Anyway, these are the different places I have decided on praying for so far, and why, if for any particular reason, I chose that area. Also, for most of the countries, unless I had a specific town I thought of, I just chose the capital city. This is something that I heard about from Travel The Road, a group of missionaries that took a year and a half backpacking and ministering to people in different countries, so unless I find something in a particular town, the capital is where I'll be praying about.
(in no particular order)
1. Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic: I was a leader on a trip that Student Impact took here this past March, and it was such a great experience. Relationships have already been formed there, and I already know of a church and people I will be able to get in touch with there.
2. Portland, Oregon: I watched a MSNBC special on the homeless youth of Portland once, and it was so incredibly heart breaking to watch. Portland has one of the highest, if not the highest, percentages of homeless youth in America, and they are, like most homeless people, treated like crap by everyone they encounter. They are kids and teenagers, and still have so much time in their life to turn around and make something of themselves. They just needed to be given hope.
3. Iganga, Uganda: Prior to moving to the Chicago area, I had been speaking with the people in charge of missions at my church in the San Antonio area about possibly spending an extended amount of time in Uganda following graduation from college. Iganga is a village that my church works a lot with, and there seems to be a lot going on there, including the recent drilling of a water well, and building a boys and girls orphanage (if i remember right). I chose Iganga because people from my church already have relationships built, so hopefully they could connect me.
4. Jerusalem, Israel: Why would I not want to go here!? There is so much biblical history that that I don't even know where to start. There is so much spiritual activity in the area, not only among Christians, but among Jews and Muslims as well. I have a few friends who have gone on trips here, and heard nothing but incredible things. What better way to put myself in the context of some of the stories in the bible than actually being there?
5. New Dehli, India: For some reason, ever since I took social studies in elementary school, part of me has wanted to go to India. Not exactly sure why. I have a few friends who have gone to India for mission trips, or for working there for a little while and they have told me how great of an experience it was for them. Recently, friends of ours made friends with a guy that just moved here from India 3 months ago, and I have become friends with him as well. I remember the first time he came to Willow Creek a little over a month ago, he said it was his first time ever stepping foot inside of a church, and since then he has come nearly every Sunday. This guy is such a relational guy, so friendly, and so giving, and he is the first Indian I have ever known. After knowing his personality, I really want to go to India and learn more about the culture and the people.
6. San Jose, Costa Rica: My sister went to Costa Rica in high school, and we had a student from there come stay at our house. From what I have seen of the area it looks like an incredible place. The reason, though, that I chose Costa Rica is because I was thinking about countries in or near South America, and one day I found a video of a worship song that one of my friends brothers wrote, who is the worship leader for Axis, done in spanish. I asked him who did the video, and he said "its a band from Costa Rica dude! Crazy huh?" Since this song has been in my head almost non-stop since I first heard it, I decided, why not Costa Rica?
7. Cape Town, South Africa: There was a mission trip led here with Student Impact this past year as well. I have had, and currently have, many friends who have gone on mission trips here, and when I heard about the poverty, the brokenness, and the lonely children there, again, my heart broke. This morning on one of the morning news shows, there was a children's choir from South Africa that sang, and I believe, if I remember correctly, they are all orphans. Also, last year at Willow, the South African Children's Choir came and sang at a service. It was INCREDIBLE. So moving, and so sad to know that each of the singers had lost one or more parents to death, and that there are thousands more children in the same situation who feel hopeless.
8. South America: I don't even know where, but I would like to go somewhere near the Amazon. I thought about South America partly because of the movie End of the Spear, which is the story of missionaries who go to bring the Gospel to a remote tribe who hasn't ever had connections with the outside world. The thing that has drawn me to South America, I think, is the remoteness of so many areas. Not that I would be necessarily going there, but, you never know.
9. Mexico City, Mexico: Again, friends have gone to Mexico on mission trips, good things said. Also, it touches Texas, so that is a plus (only joking, but really, it does touch Texas). I have been working on my spanish again recently, as well as a few Sundays ago I went to Casa De Luz, which is the spanish service at Willow Creek. I have been trying to surround myself with spanish if I can, not only to pick it up and be able to speak it when I go back to Texas, but also because it opens up the opportunity for relationships to be built with others who do not speak english.
10. Not sure: what do you all think? Seriously, I am leaving a piece of this whole thing up to you. Include why you chose that.
10.
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