Alright, so I haven’t exactly done a good job of telling you guys about WHAT I’m actually doing here, so since I have a few minutes, I’ll start to try to catch up. And maybe eventually I’ll actually finish one or two other blogs I started and forgot about.
So, let’s start at the beginning of the work we’ve done. Last week on Monday was our first day of ministry. They call it relationship evangelism because, while it IS evangelism, it’s not based on us walking around the village smackin’ people with a bible (metaphorically of course), but rather just talking to people and getting to know them. And beings how much emphasis Basotho (Basotho not THE Basotho because “the” is actually included in the word just so ya know) people place on spiritual issues, naturally, as newfound friends, we talk about Jesus at some point- but even still, we talk only about what they are interested in and certainly don’t force any issues or topics: as evangelism should be in my opinion.
This past week we did relationship evangelism in Qwa Qwa Monday through Friday somewhere between breakfast and supper and we ate lunch at the church we partnered with. Overall, it was pretty fabulous. Got to meet some amazing people, learn a lot about their culture, get forced to sing and dance for a couple of them… Fun stuff like that. Granted, there certainly were awkward moments when we would walk up to a house, be like, “hey, we’re Americans learning about the culture in the area…” and then get invited in and sit in awkward silence. The reason being that Basotho people are very, VERY quiet people. We’d generally have to sit there and drill em with question after question till they warm up to us more. As a general rule, when we thought we were having an awkward moment of silence, they didn’t find it awkward at all. We were often told that Basotho people sometimes just sit near each other and don’t talk for several minutes and only break it for a few words then go back to silence. They’re generally content to just sit in your presence. However, I found that after they warm up to you, they’re far more talkative- just human nature I suppose. Anyways. So yes. I’ve learned even more-so to be generally content with silences and not feel so compelled to blurt out whatever comes to mind. Which reminds me, I should mention that Basotho people generally speak Sesotho. Although, the younger kids/teenagers can usually speak at least SOME english since they’re taught it in school now, but the older the people, the less english they speak. So naturally each team has a translator- and of course, ours was the best. Dimakatso rocks. She was an awesome translator/person. We loved her.
Now’s when I finally tell you directly about some peoples we talked to… Well, at first, we just we directed down a “street” (aka really rough, wide dirt path/two rough dirt paths that are about the same distance apart as tires on a car) and we kinda just were like, “hey look, a house. Let’s go knock on the door and see what happens.” So we did. Or rather Dimakatso did since we didn’t know what the proper etiquette was here… And apparently it’s to knock quietly, yet insistently until you either decide no one’s home, decide to open the door and announce yourself before just walking in, or get actually get a person at the door. The first time, we were all QUITE surprised when Dimakatso knocked a couple times, then just opened the door and led us in. That was one of those “We’re DEFINITELY not in the states anymore” moments. It’s normal to just walk into someone’s house like that in Qwa Qwa. So yes, that first house we awkwardly (for us, not her) talked to the daughter of a pastor who was probably bout 16… then I think she had to go to school or something so we left. And so started our awkward ministry in Qwa Qwa. After that, we went to a few other houses briefly before getting brushed off due to chores or some other engagement for that day aka washing clothes (by hand in a large plastic tub thing) or cleaning chickens or work or something of the sort. Eventually though, we came to Kelello’s house. She rocks. We talked to her for a good long while that first day and just, generally, got to know her. She likes to dance and sing, so that first day she made ALL of us sing for her. Individually. Awkward. But we got through it with a lot of laughing and a new, odd sense of connectivity amongst all of us. Amazing that God was like, “Hey, just for the fun of it, let’s make them all grow closer through awkward, bad singing.” Good times.
And so ends the first day.
