Bit Three

The weekend is over, but I haven't quite recovered from the earthquake my mind sustained at "Common Ground". I know the aftershock of it and the information I tried to soak in will not be gone soon. I have learned so much about the Islamic culture and the Muslim faith. I now have my own Qur'an, so that I can began to perform my own personal study of it. Though I am tired, I am now even more excited about what is to come as I get to know the community of Clarkston.

Yesterday, Josh and I took a trip up to Chattanooga to visit some friends. It was so nice to hear how everyone else is doing. I hope I have the opportunity to keep up with everyone often.

Sleeping in is so wonderful. Why isn't it something people can do more often after college? (Kudos to you, Alicia) This afternoon, I am organizing my life a little bit more - straightening out my calendar, running some errands, washing some clothes, and perhaps taking a nap.

Tomorrow, I will be meeting with Bryan, Rhoda, Heidi, and maybe some others to discuss our game plan while I'm here. Bryan already has me thinking about a method of virtual communication with members of AMFA. We have some events coming up as well that we need to start raising awareness for. As I get more information from them, I hope to have a clearer picture of how God plans to use me here.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support!

Bit Two

Wednesday began my immersion in the Islamic culture. It was really just a dip in the pool, though. This week, I am attending a series of meetings called “Common Ground”. I am attending these meetings in order to learn more about how to build peaceful bridges with people in the another culture. I love the tag line they use for these meetings: Building Bridges of Trust that Bear the Weight of Truth!

I won’t go into all of the details about the eye-opening insights I’m learning…unless you really want me too. I don’t even have them all understood quite yet.

The meetings will go until Saturday evening. I’m hoping this will be the only time this semester that I’ll have to be up before the sun, since I’m expecting my schedule to be pretty flexible.

Wednesday night was a lot of fun. A group of us went to Heidi's house for supper. She is someone I’ll get along with quite well! This is because of her enjoyment of various ethnic foods. For supper, Saralyn and I helped Heidi prepare Moroccan Couscous! To follow, we had spinach salad with citrus dressing and these wonderfully seasoned tangerines! I’m looking forward to collecting some new recipes!

I’ll admit, I’m pretty exhausted with all of the information I’m getting from these meetings over the past few days. I need to ask you for serious prayer! Please pray for me that God will do great things with me, despite my severe shortcomings. But also pray that He doesn’t let me know because I really must remain humble!

Bit One

This first post is going to be pretty short because I've spent most of the afternoon creating this blog. I can't guarantee that this is going to be the most exciting series of blogs you've ever read, but I hope to make it somewhat interesting.

Here's the gist of what I'll be up to for the next six months:

• I am moving to Atlanta, GA
• I will be working with a team based in Clarkston, GA (AMFA*)
• I will be learning about Islam
• I will be offering my services in a community of mostly Muslim refugees

God has certainly led me to a place where I will need to put myself completely in His hands and rely on Him daily. I am so excited!

Stay tuned...this will be a fun ride!

*AMFA = Adventist Muslim Fellowship Association