Training

Currently I am in North Carolina, at a training center for missionaries. This morning I sat in a room with people from all different parts of the United States who are all on a journey somewhere. The people who I will be learning and living with for the next six weeks have been appointed by different organizations to serve in Estonia, Thailand, Uruguay, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Germany, France and many other countries around the world.


Since I was appointed as missionary, I have grown to appreciate and love the emphasis that World Harvest places on the gospel. The gospel is a central part of the training here at CIT, as it has been with the Sonship course that I am working through with World Harvest. It is a beautiful thing to see that hearing the gospel impacts the hearts of a room full of people who are going around the world to share the gospel with others. I need to continually hear and believe the gospel.


I also got to start reading What is the What when I got here. I haven't read much yet, but already I am learning more about Sudan. Even though I am still at the beginning of the book, I would definitely recommend it to all of you. I am so thankful for the time to sit down and read.





There is also a library at CIT that has that wonderful old book smell. I will have plenty of time to explore all the books and papers written by past students on countries around the world. I will also have the opportunity to do some research about Sudan and write my own paper. I am looking forward to learning new things about Sudanese culture and history over the next few weeks.

I am really glad that I will have six weeks to spend here at CIT. It is wonderful to have the opportunity to talk to people who are going through the same process of raising support and leaving for their mission fields. I pray that it will be a time that I can rest, reflect on the past year, and prepare to leave for Sudan in late April.

To Brazil and Back

Yesterday I landed in Miami after a 2 week vacation in Brazil. I am back in Florida unpacking, catching up on mail, and preparing to start training at CIT next week.

The last two weeks were a wonderful time to spend with friends and family. I went to Brazil with Melanie, one of my best friends from high school. She is basically a part of my family. We have moments when we don't get along and we have moments when we can't control our laughter. I am really glad she was able to come with me to visit one of our friends who is living in Natal and my family in Santos and Sao Paulo.

My cousins

We were busy the entire trip, but it was still a very restful vacation. We eat great food, we toured parts of Sao Paulo and Santos that I had never seen, and we enjoyed the company of my family. Melanie was even speaking understandable Portuguese by the time we left!

The best part of the trip for me was being able to talk to my family in person about World Harvest Mission and Sudan. Also my uncle, who lived in Africa for several years with his family, shared stories and advice about a continent I have never seen. I am really thankful that I had the opportunity to go to Brazil before leaving for Africa.

My grandparents

My aunt and uncle

Lots of Packing

Things have been moving quickly lately. After packing up my entire apartment and moving to Florida, I am already packing for a trip to Brazil to visit my family. I will be doing a lot of packing over the next several months. =)

My parents got to Richmond on Thursday night. I had hoped to be further along in the packing process, but that just didn't happen. Friday was my last day of work. After saying goodbye to my coworkers and turning in my badge, I headed back to my apartment to finish packing, cleaning, and organizing with my parents. I realized while I was packing that I have A LOT of books! We packed the car my parents rented to the very top and were on our way first thing Saturday morning.

Praise God for a smooth and safe 16 hour drive to Florida!

I will miss Richmond. The last two weeks felt like a blur of details, packing, and saying goodbye. I am really thankful for all the time that I had with friends, and hopefully I will see a lot of them again before I leave for Sudan. Although leaving was sad, I was more excited that I am getting closer to leaving for Sudan. The only time I really got sad and cried was after a potluck with women from my Bible study. I will miss them all dearly. I didn't really have time for long goodbyes, and there are some people who I didn't get to talk to one last time or hug.

In less than 1 month, I will pack up a few things and fly back to Richmond. I am sorry if I didn't get to say goodbye to you before I left. Please give me a call, and maybe we can get together when I am back in VA.

Goodbye Richmond

I have 8 more days of work.
I will be living in Richmond for 11 more days.
Please pray for me to not be overwhelmed during the next two weeks and to trust God to provide.

Up until this weekend, I was operating with a vague idea of leaving Richmond some time in the future. I would still see friends and colleagues several times, and I had time to close out the details of my life in Richmond.

This weekend however, leaving Richmond became real. I will worship at WEPC only one more time. I am making plans to say goodbye to the friends who have been a blessing to me over the last few years.

In this midst of saying goodbye to friends, the details of leaving Richmond rapidly became overwhelming. Preparing to leave for Sudan in April has proved to be a challenge. There are several times over the next few months when I will have possessions in three states. The trick is having the right things with me at the right times. =)

I also have not purchased a 2009 planner yet. This has caused considerable chaos. I make lists in my planners, and I don't have a list of the things that need to get done before I leave yet. (Hopefully I will pick up a planner today!)

All of a sudden I was caught between a desire to spend time with friends and enjoy their company, and manage a move to Florida the day after my last day of work. I felt for sure that something would get dropped. I would forget to cancel the electricity, or leave my cell phone charger in one of the boxes of things I am leaving in Richmond. (none of which would be a disaster)

Well that was an opportunity for me to realize that I had really become anxious about all the details and for me to ask for prayer. I was trusting God to provide my remaining financial support, but I hadn't been trusting God with all the details of the next few months.


