Beginning Preparations

In the past week, I've been thrown into a flurry of activity. I have a lot to do before I leave, and the time is quickly ticking down. In approximately 60 days, I will be on a plane to Africa, and before then, I need to run through a checklist including medical preparations, financial preparations, and administrative details. Over the past few days, I have been working to compose my initial letter and my mailing list. This is a list of people who will receive my initial request for support and then a series of updates on my work in Swaziland.

Today I ran into Peter Snyder, a business professor at Calvin who used to attend my church back in Brookfield. While we were catching up, I told him that I was doing this internship in Swaziland with Partners Worldwide and he dove right in. He knew my business training is pretty limited, and he wanted me to have a better understanding of what I'm getting myself into. So he took it upon himself to prepare me. He introduced me to Cal Jen, another business professor who is somewhat of an expert in international business and missions. He used to sit on the board of Partners and he gave me a list of books to read and he's going to meet me for lunch next week to give me a crash course in everything. While talking with them made me realize how little I understand about what I'm getting into, they both seem like invaluable resources and I am looking forward to learning as much as I can from them before I go.