After that day, we went back to Kelello’s a couple times and actually had some amazing discussions: though the best part was that all the topics were brought up as questions posed by Kelello; she WANTED to know. God really worked that day. We actually ended up talking only about the topics we were each knowledgeable/passionate about or were perhaps supernaturally wise on. Fabulous day. The great part was that after basically talking about everything she had questions about, her friend walked in. Her friend (who I can’t remember her name unfortunately… African names are difficult just to say ONCE, let alone be able to repeat later) was very adamant that we come to her house… so we conferred at lunch and were basically like, well we’re basically satisfied here, and we’ve spent a LOT of time here, so why not take the opportunity and move on for a little while? Naturally, it wasn’t really our idea, but God posing the next step to us. This friend of Kelello’s, as it turns out, went to one of Thrive Africa’s programs for teens so naturally we were all like WHOA, crazy. That’s the point where we KNEW we made the right decision. But then the lady basically told us that she was born again but she was having teenage issues, essentially. Well look at that, 5 teenagers come to talk to her and encourage her. So there you have it: the perfect day that couldn’t have gone any better because it was obviously set up by a higher power than our own.
Days after were essentially balanced by us finding new families to talk to and talking to Kelello and eventually her cousin Agnes. The fun part was actually renaming everyone. Each of us Americans got Sesotho names and we gave our Basotho friends American/English names. I don’t recall how to pronounce the Sesotho names, but mine meant “laughter,” Craig’s “talkative,” Abby’s “quiet,” Micaela’s “smiley,” and Arielle’s “tall.” The names we gave our Basotho friends were Dancer, Peace, and Joy to Kelello, Agnes, and Dimakatso respectively. Sadly, since Kelello left Friday for her parent’s(she lives at her grandparents’ there in Qwa Qwa for school) we had to say goodbye, but left her with a Polaroid picture of us all so hopefully she’s reminded of everything we talked about and the love we tried to show her that week.
Also, one afternoon that week, each group did a session of children’s ministry at the church. Basically it consisted of games, a skit, bible verse, bible teaching, singing, and more games. Yup, the details of it aren’t very exciting, but I got to play a bunch of soccer stuffs with some kids so I was PERFECTLY content.
I suppose it wouldn’t do justice to mention the kids but not their enthusiasm and some other quirks. When kids first see Americans, they’re sometimes a little frightened because of the issues of white vs. black because of the Apartheid period which ended in ’94, but when they realize you’re not an Africaaner, they immediately want to play with you or have you take a picture or SOMETHING. Also, they FLOCK as soon as you take out a camera. They’re SO photogenic though, so it’s fabulous. And ALSO, they do this thing where you basically both do a thumbs up, put em together, and snap both your thumbs and say “shop” aka “cool.” So sometimes when I see a kid staring at me, I just smile and do a thumbs up and they immediately go from staring and frowning to smiling and returning it. It’s fabulous because by doing so, they realize that not all whites are angry oppressors and the like. So by smiling and encouraging kids, I slowly break down the barriers of race. Good stuff.
Finally, our last afternoon in Qwa Qwa, we all went to the hospital. That was an interesting experience. I’m not sure I’m such a fan of walking up to someone in a hospital and asking them a few general questions then asking if I can pray for em… However, I DO enjoy when Charlene brings me balloons for balloon animals when I’m in the children’s ward and also passing a soccer ball around with sick and injured kids. Besides the awkwardness of the praying, also, it’s difficult to just walk around amongst such sickness and not be overwhelmed by it. So yes. In general though, a good experience.
There. That’s what I’ve been doing for those of you that wanted to know. At least what I did last week… Maybe I should catch up further, but currently I’m lying awkwardly in bed typing in the dark and it’s hurting my back and keeping up a person or two. So that’ll have to happen some other night.
May God bless you annoyingly.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
Darkness
FYI, when you’re on the wrong side of the world, it gets dark early, longer, and more. Here, the sun goes down at 5:30 and gets dark really soon after. Not only that though, but the first full week here, there was no moon. Walking in the pure darkness is rather interesting here… It’s one thing to walk somewhere where you can’t see the ground beneath your feet, but it’s another thing altogether to not even be able to see your feet. Furthermore, you get that added joy of knowing that there’s ALWAYS some animal of some sort QUITE nearby, but never know if it’s just a rabbit on steroids (South African rabbits are weird) or a wildebeest, which are never pleasant to find yourself too close to.
