Flashback... to June 17, 2012

Well, I'm back from the Solomon Islands! I should have blogged about my trip, but I didn't. Instead, I sent out update emails to several people who supported me and asked to be on my email list. I feel bad that I didn't let other people access my updates, so I'm going to post the emails here. This is the first one. Enjoy!


Friends and loved ones,

This is the first email of many (hopefully) that I will send to you throughout my journey in the Solomon Islands! God has brought me so far, walking next to me all the way. He provided the means for me to raise all of my funds and He comforted me when I became discouraged. I am very blessed to be where I am right now and I thank you all so much for your support! 

I fly out to Dallas today. The travel schedule will be as follows:

Sun. 6/17 -- Fly to Dallas (to meet the team and for orientation and training)

Sun. 6/24 -- Dallas to Fiji (crossing the international dateline and landing on Tuesday 6/26!)

Tues. 6/26 -- Fiji to Brisbane, Australia (where we will spend the night)

Wed. 6/27 -- Brisbane to Honiara, Solomon Islands

...spend 4 weeks in the Islands...

Tues. 7/24 -- Honiara to Nadi, Fiji (for a week of debrief and planning for return home)

Tues. 7/31 -- Fiji to L.A. and then L.A. to Charlotte!

The first thing you can pray for is safety in travel. It is important that we make it to the Solomon Islands in one piece! My emotions have been crazy the past couple of days. I have been very nervous about leaving home and embarking on this journey with so many unknowns. But today I am so excited. It's a relief to know that I will at least still be in the U.S. for the next six days and hopefully when we leave the country as a team, I will already have 12 new best friends and sisters and brothers in Christ! This week will be about learning the language (Solomons Pidgin) and the culture, as well as some skills in linguistics and translation. I will be taking in a lot of information so pray that I can retain it and stay focused!

I'm not sure how much internet access I will have overseas. In the event that I have to type in all of your email addresses individually, I will most likely just send the emails to Mom and Leanna and they can forward them to all of you. You all mean so much to me and I am thrilled to have you on this journey with me. One last prayer request for now: I want to go through a book or section of scripture while I'm on this trip. Please pray that God will show me a good section from which I can learn for the next 6 weeks. Thank you so much!

Recap: I leave for Dallas today. Pray for safety in travel, focus and retention in training, and guidance in which part of scripture to study. Always pray that God receives all of the glory.

In Christ,

Lauren