Look at all this!

I'm so sorry it's been so long since I last posted - but I've got quite a bit of news!

First off, I found out a couple of weeks ago that I can go to Spain two days early to help with setup and suchlike.  So I'll leave November 14 and get back on the 24th - I'll be gone 11 days instead of 9.  I'll get to meet the rest of the team at orientation at our district office on September 8.  That's when we'll get our assignments and plan out the work.  Also: I officially have all my funds raised for this trip.  Hallelujah!  Thank you all for your generosity and prayers!

This weekend I was able to attend the annual CD 100 retreat at Beulah Beach.  The CD 100, if you remember, is the group I joined a couple of months ago when I first learned about the Spain trip.  It's a group of people (not just teens and collegians, as I previously supposed) who are interested in missions and are looking for guidance and support as they seek to follow the call.  I had the privilege of leading worship for this group of 10 students over the weekend - thanks also to everyone who prayed for me during that time. :)  The whole weekend was a huge blessing.  The biggest benefit for me was hearing the operation of the Christian and Missionary Alliance; it was helpful for me to hear about the different paths available for prospective missionaries.  Since our family hasn't been with the Alliance very long, I was glad to get the lowdown on how all this works.  I was also surprised to connect with some CD 100 members who live quite close to me.  Our district covers half of Ohio and all of West Virginia, so I was pleased to learn that several of the attendees live within an hour of my house.  It's nice to have close connections. :)  And I finally met Bob and Dian Harner, the Central District's Missions Mobilizers and the directors of the CD 100, in person!  They're very knowledgeable, and I'm really looking forward to getting to know them better.  All in all, it was a great experience; I'm excited to get more involved with this group and keep in touch with the other members.

One last thing: I've begun the process of studying Bambara, Mali's spoken language, online through Indiana University.  Barb's promised to help me learn some basic greetings and blessings before we leave, but I'm to get this much of a start.  I've only been able to do a couple of lessons so far - they're prerecorded and set to follow a textbook written by (I think) a couple of IU's professors.  Because of the way I learn and the way the lessons are set up, it would be helpful for me to have this - or any - Bambara textbook.  However, this textbook (apparently the only one of its kind) is long out of print, and I can't seem to find it anywhere.  Would you pray with me that if God wants me to have this textbook He'd dig it up and show me where to get it?  Please also pray that He gives me the aptitude for and commitment to learning both Bambara and French.  And if anyone has any ideas on how/where to get really obscure books, I would be ever so grateful!

Thank you all so much!