Departure: August 17...what an HONOR!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!  Praise Him all creatures here below!  Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts!  Praise Father Son and Holy Ghost, AMEN!!

I love the doxology, and it pops into my head in the harmonies that I hear while sitting at the staff table at Camp with all these pastors and their wives harmonizing 5 different parts.  It's wonderful!  

Anyway, it popped into my head due to the fact that I am praising God for all of the support partners that I have, both prayerfully and financially!  I had a flood of people sign up for my e-mail newsletter, and a similar flood of support come pouring in!  Thank GOD!

Thanks to my supporters, I am now fully funded, and I am departing for Macau on August 17!  My plane ticket has been purchased, and I am now starting to pack.  4 weeks from yesterday!  WOW.  

I keep thinking of what "God stories" I can share with you, and I was wracking my brain to see what I could share: but I just realized that this is one in itself!  I cannot believe that God is giving me the opportunity to be His missionary!  What an honor!! And what an honor it is that you are all reading this!  God is doing marvelous things, and I am so thankful that we as Christians are included in His plans!  Isn't it special?  That God would use US to carry out HIS plans!!!  Thank God for seeing us as FORGIVEN AND CLEAN because of what Jesus did for us--He died on the cross as a scapegoat...as the payment for our sins!  And not only that, He rose again, demonstrating His power over sin, death, and the devil!

And that is why I am going to Macau, and why God called you to support in one way or another: to share that message with people who have never heard it before.  To share the law (that we are sinful), but then share the Gospel (that we are forgiven)!

What an honor!

Speaking of honors, I would be honored to share my story--more like God's stories!--with you.  I ask you to "follow" or "subscribe" to my blog so that when I share updates you can be the first to see them!  You can change your preferences to have Blogspot send you e-mails whenever I post, or you can just check periodically to see if anything new has been posted :)  And feel free to leave comments--I love getting feedback!

Thank you for your prayers and your emotional support.  It means a lot to know that people are praying for me and thinking about me!

Name for Newsletter

I am looking for a clever name for my newsletter, but unfortunately I am unable to be creative at the moment.  I would like to include the name Macau, and somehow my name, but my name can be added somewhere else.

Here's what I have so far:

Mumblings from Macau
Alissa's Adventures in Macau
China Chat: Macau
Macau Minute
Macanese and Cheese

My creative juices are exhausted...so I would like you to give me some input!  What should I name my newsletter?  You can either e-mail it to me, or you can comment on this post! :) I will be sending out my newsletter soon, so I need votes quickly :)

Orientation Week 2

So this week I am learning about teaching EFL.  I have lots of homework, which I guess is ok because it helps :)

I won't bore you with all the details, but I will tell you this: there is a lot of information packed into this schedule, and I am learning a LOT.  It is a little exhausting, though.  Please pray for me and the other missionaries in training as we are learning.  Please pray that we are prepared as much as possible to leave for our respective locations all over the world.

It is not official yet, but I was given with some degree of confidence an estimate of the end of July for me to know when exactly I can leave for Macau.  As soon as I get the green light, I will book my ticket and then leave!

Thursday I should find out if I am fully funded or not.  I also have some more fundraising lined up, and I am excited, because if I were to go over my 100% mark, that money will go towards next year.  I am also looking at adding language learning to my financial profile, which will up the expense a little: plus it's just an estimate, and the real cost of the year will vary with plane ticket prices and such.

Anyway, a little too much logistics.

I had a not so great day yesterday, and my friend Samantha posted this video on her blog (linked with her name!).  It made my day a lot better, because it reminded me that God is always there with me, holding me tight, and comforting me.  Read Psalm 23 to see a similar example right from the Bible!

This reminder through the lyrics plus the upbeat tune cheered me up, and I was dancing around my hotel room for about 10 minutes replaying this song.

Step out of your comfort zone and dance around to this song, all the while remembering that God comforts us so much, and that He is always there to hold us tight!

Orientation: Day 2

Wow.  Today was intense.  A lot went on, and I went through a huge variety of emotions.  But to keep this short and sweet, I will highlight one thing that was stressed that I want to share with you.