Anyways. The great thing about all of this though, is that about two days ago, we caught a sliver of the moon for a few hours. Kevin and I were so excited we yelled and howled at the moon. It was fabulous. And now the moon’s been out for even longer. I look forward to if and when we get a full moon all night. Perhaps then I can see enough to walk safely in the dark.
Anyways. The great thing about all of this though, is that about two days ago, we caught a sliver of the moon for a few hours. Kevin and I were so excited we yelled and howled at the moon. It was fabulous. And now the moon’s been out for even longer. I look forward to if and when we get a full moon all night. Perhaps then I can see enough to walk safely in the dark.
Random Thoughts
So I thought today I’d tell you some random things about my time so far in South Africa. Mainly, I must tell you about the food. The food here is mainly good, and naturally, slightly odd. When we went to the shop to buy food this week for lunch, I would always try a new drink and snack. The best drink I found was called Iron Brew and it was similar to coke or pepsi, but was quite possibly better. However, my favorite drink so far is called Twist, and it’s basically a mango flavored fanta. It’s fabulous. I suppose it’s vaguely similar to the mango juice we drink in the morning (instead of orange juice like in the states). Also, I tried a pop called ginger beer, and it was… interesting let’s say- quite heavy on the ginger.
Also, one absolutely must take note of the chips. Most are Lays or Doritos brand, but the kinds are very interesting. There are some more normal ones such as cheese and onion or things of that sort, but what I also found was quite good was the fried chicken flavored chips. They actually did taste faintly of fried chicken- believe it or not. Let’s see… Oh yes. Before I get too far off drinks, here red tea is the norm. Any time people in the villages offered us tea this week, it was red. Apparently red tea is basically solely grown in South Africa and is very expensive back home, but here it’s super cheap. Good stuff (Best served with sugar and possibly some milk).
Furthermore, the food on base is interesting. If you don’t remember or haven’t heard, there are around 700 antelope on base (they actually said at LEAST 700, because that was their last count several years ago), along with a few hundred wildebeests, I think three ostriches, 6 zebras, and a million horses. The interesting part, however, is that, when the cooks need meat, let’s just say, it’s easily found. However, we DO also eat a lot of beef; I know they get it locally as well, but I know we’ve eaten some blessbuck and some wildebeest, but that’s all I’ve heard specifically. The great part is that when we walked up to drop off our laundry, I discovered some disturbing looking hooks hanging outside and realized that the laundry building is also part slaughter house. Good times.
Besides that though, I haven’t eaten a whole lot of weird things… Well, today I had some ostrich jerky but that’s about it.
TIA
Also, one absolutely must take note of the chips. Most are Lays or Doritos brand, but the kinds are very interesting. There are some more normal ones such as cheese and onion or things of that sort, but what I also found was quite good was the fried chicken flavored chips. They actually did taste faintly of fried chicken- believe it or not. Let’s see… Oh yes. Before I get too far off drinks, here red tea is the norm. Any time people in the villages offered us tea this week, it was red. Apparently red tea is basically solely grown in South Africa and is very expensive back home, but here it’s super cheap. Good stuff (Best served with sugar and possibly some milk).
Furthermore, the food on base is interesting. If you don’t remember or haven’t heard, there are around 700 antelope on base (they actually said at LEAST 700, because that was their last count several years ago), along with a few hundred wildebeests, I think three ostriches, 6 zebras, and a million horses. The interesting part, however, is that, when the cooks need meat, let’s just say, it’s easily found. However, we DO also eat a lot of beef; I know they get it locally as well, but I know we’ve eaten some blessbuck and some wildebeest, but that’s all I’ve heard specifically. The great part is that when we walked up to drop off our laundry, I discovered some disturbing looking hooks hanging outside and realized that the laundry building is also part slaughter house. Good times.
