Six days between today and the day I leave for Africa. Oh my goodness. The past few weeks I have been asked the same question so many times, "Are you excited about Africa?". I always pause before answering to try to figure out the right way to respond; because usually I am not as excited for this trip as the people who are asking me the question. Another statement I have heard frequently is "I am so excited for you," to which I always want to respond "Well that makes one of us."
Before you get the wrong impression, I am excited. I have always wanted to go to Africa, I am so unbelievably grateful to be able to go on this trip. I am excited to see the animals I love in their natural habitat, to see the African land, to be able to meet the African people. This excitement, however, is tempered by a great amount of trepidation. I am sure that once my feet hit the African land, I will feel excitement and joy, but for the waiting period beforehand, I feel a whole lot of nerves and apprehension.
I visited Bethel last week to say good-bye to my friends and it hit me numerous times sitting at various places around the campus, that I would not sit here or see people at Bethel until January. Bethel has become my second home so it was hard to leave, hard to come back home with the knowledge Bethel wont be my home for this semester. It is going to be hard to leave my family and friends. I've never done anything like this, I've never been out of contact for more than a few days. Now I'll be thousands of miles away with only email and letters as contact for three months. I'm nervous about meeting the 29 other students I'll be living and learning with; all thirty of us come from very different colleges and hometowns and being somewhat of an introvert, it makes me a little nervous to think of the process of starting new friendships.
Bear with me family and friends, I will get to the excitement phase, but for now I'm just in the jumbled phase where my feelings about Africa can range from slightly unsure to terrified. I know God has me in His hands and I trust that He will provide, yet it is still scary when God leads you into the unknown. I think the unknown is the scariest place one can find themselves.
On the less emotional side of this trip, there is a lot to do in six days. I haven't started packing yet. I have a big tub in my room of things I intend on packing, nothing has made its way into bags though. I thought I would get an itinerary before I left, but it sounds like I won't know logistics until our orientation in Africa. I leave Saturday (the 8th) around 6ish from the Minneapolis airport. From there I fly into Chicago then fly to London where I meet the rest of my group, who will fly out from New York together. From London we fly to Nairobi, Kenya then to Tanzania. We don't land in Tanzania until the 10th of September so for everyone keeping track at home, thats two days of flying. The longest flight I have ever been on was from Sioux Falls to Orlando, so even the flights will be an adventure for me!
Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support. I know I am being covered in prayer. Please don't stop the prayers though!
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