Janelle's first Newsletter- onto Newlife!

I find myself among friends. The trip down was long, but not too painful. I got most of my tears out Thursday morning, and by the time I was waving goodbye to the new farm cow, April, I was at peace. It wasn’t till the next morning, talking to some guests that were over at my Auntie Nellie’s and Uncle Erv’s that the old excitement started to set in. As I talked about my past, and the steps along the direct path that lead me to Newlife, my old excitement returned. And I remembered that God really was fulfilling the desires of my heart!My next stretch of bus trip was longer than it should have been, due mostly to a late start and bad traffic. I sat beside a very interesting woman. She was an artist who worked mostly with leather and natural materials. Her name is Verity Stillwaters. I’m sure she is part Native America. She had moved around a lot and had a much advice on things. She pulled out a zip lock bag in the course of our discussion and started to offer me small pinches of...dried herbs. Some tasted like tea leaves and some like sawdust. Each was supposed to cure me of some supposed ailment... Towards the end of the ride our conversation turned more religious, she had read the bible cover to cover and memorized much scripture but her theology was really...twisted. She kept using words like “interesting” and “helpful” to describe what she remembered, though there was no time to get deep into things, I felt we had a really strong connection. She gave me her card and told me she’d love to get a call from me and would show me around/put me up any time I was down in San Diego. I arrived in Longview hours late but Lynn was still waiting, she’s one of those women who you know looks young for her age and has that sparkle in her eye. We didn’t run out of things to talk about on the 20 min drive “home.” We crossed the Columbian river into Oregon and soon arrived at the small town of Clatskanie. A quaint pizza parlour was already housing the 4 girls who had previously arrived. We had no trouble connecting. Sarah and Holly were best friends who had met while working in Malawi together. They are both about 23 and full of experience and fun. Jess is a special ed teacher and Midwifery is another step to the work God is calling her to do in Indonesia. She has already done more a year of missions work there. Jordan is the youngest in the group and I was easily drawn to her huge blue eyes and sweet face. She is just out of high school but is only 4 months younger than me. The oldest in a family of (soon to be) 13, she has lived with her family for about a year in Brazil. She and I will be close, sometimes you can just tell these things, and maybe I just have a lot of practice!Later when we were already in bed the last three (three are ahead in Davao already) arrived. There is Stephanie, the oldest by far at 30 who I think will have a bit of a rough go, but she is made of strong stuff. A missionary in Paris for 3 years I got to soak up her French as she was speaking to her French “mama” on the phone today. Serena is the only “real” Canadian in the bunch, and has spent the past year at Prairie Bible Institute. She is really fresh to missions but knows herself well and has a deep sense of purpose. Last of all, Michelle, so far it’s been pulling that she, Jordan and I will make a three some. We are the youngest in the group and all oldest from big families, of whom we have spent time overseas. Michelle is a true blue MK; she’s spent the past 7 years (minus this past one) in Taiwan. As all true MK’s you can imagine it didn’t take us long to dig into each other’s lives and basically pick brainWe identify so much and are similar in the right ways. She speaks Mandarin and Taiwanese and knows she is going back into China as a missionary. She has a heart for the people of Tibet. Talking to her today about Tibetan Buddhism really opened my eyes and I recognised so many bridges to the satanic secret societies in Liberia. Again typical of MK’s, the three of us are already comfortable to reach for each other’s hands; touch is comforting in this time when emotions can be stretched. Our leaders are great, and many of our questions have been answered already. However we really won’t have any idea what it’s all like till we get there. I am encouraged, every girl has a unique story as to how God lead them to this school and each is as miraculous as the last. I have an amazing sense of all things being right. We are all on a path so much bigger than ourselves.We are staying in two rooms at the Town “Inn” who offered the rooms for free as a promotional I suppose... We’ve been hiking and Oregon has been in beautiful weather. Today we visited a huge waterfall after going to the sponsor Vineyard Church in Oregon. The food and fellowship has been great, and though we have a long trip ahead of us, we all can’t wait to just arrive! GOD IS GREAT!