The Pre-Trip

So, this is a new blog.  I am taking a break from Ventures in order to do a blog strictly about the events, stories, happenings on the Round the World Journey of myself and my new husband. I will most likely be the main author, however, he will also post from time to time.

The name of the blog reflects some of our purposes in this trip. We hope to explore and search for many things.  We search for new friendships, beauty, fun, adventure, rest and refreshment, new experiences, service opportunities, mission, vision, God's voice, a deeper love for each other.

Probably our deepest desire underlying all we search for on this journey is an ever growing sense of God's provision, trustworthiness and the experiential knowledge of how to live simply in that in a radical way.  We desire also to allow God to develop in us a dream as a new family. We've both left or are leaving our former lives and our work for the past 12-13 years. We have both recently left our  un-married lifestyles of many years. We desire to learn how better to hear from God together and be obedient to bring his Kingdom wherever we are and in that to be open to gaining  certainty of the next step for us upon our return Stateside. The way is wide open and we expect God to engage with us as we seek after him in this.

⁷"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

 ⁹"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! ¹²So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:7-12

In a certain way, our search will be not so much an aggressive pounding the pavement so much as an intentional quietness and a waiting; an openness and a spiritual posture of expectancy and devotion.




The outline of our trip as it stands is as follows:

Departing June 14 from our home in Minnesota to make a week road trip to the east. Along the way we will visit family in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. We'll leave our car in VA in order to do some visiting on the far end before we drive home to Minnesota.

Our flight across the big pond to the east is late on June 21st. We'll head to Cape Town, South Africa, via London.

Cape Town for the first week- 2 World Cup soccer games!!

Up to Kwa Zulu Natal, on the coast at an organic farm for 10-12 days. We'll be helping develop gardens as well as, technology projects such as compost water heater.  There are opportunities in the community for a community gardening projects, as well.

After that, perhaps we'll go explore some mountains in Lesotho.

We'll fly out of Johannesburg and make our way to Milan.
From there our plans get a little less clear so far. We hope to spend at least a month doing another work exchange on a farm that perhaps has bees, cheese, vineyards, hazelnuts, etc.
We may end up trying to rack up our country lists simply riding around the EuroRail and dipping our toes at stations in each country!! Just kidding.

From Italy, we fly to Indonesia and will be visiting some folks we met this winter who asked us to come check out their school to see if it could be a fit for us- to see if our skill sets and God's leading matched with the needs they have there currently.

After a month exploring there, we will fly further around the globe to Hawaii's Oahu.  We have another work exchange farm lined up there where we can have a place to camp, get our hands dirty helping out and then relax and visit other friends and relatives there as well.

From there we fly home in time for the week of Thanksgiving on the east coast.
At that point we'll go from planes to an automobile and drive our way back to the north woods winter.

So that is  a quick run-through of our plan. If you want to support us in prayer we have a little spot for intercessors who'd like to do that (click on the become a Follower thing on the right hand side) We've seen the evidence of the power of intercessory prayer to change our lives and desire that never to end.