Besides that though, I haven’t eaten a whole lot of weird things… Well, today I had some ostrich jerky but that’s about it.
TIA
Sunday, June 21, 2009
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In case you're wondering, this is a panoramic view of (the South African) Mount Everest from in front of all our cabins. It's really silly that it's named Mount Everest because there are actually mountains to the left and right of it that are both taller.The day this was taken was actually the very first morning. We woke up, looked out the front window and were totally overwhelmed by the amazing sunrise. Plus, right then, you can't really tell, but there was a full rainbow over the whole Mount Everest.
Also, in case you're wondering, my cabin is in that first set of cabins closest to the camera and it's the second one from the right.
GOOD MORNING FROM AFRICA!
Friday, June 19, 2009
An African Entry (6-17)
Waking up in the dark can be quite the frustrating thing. But when you wake up 15 minutes before the sun starts coming up, it can change your world. Going from darkness to light is fabulous in itself, but going from dark unfamiliarity to the most beautiful scene you’ve ever seen is another.
I’d been listening to odd sounds outside for the longest time before I could even see anything. But such odd sounds are just confusing when you aren’t sure what they are. Turns out, they made a beautiful scene to look at equally beautiful to listen to once you figure out that the odd sounds are being made by all manner of birds and antelope in a rainbow of colors.
About 15 minutes after I woke up in the dark I started to see some light in the tiny crack between the window frame and the shade. Five minutes later I realized it was the sun rising up in golden yellows and oranges from behind a mountain. Yes, even in the three inch crack I was looking out at the world through I could see a mountain.
Eventually the other three got up one after another because I had such a desire to get outside and take pictures that when one woke up, I made sure to mention the amazingness of the tiny bit I could see. Needless to say, I got everyone up quickly.
Opening the door to such a scene is incredible. A sunrise in the mountains is indescribably beautiful. You’d have to see it to understand. Pictures certainly can’t capture it despite how hard I tried. Especially a sunrise in African mountains.
This mission base is probably in THE best place it could possibly be. Right behind our cabins is a mountain. This mountain (called Mount Everest actually) made for the best part of the sunrise to me. At one point the sun hit it just right so that it lit the mountain up a gorgeous golden brown color RIGHT as a FULL rainbow appeared that just so happened to completely shroud the mountain: it started just to the left of the mountain, went right over the top, and ended to the right side.
A perfect scene.
Essentially, we woke up this morning to God saying
Welcome to Africa!
I’d been listening to odd sounds outside for the longest time before I could even see anything. But such odd sounds are just confusing when you aren’t sure what they are. Turns out, they made a beautiful scene to look at equally beautiful to listen to once you figure out that the odd sounds are being made by all manner of birds and antelope in a rainbow of colors.
About 15 minutes after I woke up in the dark I started to see some light in the tiny crack between the window frame and the shade. Five minutes later I realized it was the sun rising up in golden yellows and oranges from behind a mountain. Yes, even in the three inch crack I was looking out at the world through I could see a mountain.
Eventually the other three got up one after another because I had such a desire to get outside and take pictures that when one woke up, I made sure to mention the amazingness of the tiny bit I could see. Needless to say, I got everyone up quickly.
Opening the door to such a scene is incredible. A sunrise in the mountains is indescribably beautiful. You’d have to see it to understand. Pictures certainly can’t capture it despite how hard I tried. Especially a sunrise in African mountains.
This mission base is probably in THE best place it could possibly be. Right behind our cabins is a mountain. This mountain (called Mount Everest actually) made for the best part of the sunrise to me. At one point the sun hit it just right so that it lit the mountain up a gorgeous golden brown color RIGHT as a FULL rainbow appeared that just so happened to completely shroud the mountain: it started just to the left of the mountain, went right over the top, and ended to the right side.
