The thoughts and opinions expressed in this blog are not a
reflection of Peace Corps policy or beliefs.
I’m leavin on a Jet Plane
– 7/23/2012
Hello Folks!
I suppose this is the beginning of my adventures in Namibia (Southern Africia). This blog will attempt to explain my walk with the Namibian people as I serve as a Science Teacher in the Peace Corps. I’m excited to see what challenges and joys will come my way. I’ll do my best to share my life with you over the next few years, please pardon my ramblings….
A brief into:
Why did I
join the Peace Corps? I can’t remember exactly how I first heard of the Peace
Corps, but I can trace back my interest to at least my 3rd year in college. The
summer of 2008, before I started my 3rd year, I did a 6-week
internship through Fresno Institute for Urban Leadership (FIFUL). It was that
summer that my entire life changed. It was the first intense volunteering
experience I had and what I learned that summer has set me on a path that I
believe wholeheartedly is my calling in life. Since then I have been trying to
figure out how to live out that calling and somehow it has landed me here, on a
plane getting ready to leave for Africa.
My stomach
is tight and my head aches from exhaustion, but there is a feverish excitement
that feels as if it’s growing to big to be contained inside my chest. I know
that when I stepped on the plane to leave Fresno last Sunday, in that moment,
my life changed. Just like that summer in 2008, I don’t know how, but I feel
God has set these plans before me. And I know as I continue to follow his plan,
the adventure will be grand!!!
What I learned that summer in 2008 was that God calls us to sacrifice ourselves on behalf of others (brothers/neighbors/strangers/enemies) in his name [this call is to all who follow Christ]. During the Fresno Urban Internship that summer, I was shown clearly the God of the scriptures. I began to understand love through Christ’s life and as I served I started learning how to love both others and God. It is this that I feel is my calling; to live a self-sacrificing love just as Christ did.
What I learned that summer in 2008 was that God calls us to sacrifice ourselves on behalf of others (brothers/neighbors/strangers/enemies) in his name [this call is to all who follow Christ]. During the Fresno Urban Internship that summer, I was shown clearly the God of the scriptures. I began to understand love through Christ’s life and as I served I started learning how to love both others and God. It is this that I feel is my calling; to live a self-sacrificing love just as Christ did.
As I come to know him more and see
his image bared through others (shout out to my community), I am taught how to
love better. And although, I am poor example of his love, he has generously blessed
even the limited obedience that I have given him. It is for this that I have
been given many wonderful opportunities and blessings, one of which being the
Peace Corps.
I hope that I am faithful in my
calling. I pray that represent Christ in a worthy manor. I pray for my new
friends and community that are to come, that they might be blessed to
experience the love of Christ. Please, pray for me in this Journey, that I a
faithful servant with unquestionable integrity. Please pray for strength and
humility in me. I love you all so very much and miss all of you.
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