A Few Updates!

Oh hello me! Welcome back to the blogosphere! Where have you been? :)

I give my word that I will finish my full spiritual autobiography probably by the end of the year. But here are just a few updates about what's been going on in my life and what's coming up!

New Career Path
I am going back to school this fall! I have been accepted into the College of Nursing at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. It's an accelerated program, so in 16 months I'll have my Bachelors of Science in Nursing and then be able to take the licensing exam to become a registered nurse. It's been a long process, and a lot of waiting, but God's direction has been so clear! I'm fully confident and at peace that this is exactly what God is calling me to. When I get a chance, maybe I'll share how God revealed this to me. Or you know you could just ask me in person :)

Haiti
I just got back from a short term trip to Haiti that I took with members from my life group and others from the Midland and Grand Rapids areas. What a mobilizing and educational experience! Stay tuned for a longer, debrief post! You know once I actually finish processing all my thoughts from the trip :)

Those are the two big things in my life right now! I still can't believe that I'll be moving away from home in under a month. As long as I've wanted to leave my parents' house, I know I'll miss it a lot too. God is faithful though, and I'm so excited for this new chapter!

Thanks for all your prayers! Much love!

Faith in Action Pt.1: Water is Life

"He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water." Isaiah 49:10

In many thirsty, desolate communities, bleak life expectancy rates have imprinted a familiar saying – "water is life" – deep into the community’s state of mind. More than 1 billion people do not have access to clean, safe water. Their only alternative is to drink from dirty, disease-infested water sources. A child dies every 15 seconds from a water-related disease. This amounts to nearly 6,000 deaths, or the equivalent of 20 jumbo jets crashing, every day. Water related diseases, including cholera, typhoid, dysentery, and guinea worm, kill more than 5 million people every year. On the other hand, the average American uses 170 gallons of water every day. Americans spend more than $61 billion on soft drinks every year. That's 15 times USAID's (United States Agency for International Development) annual budget!

This picture is from my dad's trip to Uganda. For one village, this was the water source before construction of the clean water well. It's pretty gross, dirty and unhealthy for drinking, but people had no other option before construction of the clean water well.

Jesus often used water as an illustration of life (check out John 4 for an example), and he spoke of the impact made by providing even one cup of cold water (Matthew 10:42). When a community gains access to safe water, its children's chances of survival immediately double and the outlook of the entire community is transformed. It's not just water though transforming a community. It's the redeeming power of Jesus Christ that is really at work, through us.

A clean water well, constructed by World Vision. WaSH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) is one aspect of what World Vision does in its development work.

*All statistical information is from World Vision