A perfect scene.
Essentially, we woke up this morning to God saying
Welcome to Africa!
A Boring Entry as Suits a Plane Ride (6-15)
I woke up around 3:30 am June 15. I couldn’t sleep any more. I’d only been asleep about two hours before waking up and knowing I couldn’t get another wink; I was about to leave for Africa.
I got up, showered, ate breakfast, and we left for the airport.
After luggin’ my luggage into the car and into the airport I awkwardly got my plane tickets; I was clueless since I’m new to this, but luckily Janette helped me out.
After just a few minutes I said goodbye to my family and made my way towards my gate.
Unfortunately the sitting area was rather full when I got there, so I just made my way back down the hallway back the way I came. However, about halfway down the hallway, I stopped; the sun was rising.
I’m a sucker for sunrises and sunsets¬- especially when I’m in the midst of saying goodbye to the town I grew up in. It’s odd to think that after leaving this airport, I’ll only be back to this place for a short time before going off to college and only coming back to visit occasionally. I never would’ve thought I’d have such a dramatic exit from my home town: most people just go a few hundred miles away to begin with, I’m going halfway around the world.
I’d hate to bore you with the details of the flights since they went so well they left me nothing to talk about. Essentially though, I flew from Sioux Falls to Denver, then Denver to D.C. It took around 4 hours flying time to get there so several hours more than that in total, but I don’t rightly know how much exactly.
Sadly the most exciting thing that happened on the way to D.C. was just that I sat by a lady about my age that I got to talk to a while; I was rather starved for conversation. It was a relief to finally have someone to talk to after several hours more or less alone- especially someone relatively interesting. It’s not often I get to talk to a Russian American who’s going home to visit family.
Once departing from the plane and my new Russian friend’s company I had a few minutes of “Oh crap, where am I and what am I doing here?” I’d never been to the Washington Dulles airport, heck the farthest I’d flown alone was right where I was right then. After about 15 seconds of mild panic, I heard a voice: “Ben?”
Some of my fellow intern friends who I hadn’t met yet were meeting the people at their gates to make sure they found the group. Again, it was such a relief to have some people to talk to. Even more so, it was a relief to have someone to ask where to go.
From there on, I was part of the group, so things went even easier. Whenever I had a question, all I had to do was ask. Plus I had some people to sit by for the next 17 hours on a plane.
The flight from D.C. went to Dakar, Senegal for a refueling stop then on to Johannesburg, South Africa. Again, things were pretty boring: nothing went wrong and nothing was too exciting. The most exciting part was the turbulence. Weird as it is, I enjoy turbulence. However, there always seemed to be turbulence RIGHT as we were starting to eat, so it rather ruined my enjoyment. After a few meals and movies and about two hours of sleep we arrived in Jo-burg.
After making our way through customs we met up with Charlene, our director for the summer interns. By then, we were all kind of in a daze from a serious lack of sleep so we pretty muchly just concentrated on getting into the cars and to get on our way once again. Also, we got our first intro to South African money called rand (which greatly confused me when Charlene mentioned something like 20 rand in passing since I thought she’d said grand).
The ride to Eagle Mountain, as the base is called, was rather boring but got more interesting the closer we got: the last about 10 kilometers is a gravel road. The interesting part, however, isn’t that it’s a gravel road so much as that it appears to be entirely unkempt what with the monstrous potholes that occupied more of the road than the “flat” parts. Yet we still drove at a good clip all those 10 kilometers.
At last, we were home. Charlene kept pointing and telling us where the mountains supposedly were and what their names are despite how we couldn’t see a thing and hardly knew where to put one foot in front of the other in the darkness.
Luckily the cabins, while simple, are still plenty cozy. Of all the buildings, being the smallest, they heat up the best. PLUS the water can be unbearably hot or cold depending on how precisely you fail to turn the knobs. Honestly, we feel rather pampered what with the HOT water and warm beds, yet we know that this is just the beginning of the winter here so it has yet to get as cold as it shall.
