Friday, October 19, 2012

2013-2014 Budget

I haven't found a way to link my actual budget to my blog but I will give you all a rough outline below.

One Time Expenses
*Airfare (2 Round-trip Tickets):  $4,000
Mult-entry Visa: $204.95
Resident permit: $188.00
National ID Card: $100.00
Water taxi (transport to and from the airport): $200.00
12% Charge for Ripe for Harvest Support and Financial Services: $1,920

Monthly Exepnses
*In Country Travel Expenses (taxis and gas): $50.00
In Country Lodging (Rent): $300.00
*Miscellaneous (food, giving, other): $290.00
Medical Insurance: $168.00
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Total Expense for 24 month trip = $26,004.95


*Estimations: based on previous budget with World Hope International

I have contributed to the above 31% of the total cost. Current commitments at 69% of total expense.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Prayers

"So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer." Ezra 8:23

God continues to open the door for me to head back to Sierra Leone this January. I am going to be volunteering with an organization called Enable the Children an organisation reaching out to families of kids with disabilities by providing care and basic teaching of therapy and health practices. You can read of the amazing stories and more about the organisation on their website: http://www.enablethechildren.org/

As God begins to prepare my heart and Vez the founder of Enable the Children and I communicate back and forth in preparation of my trip I want to bring my family and friends alongside this journey and ask that they be in prayer with us. My trip is planned for two years, January 2013-December 2014, I also will be returning to the USA once for 3-4 weeks. In these two years I will be working alongside Abu and Ambrose two of the Sierra Leoneans who have been trained in physiotherapy and Ana a physical therapist from the UK. God has intricately placed my footsteps and as I continue to step I pray that I am always seeking his will. I would love to have the following things kept in prayer.

* Seeking his will, his word, and wisdom in all the preparations.
*Keeping Sierra Leone in prayer and all my dear neighbors and friends as I communicate with them a few times a month, that our relationships will continue to grow and branch across the cultures.
*Prayer on discernment to where I will be living- I have two options to return to the previous house or to live at the Enable the Children Team House. Both are a huge blessing!
*Prayer for Enable the Children- specifically Abu and Ambrose who I have met before while in Sierra Leone, their hearts are no doubt loving and caring for these children day in and day out as they face incredibly difficult situations that they will continue to be encouraged and Enable the Children will grow in the relationship with these families bring God's light to sometime very dark places.
*Prayer for an easy transition of returning to Sierra Leone and joining the team. That my gifts in nursing will be used to bring more health care- triage and teaching and that in it all I will be working alongside and learning from Abu and Ambrose as well as Ana.
*Finally that I remain humble knowing it is God not myself that has lead me here and he does not need me to do His work and yet he choose me.

God placed a passion on my heart long ago to work with kids with disabilities. I never imagined that might someday mean living in a foreign country, climbing mountains to visit a little child with Cerebral Palsy. Now it is hard for me to imagine doing anything else, yet wherever he chooses to move me I will go, sometimes after dragging my feet a little but I ultimately come back to being in awe that I have a God who desires his good and perfect will for me.

Faithfully and In Love,
Jaimie