I would like to share some really exciting news...
I am going to the Philippines in October and November! I would be deceiving you if I said I was experiencing anything other than an intense feeling of anticipation mixed with some anxiety, not to mention feeling a little overwhelmed with everything I have to arrange.
I should backtrack and say that I didn't/don't really have any idea what I want to study, but I feel like having some sort of skills and training is always beneficial for life and ministry. I wasn't all that interested in the university course that I started in Jan this year so after completing one semester I have decided to take the rest of the year off. (Due to timing I sort of missed the option to apply for another course!) I didn't really want to waste a whole semester and since I have a desire to do full time missions/ministry at some stage it made sense to use this time to get some experience. Given that I have a passion for working with children and we have connections to a Christian School and a Children's Home in the Philippines, I commented to my parents and a few others that it would be kind of great if I could go volunteer with those for a month or two. From there things have snowballed and after getting in contact with the connections in the Philippines and having a discussion with friends who are from the Philippines and are involved in a church and the school things all seemed to line up. I can't neglect to mention that throughout this whole time I had been praying about the possibility and was completely unaware about how God was answering my prayers through others.
I have decided that I am not calling this a missions trip. To be honest I don't really know what to call it. I am not going on a holiday, I am going to serve, but I guess more than anything I am going to learn and to experience. So, when a friend suggested that it is a research and development trip I thought that sounded like a pretty good description. There you have it, I am going on an R&D trip!