Altogether, it was an odd experience flying alone for the first time as well as meeting 23 people I’ll be spending the summer with and just immediately having long conversations and spending a lot of time with immediately after stepping off the plane to D.C.
And so concludes the insane travel to AFRICA!
I got up, showered, ate breakfast, and we left for the airport.
After luggin’ my luggage into the car and into the airport I awkwardly got my plane tickets; I was clueless since I’m new to this, but luckily Janette helped me out.
After just a few minutes I said goodbye to my family and made my way towards my gate.
Unfortunately the sitting area was rather full when I got there, so I just made my way back down the hallway back the way I came. However, about halfway down the hallway, I stopped; the sun was rising.
I’m a sucker for sunrises and sunsets¬- especially when I’m in the midst of saying goodbye to the town I grew up in. It’s odd to think that after leaving this airport, I’ll only be back to this place for a short time before going off to college and only coming back to visit occasionally. I never would’ve thought I’d have such a dramatic exit from my home town: most people just go a few hundred miles away to begin with, I’m going halfway around the world.
I’d hate to bore you with the details of the flights since they went so well they left me nothing to talk about. Essentially though, I flew from Sioux Falls to Denver, then Denver to D.C. It took around 4 hours flying time to get there so several hours more than that in total, but I don’t rightly know how much exactly.
Sadly the most exciting thing that happened on the way to D.C. was just that I sat by a lady about my age that I got to talk to a while; I was rather starved for conversation. It was a relief to finally have someone to talk to after several hours more or less alone- especially someone relatively interesting. It’s not often I get to talk to a Russian American who’s going home to visit family.
Once departing from the plane and my new Russian friend’s company I had a few minutes of “Oh crap, where am I and what am I doing here?” I’d never been to the Washington Dulles airport, heck the farthest I’d flown alone was right where I was right then. After about 15 seconds of mild panic, I heard a voice: “Ben?”
Some of my fellow intern friends who I hadn’t met yet were meeting the people at their gates to make sure they found the group. Again, it was such a relief to have some people to talk to. Even more so, it was a relief to have someone to ask where to go.
From there on, I was part of the group, so things went even easier. Whenever I had a question, all I had to do was ask. Plus I had some people to sit by for the next 17 hours on a plane.
The flight from D.C. went to Dakar, Senegal for a refueling stop then on to Johannesburg, South Africa. Again, things were pretty boring: nothing went wrong and nothing was too exciting. The most exciting part was the turbulence. Weird as it is, I enjoy turbulence. However, there always seemed to be turbulence RIGHT as we were starting to eat, so it rather ruined my enjoyment. After a few meals and movies and about two hours of sleep we arrived in Jo-burg.
After making our way through customs we met up with Charlene, our director for the summer interns. By then, we were all kind of in a daze from a serious lack of sleep so we pretty muchly just concentrated on getting into the cars and to get on our way once again. Also, we got our first intro to South African money called rand (which greatly confused me when Charlene mentioned something like 20 rand in passing since I thought she’d said grand).
The ride to Eagle Mountain, as the base is called, was rather boring but got more interesting the closer we got: the last about 10 kilometers is a gravel road. The interesting part, however, isn’t that it’s a gravel road so much as that it appears to be entirely unkempt what with the monstrous potholes that occupied more of the road than the “flat” parts. Yet we still drove at a good clip all those 10 kilometers.
At last, we were home. Charlene kept pointing and telling us where the mountains supposedly were and what their names are despite how we couldn’t see a thing and hardly knew where to put one foot in front of the other in the darkness.
Luckily the cabins, while simple, are still plenty cozy. Of all the buildings, being the smallest, they heat up the best. PLUS the water can be unbearably hot or cold depending on how precisely you fail to turn the knobs. Honestly, we feel rather pampered what with the HOT water and warm beds, yet we know that this is just the beginning of the winter here so it has yet to get as cold as it shall.
