The Beginning

Hello everyone,

First, I want to thank God for everything that He has done for me in the last year, this includes having each and everyone of you as a huge support system for me. 

Second,

-59 people went to Africa with me

-2 weeks

-4 airplanes to Africa, (Phoenix, Chicago, London (yes, we did get to tour a little of London), Lusaka, Africa, Malawi, Africa

-3 questionable buses we rode around on for the two weeks

-2 safari's, one night boat ride, 1 morning jeep tour

-billions of stars

-1000's of children

-100's of women and widows

-35 chiefs

-many projects

-lots of dirt

-many bathrooms, that were just holes in the ground

-my wreaked heart

-loving and living

-1 injury, me

-100's of pictures

-1 new language, with many new words learned

-82 new friends

-11 soccett balls

-7/11

-30 hours and 5 airplanes back (Malawi, Africa, Lusaka, Africa, Paris, France(we did not tour or see France), Miami, Florida, Phoenix.

And so much more...

Third, I know I thought I was going to be able to write an e-mail while I was in Africa, but internet was very hard to get, and for me it was obsolete, I couldn't even let anyone one know that I was okay getting to Africa until I was back from Africa.

Fourth, I have been back for three days now and I have yet to have a chance to really take in all that I/we did in the last two weeks. Also, I severely sprained my ankle last Wednesday night, after the night boat Safari, (my pastor always wants to make sure that when he takes us to a place of poverty, he wants us to see the beauty of the country we are in too) unfortunately we were 7 hours away from where we were staying, so there was no way for me to take care of my ankle the way I should, then I did the morning Safari in a very bumpy Jeep (awesome and Pain), and right after that we drove back to the ABC campus (African Bible Campus in Malawi, for those who didn't know or who want to look it up, our lead pastors dad founded these campuses), in one of our rickety buses, so my ankle really got worse, instead of better.  Then Friday was the last day before we left for the airport on Saturday, and I refused to stay still, because I wanted to take in the last day with the village and the people, who were amazing and I knew if I stayed still (like I was told to by two doctors) I would miss something.  Saturday and Sunday we were flying from Africa, to Paris, to the U.S., 30 hours and 5 airplanes later, there really was no time to rest this ankle. So I spent Monday, resting my ankle, and most of Tuesday. It still hurts pretty bad, and I probably have a hair line fracture by now.

 

Fifth, I tell you the above things for a couple reasons, to let you know a little why I have not written about Africa, and also, to say HOW MANY PEOPLE CAN SAY THEY SPRAINED THEIR ANKLE ON AN AFRICAN SAFARI, I feel that that sentence can sound pretentious, and I really don't mean for it to, but even though it hurts, it will heal, don't feel sorry for me, I SPRAINED MY ANKLE ON AN AFRICAN SAFARI!!!! I had several people that came on the missions trip with me that said I should make up a really good story about how I sprained my ankle, and I told them I don't have to, cause the real reason is pretty fantastic, although how it happened, not so amazing.  Basically, I was walking out of the hut we were staying in to go look at the stars (they turn out all the lights and we are in pitch black, and the stars are amazing).  I made sure I down loaded an app that would work without internet, before I left the states, so that I could see constellations that you can't see in Arizona. I stepped off the last step while looking up and the walkway below my steps was not finished and my foot thought 'hey I should step there and get twisted' and so, since my left foot has a mind of its own it decided to twist almost 180 degrees, and made a really loud pop, I fell to the ground, went on my back, and laid there. One of my roommates, saw the whole thing.  I stayed on the ground for a little bit,  and decided that since I was already on the ground I would continue to look at the stars, which were bright and illuminating, and there were sooooo many.  I took my camera, but I don't have the right lens to see the stars. Anyway, my roommate made me get up off the ground, in all my pain, because we were told earlier that we should not be on the ground without an escort/employee, cause that's when the Hippos and crocodiles and other animals come out, and they are not people friendly, so there was potential of getting mauled by and wild animals.  So, I am sticking with, I sprained my ankle on an African Safari, cause yea.

I have a bunch of pictures that I have yet to go through, but will be adding to the e-mail(s) I will be sending. I also took my printer for my camera, which was like gold in Africa.  I was able to take pictures of the widows, and chiefs, and then get them a picture of themselves the next day. None of these widows and chiefs have ever seen themselves, either in a picture or in a mirror.  My only regret, was I didn't have enough paper or ink for more pictures, which is something I will be investing in for next year. The smile and elation on the faces of each and everyone of them when giving a picture was amazing, I even took pictures of them getting the pictures, which gives me chills thinking about.  Also, the reverse camera feature on a phone is nothing but joy for the children.

We did so much in the last two weeks, that I feel like I was there for two months.  My pastor Paul and his wife Melinda, have their own non-profit organization along with my church The Grove, called Live Love. (whatislivelove.org) It comes from Paul's life verse 1John3:18 'Dear children, let us not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions' (my pastor would say in laments terms 'shut your pie hole and do something'). A lot of you know that one of my fears of going to Africa was that being so new to church and God and the Bible that I was not going to be a good teacher/leader in the Word. But I learned so much about my pastors organization and how he likes to share the Word, that I did not know about before. Live Love means exactly that, to Live in a way that shows God and Love in a way that God would. This was exactly the way I wanted to go on a mission, and god answered my prayers about my fear. So, we stayed in the village with the people and we cooked and cleaned with them and we played with the thousands of kids, and we helped build the clinic, spoke at 3 different prisons, had a medical team that treated over 1000 people, and so much more.

Here are just a few things that we did.  I will try and update another e-mail as soon as I have had time to heal a little more and absorb everything that has happened,  and hopefully I will have some pictures for you all.

Thank you all for your patience, and especially all of your support,

God has been so good to me and I am extremely blessed.