Two weeks until I have to leave the people I have been living with for the past three months.
Two weeks until I am back reuniting with family and friends.
Two weeks until I say, “See you later” to Africa.
Two weeks until I return to my old/new normal.
If you asked me to sum up my trip in one word, I honestly don’t think I could. I don’t think I could put all of the beauty, hard times, amazing moments into one word. It would just be too much, so this blog is going to look a little different than most. It is going to include a couple of letters, so just bear with me.
Dear family and friends,
I cannot thank you enough for all of the support before and while I’ve been on this journey. This has been such an amazing season of my life, and I can’t wait to tell you all the amazing stories from being here. I really can’t sum up the trip into a couple of words or sentences. My team and I’s first month was spent teaching some amazing kids at a school. Also during our first month, we got to walk lions and cheetahs, which was freaking amazing. My team and I got to spend that month with some pretty amazing people. Coming on the race, I thought of only having relationships with my team, but that was not the case. Every month, my team and I have met super-cool people. Month 2 was spent doing all different types of ministry, and Month 3 has been spent doing outreach working with impact kids loving on locals and doing JKs. Again, I legit cannot thank you enough for all the support and encouragement. I love y’all so much.
Dear my wonderful team,
This past three months with y’all has been the best three months of my life. We have grown so much together, and y’all are family to me. We have laughed and cried together. We have had late-night worship sessions and mornings where we didn’t want to get up and go to school (#Namatama). Knowing that we are getting ready to part ways makes me so sad. I have seen y’all grow so much. I have seen everyone step out and do things they were not really comfortable doing but then rocked it. Never give up on stepping out of your comfort zones. It might be harder with your teammates not by your side, but you’ve got it. We have had so many memories while being here, and I love them all so much. Like the one of y’all almost amputating my toe. Haha. Good times. Or when the drunk guy fell on Sarah at Bible study. All of the times in Zambia when we danced in the rain. All the mini bus rides, getting our ears pierced in Zambia, the interns bringing us Oreo ice cream. “Hello, my friend, do you want to buy copper?” Kids in the school saying, “Teacher, wee, wee”. The night we played pin the tail on the Chimi, and movie nights in Zimbabwe. Walking cheetahs and lions. Playing paintball and spending time as a team. We have also had some really good memories at outreach, like seeing a little boy’s foot being healed and then him and his sisters giving their life to Christ. Spending time with Bupa and her family. One of the teams getting to talk to a man who was almost blind and he told them his story and they got to pray over him. It was a time to encourage him in his faith. Hanna’s team got to talk to some pastors who pretended they were pastors throughout the whole conversation. Then they asked good questions and built good relationships. Then they ended up seeing one of the men in another community. I am never going to forget y’all and all of our times together. You are all so special to me, and I love y’all so much. I really don’t know what I’m gonna do without each and every one of y’all. Tyler, Drew, Andrew, Hanna, Bree, Mikayla, Hallie, Ellen, Bailey and Sarah, y’all are the best, and I can’t wait to see y’all again. Love you guys with all of my heart.
Sorry for the super-sad post (well, at least it was for me), but I love you all so much and will see you super-soon. Two weeks will be here before we know it.