Update #3

!!Hola mis amigos y mi familia!!

I just finished a spanish oral examination so I'm still thinking inthat "lingo" :)

Can you believe that the trip is less than a month away! Ha - a few daysago, I was wearing shorts and today I am bundled up under three layers ofsweaters & jackets! Emily and I joke that God is starting to prep us forthe cold weather we will experience over there! We are getting excited!As far as updates go - I have a few cool stories to share with you!

Thelast email I think I asked you guys to be praying for a way to capture thefaces & emotions of all the kids we will be seeing over there - - - well,Emily and I have been praying for a camera for a while now - - She wenthome for thanksgiving and while she was there a married couple in her churchpulled her aside and said, "Emily - do you have a digital camera for yourtrip?" Emily had not yet told them of our desire to take lots of picturesand they just felt led to provide us with a camera!Emily & I also have a close friend who receives a monthly "income" from herdad - she said that this month she didn't need all that he had given her &wanted to give us any extra she did not used. Later she gave Emily 100$ toput toward our trip! What a huge blessing that is!

Today, Emily and I had "RO day." We met with a woman named Traci who wentto RO last summer & stayed with our professor's parents. She was able toshow us tons of pictures and give even more stories about what to expect/how to deal with cultural barriers etc. We received so much valuableinformation from her and definitley feel like we have a better grasp on whatit will be like.We also had lunch today with our professor and six students who took hisother COMM class. They did a project over His Little Ones and had createdtons of lesson plans, bible lessons and more for us to deliver! It was neatto see how many people truly are a part of this trip!The knitting club also has a few more things for us to get and we will bepicking those up soon!As far as prayers go - we NEED them.

Emily and I left today feeling a bitoverwhelemed. We realized that this trip is going to put our degrees (wellpotential degrees) to the test! Everything we have been learning abouthigh/low context cultures is completley 100% applicable! So:Pray that we will be able to be flexible, to be adaptable and to appreciatetheir "slower paced" culture. Pray we will have no ethnocentric bone in our body and that we will seek toUNDERSTAND where they are coming from instead of assuming our way isbetter.

Pray that communication between us and my professors' parents is clear,concise and not frustrating.Pray that the children would be calm and that they woudl respect us from dayone. Pray that discipline would not be an issue so that we can love themand have fun with them. Pray that God would ordain which children we get tospend time with.Pray that we get to go to the orphange often and that we would havediscernment on when to take breaks. Pray that we would take breaks and nottry to over do it because we "only" have 14 days.Pray that the support money we take over there would go a long way. Praythat we would be wise stewards of that money and would be able to blesseveryone and anyone who is in need!Pray that now as finals are ending we would be able to really focus and getready for this trip. Pray for a supernatural peace for our hearts and mindsand patience --- ohhh pray for patience :).

Thank you so much for all that you are doing. Know that we appreciate allof the emails, letters, support, and more!