Leaving Richmond is an exciting landmark because it means I am that much closer to leaving for Sudan. In two weeks, I will be in transition. Some things will remain constant and stable but most will be changing rapidly.

In a Gilmore Girls episode Rory says the following about goodbyes. (Yes, I am a Gilmore Girls fan)

"There's nothing good about a goodbye. It's a poorly named ritual. It was a bad bye. A very bad bye."

Well I disagree. I think that goodbyes can be good. I pray that my goodbyes in Richmond will be good, all in their own unique ways.

The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards

Since many people are making resolutions for the new year, I thought I would copy the following statement which precedes the resolutions of Jonathan Edwards (there are 70 of them).

"Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God's help, I do humbly entreat Him by His grace to enable me to keep these resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ's sake."

How comforting and freeing!

Christmas in Florida

I was so happy that I was able to go home to Florida for Christmas this year. It originally looked like I wouldn't be able to go home and would be celebrating with a friend and her family. Due to some last minute changes in my work schedule, I was able to go home for 4 days. It was a quick visit, but it was a great blessing to be able to spend Christmas with my parents.

My flight on Christmas eve was on time and the airport was remarkably calm. To top it off the plane started to descend just as the sun was setting below the clouds. It was so beautiful!

Christmas dinner at my house is not your typical American Christmas dinner. We had bacalhau and passion fruit mousse for dessert. It was fabulous! I'm really not even sure what most Americans eat for Christmas dinner. For special occasions at my house, we typically have Brazilian food (I will get to enjoy more in just a few weeks in Brazil). It was also great to be surrounded by the things that have been in all our homes, like the nativity we bought while we lived in Mexico. Next year I will probably be in Africa for Christmas enjoying completely different food. =)

I enjoyed the warm weather and good food. I got to have some great conversations with my parents about engineering. I slept in everyday and got to really relax. I even did a little shopping for skirts to take to Sudan (much easier to find than in Richmond).

My Christmas gift this year was a new camera which I had a lot of fun playing with while I was home. When we were out a restaurant for lunch I got a little carried away taking pictures. I took pieces of the pictures and put this together. This is what you get when an engineer tries to get creative. =)

Prayer Letter

I just sent out the Christmas edition of my prayer letter. I hope you will all forgive any misplaced commas and incorrect grammar. =)

Please let me know if you are interested in receiving my prayer letters by email. Just send me an email with your name and email address. ChristineOlmeda@gmail.com

On another note: This is a picture I took of the BEAUTIFUL full moon a few days ago. It was incredibly bright and clear.

Preparations

The last months have been filled with many blessings as I prepare to leave Richmond. These are just a few of the ways God has been at work in my life.

I am blessed to be a part of a church that loves missions.

• I went to wonderful missions dinner where I shared more about my call to Sudan and enjoyed a WONDERFUL meal.
• I shared in the joy of a young family being called to serve with World Harvest in London.

I am blessed by God's provision.

• God provided a young engaged couple from RUF who will be able to use the furniture that I won't be keeping.
• God provided opportunities to share my testimony. Even this past weekend I spoke at a local Brazilian church in my very rusty Portuguese.

I am blessed by amazing friends.

• I will be traveling to visit my family in Brazil with a dear friend that I have known for more than a decade.
• I spent a wonderful weekend in State College with my oldest friend from Penn State.
• My mom encouraged me and helped me prepare to speak in Portuguese about Sudan when my first draft was filled with words in Spanish and made-up words.

I have four weeks left in Richmond, and my preparations for Sudan continue. I am so thankful for the ways God has blessed the time I have left in the US as I spend time with the people I love.

Stunning Visualization

A stunning visualization of the interconnectedness of scripture:

"The bar graph that runs along the bottom represents all of the chapters in the Bible. Books alternate in color between white and light gray. The length of each bar denotes the number of verses in the chapter. Each of the 63,779 cross references found in the Bible is depicted by a single arc - the color corresponds to the distance between the two chapters, creating a rainbow-like effect. "

http://www.chrisharrison.net/projects/bibleviz/index.html

Thankful

This year I wasn't able to go home for Thanksgiving, but I had a wonderful Thanksgiving right here in Richmond. I rejoiced and gave thanks with a church full of people in support of the lost boys of Sudan and local Sudanese believers, walked through the woods of beautiful fall afternoon, took pictures and laughed with friends, played Settlers of Catan, had a potluck Thanksgiving meal with many young adults who I am thankful to call my friends, and roasted marshmallows on a bonfire in the late hours of the night.

Below you see what happens when you throw a handful of sawdust in the bonfire. Science at work!

It was not a traditional Thanksgiving day, but it was a great day. I was blessed by great friends, the opportunity to pray and rejoice with the local Sudanese community, and conversations by phone with friends and family who I wasn't able to see in person.

This last picture was candid. I really have no idea what I was doing here... =)