In less than 5 weeks...

...Lauren and I leave for Haiti. We are going with a team of 14 other people from our community.

Making the decision to go was not an easy one because both Lauren and I have been looking forward to going back to Ethiopia, possibly next summer, possibly our entire family and possibly for more than a short time.

And although we have not let go of our vision to some day return to Ethiopia, the closer we get to next summer, the more unlikely we will be going back that soon for various reasons.

Lauren and I share the same passion and desire - to travel overseas and serve the poor. This will be our first missions trip together and we are excited to see what possibilities are out there for us.

Like I said, this decision did not come easy. In fact, I kind of feel like I'm betraying Ethiopia. Ethiopia is where are hearts are.

But when we saw this opportunity to join a team going to Haiti to serve in tent cities and help clean up rubbish,  among other things, Lauren pleaded with us to let her go. She also has a cool testimony on how she received confirmation from the Lord that she is suppose to do this trip.

Steve and I didn't want her going without one of us and we just couldn't say no to her.

So, we signed up and I asked the Lord to close a door quick if we are not to go and we trusted that He would give me some confirmation along the way.

One week after we turned in our money and registration, we received a packet of information through our leader from AIM (Adventures In Missions), the organization who will be directing us in Haiti.

In this information, it described the location where we will serve in Port au Prince and it is called FON TAMARA.

TAMARA is my birth name!

Isn't that cool?!! I will take that as a confirmation that I should be going on this trip!

Anyway, we will be staying in a compound with fence all around, a locked gate and barbwire. The temperatures will be in the 90s! We will be sleeping in tents. Our family has NEVER camped.

Please pray for our team as we prepare and train for our 1 week trip. Please pray that the Lord is paving the way for us and putting protectors in place before we arrive. Please pray that God prepares each of our hearts to be ready to respond and fulfill great needs. Pray for Steve, Lauren, Avery and Samson, that they find peace in their own hearts over us going.

I am nervous about leaving the family for this length of time, especially Samson. Our attachment is going amazingly well. So, please pray that this time away does not cause a disruption with our attachment progress.