Altogether, it was an odd experience flying alone for the first time as well as meeting 23 people I’ll be spending the summer with and just immediately having long conversations and spending a lot of time with immediately after stepping off the plane to D.C.
And so concludes the insane travel to AFRICA!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Forward to the Future
Looking into what's to come is frightening. When people do things like going off to Africa for a couple month mission trip, they never seem to mention the scary side of it. I mean, of COURSE it's the absolute most exciting thing EVER. I'm about to embark on an adventure I can't even imagine. But it's still pretty scary leaping into the unknown. Heck, I've only ever even flown ONCE. Down to New Orleans and back with my church's mission team of 25 people: hardly even counts as flying. I mean really. Someone basically handed me my ticket and told me where to go and what to do when I needed. Now I'm flying internationally?! Crazy. On the bright side I get to meet up with 24 people I don't yet know in D.C. who can help me. But jees.
Not that just the flight issues are the only scary part. Nothing about this trip has been exactly comfortable. First, the biggest hurdle: applying. Doesn't seem like much, but I had to totally break from the norm just to apply. It's one thing dreaming for years about going on a mission trip to Africa, but it's a totally different thing to get up the courage to go through with it. But by God I did it! Or rather, we did it. God really took care of most of it for me. I just had to do my small part when qued. Which brings me to the second hurdle: fundraising. Now, fundraising always seems to be people's largest burden, but I actually found it to be rather...encouraging. After that first Sunday that I REALLY started truly fundraising yet hardly actually did anything and I still got the $2000 I needed by the following Monday, I realized that hey, if you're gonna get the money, God's gonna get it to ya. It's all His anyways. I figure He can probably direct it as necessary. Yeah, so after $2000 in one day, I learned to really trust God. Although the REALLY funny part to me was when I started to get a little worried about money again just that following Saturday, then without a word, He gave me $1000. I think it was just so He could have a good laugh at me when I got overwhelmed by it all.
So fundraising hasn't been such an issue for me. I've actually rather enjoyed it. The t-shirts were mainly so that I could finally get an Africa shirt, and I ended up getting somethin like $800 from it, which was WAAYYY more than expected. God just rocks like that.
Anyways, so yes. diving into the unknown is frightening, but it'll most certainly be amazing, so I plan to just trust God, and it'll all be fine. Worked for me so far.
Talk to ya on the other side (of the world)!
Not that just the flight issues are the only scary part. Nothing about this trip has been exactly comfortable. First, the biggest hurdle: applying. Doesn't seem like much, but I had to totally break from the norm just to apply. It's one thing dreaming for years about going on a mission trip to Africa, but it's a totally different thing to get up the courage to go through with it. But by God I did it! Or rather, we did it. God really took care of most of it for me. I just had to do my small part when qued. Which brings me to the second hurdle: fundraising. Now, fundraising always seems to be people's largest burden, but I actually found it to be rather...encouraging. After that first Sunday that I REALLY started truly fundraising yet hardly actually did anything and I still got the $2000 I needed by the following Monday, I realized that hey, if you're gonna get the money, God's gonna get it to ya. It's all His anyways. I figure He can probably direct it as necessary. Yeah, so after $2000 in one day, I learned to really trust God. Although the REALLY funny part to me was when I started to get a little worried about money again just that following Saturday, then without a word, He gave me $1000. I think it was just so He could have a good laugh at me when I got overwhelmed by it all.
So fundraising hasn't been such an issue for me. I've actually rather enjoyed it. The t-shirts were mainly so that I could finally get an Africa shirt, and I ended up getting somethin like $800 from it, which was WAAYYY more than expected. God just rocks like that.
Anyways, so yes. diving into the unknown is frightening, but it'll most certainly be amazing, so I plan to just trust God, and it'll all be fine. Worked for me so far.
Talk to ya on the other side (of the world)!
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