Hi dear friends,
I just realized it's been 2 years since I began writing this blog and so much has happened in that frame of time. From deciding which organization to join, to being accepted with MAF, and now over half way through ministry partnership/support raising with a departure date in sight. This past year was full of traveling and sharing about the ministry of MAF. I am thankful to be in one place for a record 3 months! Oh to settle into normal life again. I yearn for that day - crazy I know. Support has been coming in slowly but steadily over these last 8 months and now I'm up to 54% monthly & 59% outgoing. I've hit a plateau for the last 3 weeks, so you can definitely pray that more people will want to be a part of the work of MAF. If I break it down, 40 people at $50/month (or 80 people at $25/month, etc.) would reach my ongoing monthly target and $8100 in individual gifts. So all to say - it's very doable and we're very close! My goal is to be at 100% support in both monthly & outgoing by Christmas. This will give me the capacity to finish up my last bit of training with MAF before heading overseas in April. If it doesn't come in before Christmas, well...then my training will be pushed back to the 2nd class of the year which I believe is in April, therefore pushing my departure date back till summer... which pushes back my language training in-country, causing a delay in when I start teaching...a bit of a domino effect. So do pray with me that despite the pause in giving, we'll reach our target for Christmas!
On to another topic....
I had an adventure a few weeks ago. I came home in the late evening to find that my house smelled of natural gas. The boiler had just been replaced 5 days before and the installer had come the day before to fix it again as we had smelled gas then as well. So after trying to get a hold of the installer to no avail, I called the gas company who immediately had me evacuate the house. When asked if I had any symptoms, I said I had a headache, but was sure it was just from the strong smell. The agent told me she was going to patch me over to the fire dept. ( I didn't know why honestly, but figured it was protocol). I gave my name to the dispatcher and they confirmed my address and said a truck would be on its way. So here I am, standing on my front lawn waiting for everyone to arrive. I am honestly picturing the gas van and possibly one fire truck for backup for whatever reason. To my horror, I hear sirens...many sirens...getting closer and closer...Oh Lord, please don't let that be for me....and sure enough, THREE ladder fire trucks round the corner with lights and sirens ablazing. THREE!! They block off the road...there were FLARES. There had to be at least 20 firemen. It was crazy. I was escorted to the neighbours driveway where after a series of questions they turned to me and said because I had said I had a headache, EMS was on their way too. I had a choice of taking oxygen from them or waiting for the paramedics to arrive and go to the hospital with them. Well I certainly was not going to pay for an ambulance to take me to the hospital for nothing, so reluctantly I said I would take the oxygen from them. Four firemen come over with a duffle bag of oxygen. So there I am, standing in the neighbours driveway with an oxygen mask on - breathing...(so embarrassing). When the paramedics arrive, I am escorted into the ambulance where they hook me up to a variety of machines checking my oxygen levels, etc. They were friendly, however the one kept on giving me "facts" on carbon monoxide and how it is odourless...therefore you can't SMELL it. I told him I was aware. It was honestly the most bizarre interaction as they treated me like I was ill and I felt fine and was trying to talk to them normally but they wouldn't believe it. Finally a fireman popped his head in and said there was no carbon monoxide and they were evacuating the house due to the strong smell of natural gas. I was then released from the care of the paramedics (my choice) and back onto the street I go. Now by this time, the neighbours are in their driveways deducing to each other what had happened. No one knows me, so they're just chatting around me. I am absolutely freezing as we wait for the gas company to arrive. As I tried to control my physical convulsions of shivers, a fireman offered a fire truck for me to sit in and warm up. So up I climbed into the front seat. They're tall! I briefly thought to myself that if I had to go up and down into the truck, there was a good chance I would injure myself on more than one occasion....Moments later, the chief fireman on scene let me know they were heading out and had turned off the gas. The gas company said there was a major leak inside the home and had tagged the boiler. After he left, the boiler installer was called and when asked to come out and fix it that night, he said "well, I guess I have to put my pants back on..." ?!!!??!!! "Yes", I replied, "this is a PANTS-ON residence." :)