As a missionary, I am not doing my own works.  The good that "I" do is the work of God.  I hope that through my posts I do not boast in what I have done, but boast in what God is doing.  I cannot wait to see what God has in store for me in Macau.  There are 4 of us going there, and we are all discussing what we are expecting/not expecting/hoping to experience!

But the main thing that we know is that God is working WONDERS there!  He is using the Christians there to reach out and plant and/or water the seeds that have been planted so that God can make them grow!

Thanks be to GOD, the almighty!

We sang my favorite hymn today.  I'll leave you with the lyrics, which are highly repetitive, but put together the verses make a bold statement about God and who He is and what he does!

Oh, sing to the Lord, oh, sing God a new song.

Oh, sing to the Lord, oh, sing God a new song.

Oh, sing to the Lord, oh, sing God a new song.

Oh, sing to our God, oh, sing to our God

So dance for our God and blow all the trumpets

So dance for our God and blow all the trumpets

So dance for our God and blow all the trumpets

Oh, sing to our God, oh, sing to our God

For Jesus is Lord! Amen! Alleluia!

For Jesus is Lord! Amen! Alleluia!

For Jesus is Lord! Amen! Alleluia!

Oh, sing to our God, oh, sing to our God

Orientation: Day 1

Today was Day 1 of orientation!  So much went on that I am not even sure where to begin.

Today felt like 5 days all jam packed into one.  I am rooming with an awesome girl named Hannah who is going with me to Macau!!  I'll link to her blog once hers gets set up :)  We have a lot of common, and it's gonna be a fun 11 days!

A few of us are sitting up on the lobby doing homework and such, so I should get back to that!! Filling out lots of forms, and reading things :)

I am going to leave you with a few profound thoughts of the day that have stuck with me.

• Happiness does not come from things.  Happiness comes as a biproduct of God's presence. --Rev. William Weedon
• [Jesus] is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. -- Colossians 1:17
• In Hebrew, the ten commandments are not in the imperative form: they are in the future.  This means that it is a prophesy of what we will be like in the future: when God molds us into His PERFECT children in heaven!  **This doesn't mean that we can disregard them: they are what God wants us to follow!  It is sin if we break them: because of sin it is impossible to keep them.  We should strive to keep God's commands, though we can't.  Through Jesus' sacrifice, we will be deemed PERFECT and given the gift of eternal life, fitting the mold formed by the 10 commandments that we are not able to fit now!

packing...

Today I am packing.

Unfortunately it's not for the "big day" when I leave the country...instead it's for orientation...ALMOST as exciting haha!!

I am headed off to St. Louis tomorrow to go to orientation with all the other new missionaries!  I am excited about this, and can't wait to see who else is going all over the world!

My Hong Kong friends are packing too!  They're going to Rapid City tomorrow to see Mt. Rushmore and the people in west river South Dakota.  It should be a great time for them!  I am sad to say goodbye, though--I have grown to love them!  But I will see them in Hong Kong!!!

I am procrastinating packing right now--I am not in the mood.  But I guess I rarely am.  I have to drop the girls off at church in the morning at 6:30, and I don't have to be to the airport until 10, so I will have a few hours in the morning to pack :)  Hopefully I'll get it done!

That's about all I have for today.  Moral of this story: I had a WONDERFUL time with the Hong Kong girls (and guys!), and am super excited to see them again!  I am also on my way to orientation, and will be enjoying St. Louis tomorrow!!

It's for sure!

This morning I received an e-mail from LCMS World Mission with my updated financial report......

drumroll please...

I have over 70% in!  That means that I am able to go!  I am still hoping to raise 100% of the funds before I go, but I am now able to get my plane ticket and take off on time!  I am very excited about this!!!

Thanks to everyone who has given support financially, and also to those giving support prayerfully and/or emotionally!

If you would like to help me reach 100% before I leave, visit this link to find out how to give a tax-deductible donation.  To receive my monthly newsletter, send "ADD" to alissa.asmus@lcmsintl.org

On a different note:

I am hosting 2 Hong Kong students this week, as they are part of a group here for a couple weeks.  It is so much fun!  Yesterday we went to a Pheasant's game (baseball), and we also went kayaking at the Outdoor Campus.  It was a lot of fun!  They are a blast to hang out with, and the culture difference is obvious, but surpassable!  I'll put more on later about this :)