2 Days

In 48 hours, I will be over the Atlantic Ocean on my way to London before heading south to Zambia. I cannot begin to express my love and gratefulness for all the support that I have received thus far and have no doubt that I will continue to be the recipient of such generous hearts. Thank you Dad, Mike, Jessyca, David, Ellisa, Kathy, Stephen, Jen, Pam, Trent, Hannah, Hannah, Bryn, Kiyetet, and of course my amazing mom who has been my best resource and friend through this entire experience so far. Her influence in my life, I believe, is evident in the way that my views and opinions of the world and God have changed. I am so grateful for her in my life and thank God for giving me the exact type of person that I needed to vent to, pray with, cry on her shoulder, and rejoice when God proved himself once again. And also a HUGE thanks to EVERYONE that has supported me financially. You are not under appreciated one tiny bit. Thank you for your sacrifice and your part in my trip. As my dad always says, I'm just the one getting on the plane, but every one in the church and has supported me is a part of the mission too. You're all part of God's plan for Lusaka, Zambia. Thank you for giving me the honor to be your representative in Lusaka. May God be glorified.

A True Miracle

If I ever doubted that miracles happened every day, I won't doubt again because today I lived a miracle. The morning all started with a routine trip a health clinic to acquire malaria pills for my trip. I was already frustrated with this company for not giving me straight answers earlier in the week, but I needed the medicine. So I dutifully went down and listened to a woman trying to sell me multiple vaccinations and pills for an hour before I insisted that all I wanted was malaria pills. I'm allergic to the pills that were being provided so I was extra stubborn when trying to confirm that I would be able to take this medicine. I'm sure she was frustrated with me and my family. My options were an expensive medication, one that was unreliable, and another that caused psychotic breakdown. My family and I decided that the first option was the best except for the $340 price tag. While I waited for the word from my parents, they made calls to see if the doctor could prescribe the same medication. As I drove away from the center, my only guarantee of medication, I received the call that the doctor had prescribed the pills that I needed, estimated price of $250, still expensive but much better! Only to discover that my insurance had covered the medication and my cost was $10! This could not be possible. It is a true miracle. I have know doubt that God had me in his hands and that he was showing me that he is a God of details and that nothing is too small to escape his notice.

Valley Low to a Mountain High

I have come through one part of the journey since I have raised all my funds for Zambia. And it truly has been a journey that God has been steering and I've only been riding along. My curiosity for God and what he is able to do has only grown in the past month. As of May 29ish, I had only raised about half of my funds. I have to be honest with you, I was very nervous and scared. I was starting to doubt that I was supposed to go and if God would bring the money in. But God gave me a verse that I clung to; Exodus 14:14, the Lord with fight for you; you only have to be silent. So that's exactly what I was forced to do. God didn't give me any other option other than to be silent during my failed car wash in which I waited all day to not wash any cars. God was telling me that it wasn't going to be through my own power this time that I was going to get something done, it had to be him. And within the week, God provided $1000. God did, not me. And now just a few weeks later, the rest has come in. In addition to the funds that I had to raise, I had to get a $100 yellow fever shot, but God provided the funds through donations to pay for that as well as cover the cost for the visa that I needed expedited. God has truly been good and faithful to his word. He has also been teaching me very personal and life changing lessons before I even set a foot on Zambian soil. He is teaching me that I am NOT alone and that he does understand what I am going through. It was a lesson that I deeply needed to learn and has made my personal relationship with Christ become even stronger. I am starting to understand what it means to truly have that one-on-one relationship with God, and I am loving every minute of that. Through the things God has let me experience, my desire to know him more has grown exponentially. Please pray that these experiences aren't just a "high" as the Christian community calls it, but a truly life changing, altering event in my life that I can continue to draw upon and grow from. My deepest desire right now is to know the heart of the living God as much as he knows mine. Although I know that can never completely happen, I love knowing that I will and can keep learning about him and experiencing what he can do.

God's Provision

Recently, I was considering financial situations with Zambia and school. There was a chance that I would have to put significant money towards my trip and what that would mean for school this summer. On top of that, my car failed inspection and need a few hundred dollars of repair and labor. When I was crunching numbers and starting to freak out, God provided the finances for my flight to Zambia. I still have a lot to go regarding finances but because God provided with my trip, I will be able to put money into my car. I was silly to doubt that money could conquer God's provision.

Support Letter

As you may or may not know, it has been a dream of mine to travel to Africa and serve in missions there. Well this summer, God has blessed me by fulfilling that wish. I will be going to Lusaka, Zambia for the month of July. I am choosing to go for an extended time because I am searching for God’s direction in regards to missions work in my life. By living there for a month, I will get a good taste of what it really feels like to live in Africa and if that is God’s call for my life. I am praying that God prepares my heart to listen for this answer specifically and also in general. Lately, I have felt challenged to be more in tuned with what God is telling me, to listen for the small, quiet whisper of His voice. It is a desire of mine to focus on listening during this entire process. I know that there will be a lot of excitement with everything that is in store for me, but I don’t want to forget to be still and simply sit in His presence. While in Lusaka, I will be working with the Chisomo Center that reaches out to street children. They have intervention and prevention programs to reconnect street children with their families when possible. My duties as an intern there will be teaching girls about hygiene, leading devotionals, teaching computer skills, and working to improve literacy rates. I pray that God directs my words and with whom I interact. One of my goals is to not ignore the gentle nudging of the Holy Spirit that I so often put aside in my daily life. Please pray that I will not ignore God’s push to do something even more outside my comfort zone. I am only there for a month and I want to be stretched as far as God will take me! Now you may be saying, “isn’t going to Zambia being stretched enough, Ally?” Well…yes and no. No because I have wanted to serve in Africa since the eighth grade, and I am living my dreams. Yes because I am very nervous about going overseas for the first time by myself and also for the longest amount of time that I’ve ever been on a trip. With that comes my fear of becoming homesick and missing my loved ones. I will have Skype, so I will be able to communicate with them some, but Zambia is 7 hours ahead of the East Coast therefore my time to talk with them will be limited. I am also concerned about adjusting back to American life and school. I will have a month before school to acclimate to American life again for which I am grateful. And now comes to that classic part of mission support letters where I ask for your financial support. (Yes, my trip does cost a lot of money: $3100.) However, I ask that you first and foremost join me in prayer and listening. When you hear an answer from God, please respond accordingly, whether it is to support me financially or through prayer or both. I would appreciate it if donations would be sent by the end of April. Ultimately, I only want to share this experience and what God is teaching me with you. Look for updates on my blog (bloomingcuriosity.blogspot.com) and Facebook as I will be posting regularly. Thank you and God bless, Ally Olkowski For financial donations, please make checks out to: CoLaborers International with my name in the note line. And send to: CoLaborers International 101 Morgnec Road B302 Chestertown Md 21620

To read more about the group I'll be working with, read their page! https://sites.google.com/site/chisomodropin/home

Check out my new page: Living a Dream: Lusaka, Zambia! ps- if anyone knows how/if I can put new posts into this page please leave a comment to let me know. Thanks!