The Last Six Months

If you have spoken with Joel and I recently, or have read anything from us, you've gotten the back story.  But the last six months have also been quite busy.  As we said in our prior post, we found the internship for Bright Hope International in October and started the application process right away.

In November, after turning the necessary papers, we had a phone interview with Terra from Bright Hope. She asked about our faith journey, our interest in Bright Hope, our international experience. We then waited for the next steps. Mike Rudder, the Director of International Partnerships, and Cindie Gillie, our direct contact for Bright Hope, sat down with Joel and I in January for a two hour interview.  Normally interviews are a bit stressful, but interviewing together was actually quite fun.  It's a lot easier to be convincing when you're talking up your partner than when you're bragging about yourself.  (I might have Joel join me for any future job interviews so he can say wonderful things about me.)

The next step was a Skype interview with the Brubachers.  For Joel and I this was our first ever Skype experience. The conversation was a bit challenging due to the connection coming in and out. (Until recently, Zambia's major internet provider was owned a Libyan business. After Qaddafi's regime fell, Zambia wanted to own their internet. Because of this transition and many other reasons the internet comes and goes in Zambia, especially rural areas like Samfya.)

The last step towards acceptance was a psychological evaluation with a counselor named Jane.  We were intimidated, but it was a really great conversation that sparked questions of how prepared we were for immersing ourselves in another culture. How we would handle immense loneliness?  How might our pasts resurface when we are emotionally spent, tired, and hot?  What skills do we possess to handle those moments?  I think we could have talked for hours just learning from Jane's experience oversees and how there were moments she was wondering what the heck she was doing there.

In March we were officially accepted as Bright Hope Interns!!!!  That week we were so blessed to meet the Brubachers face to face!!  Mark grew up in Zambia, Carmen in Kenya. They met in Highschool. Carmen went to Berkley and pursued her engineering degree.  Mark got his agriculture degree. They worked in Sudan for three years. Carmen described how exciting it was to design roads, bridges and damns in Sudan. Once war broke out again they left and found Bright Hope. It was a perfect fit for them. Neither of them wanted to be missionaries and have to deal with church politics to raise support.  It is important to Bright Hope to hire natives of the countries that they work in.  Our conversation with them went really well; we look forward to learning more about this amazing couple who have invested their lives in Africa.

Another connection that we made through a friend of Joel's (yeah Ronnie!) was meeting Princess Zulu. I will speak of this meeting in a further post. Incredible!!!!

Recently, we were working on writing support letters. While at a local coffee shop, we were folding addressing our letters a lady asked us if they were wedding invitations. Once she heard what we were doing both her and her friend helped us fold all of our letters!! Thanks Jen and Lisa!!

We have also been working on our Fundraising Website!! Be sure to check it out! http://www.razoo.com/story/Rachel-And-Joel-Dewey-Zambia-Internship