the same as I was in high school...weird how that happens. Now that I've sent out this blog address with my support letters I'll have to try and update this a little more...we'll see how that goes :)
It's late, so if it seems like I'm rambling or jumping from topic to topic that's why. I should probably end this post though, before I start talking/typing funny. Thanks all of you who are (or will be) following this and for your prayers, it really means a lot to me.