I'm Going to UGANDA!!

hey everyone. i know i haven't updated in a while. my life has been a bit chaotic.

i have some good news and some bad news. i'll give you the bad news first. i won't be going to school this fall. my college messed up and lost a bunch of my paperwork, and when i deferred my application last year to enter the treatment program in tulsa for the bulimia, they didn't defer my application, as i had asked them to... they actually withdrew it. so in january, i had to start the whole process all over again, which i did. i RE-PAID about $600 worth of fees that i had already paid last summer, even though i didn't ever set foot on the campus. i was getting concerned, in june, when i didn't hear from the school. i had gotten all my FAFSA and TAP grant award letters, but nothing from the college. so i e-mailed them a bunch of times and never heard anything. finally, after being very firm, i heard back from admissions last week. that's when i found out that a bunch of my stuff has been lost, i had a week to fill out forms and gather copies of the information that had been 'misplaced', and that classes started on august 25th. that was not going to be possible, and i was NOT happy. to be honest, i was pissed because now i had a whole year of planned time that was now open and UNplanned.

on to the GOOD news! i was 'talking' to my dear friend gabi (via e-mail), who has just gotten back from a missions trip to uganda with Show Mercy International (SMI). after looking at her pictures, and reading the blog she kept while in uganda, i felt a tug at my heart and i didn't know why. i kept ignoring it, until i could no longer do so. so i prayed, and asked God what on earth He wanted. and after much prayer, i feel that it is not an accident that i am not going to be in school until the fall of 2010... i feel that God wants me on the trip the SMI is taking to uganda this january, from the 11th to the 25th. my application and $500 deposit has to be in to SMI ASAP. the rest of the balance for the trip ($750) has to be in by november 1st. the deposit will be used towards my expenses (airfare, lodging, food, bottled drinking water, etc). i will need to pay for the yellow fever shot and malaria vaccine (both $110 each), since insurance companies don't cover that. i will have the opportunity to see the nile river (yay!) and do some sight-seeing, but the majority of the 12 days in uganda will be spent in an orphanage called hope children's home. some time will be spent in a hospital and some time will be spent in a prison. information about the trip is here: http://www.showmercy.org/2009/08/14/

please keep this in your prayers!! i am going to be doing a mad scramble to get the $500 in to Show Mercy International ASAP to reserve a spot for this trip. i know God will provide the funds, but it's a matter of me trusting Him and having the faith that He'll provide for me. i don't think i've EVER put this much faith in God, so this is quite the test for me!

much love to you all!
ali xoxo