Tuesday, November 22, 2011

A Little Update

So it has been a great day, and on great days I tend to get in the mood to write! Lucky you!! In all seriousness, I thought now would be a great time to update you all on how my preparations for Uganda are coming along. Most of my prep is spent in fundraising. Tomorrow, I will be getting my vaccinations (yippee!). Packing will come at a later date. But the majority of my time is spent doing what is absolutely necessary and not all-together easy, and that is fundraising! So that is the update that I want to share with you today.

From the day that I was accepted to the program to today, I have to deal with the reality that spending four months in a foreign country, volunteering my time in ministry, requires a great deal of money. And in that time, many people have asked me "Well, what if you don't raise the required amount? What happens then?" And I have begun to answer them in this way: I have two answers for that question. I have a realistic answer, and I have my answer. I'll start with the realistic one. Due to the nature of the type of organization that AIM (Adventures in Missions) is, they can not return my money to me, or to those who donated if I am unable to raise the funds. On the plus side, they will apply the money I have raised to my going on another trip at a later date. Sounds pretty good right?

Well, here is my real answer. And this is not an answer to show how faithful I am (because the money is still a daunting task, and I'd be lying if I said I had not worried at all about it), but instead it is an answer to show how faithful God is! The answer: I fully believe that if it remains God's will, I will be in Uganda in January! That leaves no room for the question of whether or not I'll raise the money. I am simply trusting God to provide for my needs. Those of you who know me personally, know that $5200.00 is simply more than I could hope to afford. And it is you all who know me, who I am most excited to see me go to Uganda in January, because you all will BEST understand that it is not by my ability, but only by the power and will of God that I will get to minister to the people of Lira! God has confirmed with me over and over that I will be in Uganda for the first third of the year 2012, and who would I be to question that confirmation by questioning if raising the money is possible?

**Lira, by the way, is the town that my team and I will be ministering out of. As I learn more about that area and what we will be doing, I will fill you all in with another blog post!**

Back to fundraising! Thank you to all of you who have donated so far. To those of you who are reading this blog because of the letters that I have sent out, thank you for visiting! I hope you'll check back often. To those who are praying and still trying to decide how best to support this ministry, I encourage you to continue praying and to be open to whatever God asks of you. It is my hope that He will choose to provide His provision through you! Thank you to those who attended my Fazoli's fundraiser, and thank you to those who are helping me prepare for my next big event.

Upcoming opportunity to give:
December 4th: 6:00pm, Everyone's invited!
     Ugandan Dinner and Silent Auction
     Jonesboro Worship Center
     1507 East Matthews
     Jonesboro, AR 72401
     *I'll post more about items that will be auctioned and the menu at a later date!

I am also working on a way to have people donate to me online. When I get that up and running, there will be a link to that on my blog and facebook page. Until then, if you would like to give please e-mail me at somer.allen@hotmail.com and I will get you the necessary information!

Thanks for taking the time to keep up with my journey! I pray God blesses you and your family this holiday season!

Blessings,

Somer