Hey Girls!
Yes, my first post! Well...I figured I'd update you all on a little bit about my life lately, just so you can kinda "catch up" with where things are at...
Well Amy, and the rest of you girls, I regret to inform you that I will NOT be able to come to a sleepover this Christmas, which completely bums me out, because I miss you guys soo much!! BUT...my reasoning is good:
I'm going to AFRICA!!! As some of you might know it's always been my dream to go to Africa, and I'd love to live there someday, so I'm finally getting to go! A while back, my family was talking about how we wanted to take a family trip to Africa, specifically because my dad grew up there, and it would be a cool time to see where he spent the first 20 years of his life. So we planned it out for this Christmas, and we're going to two different countries there, Burkina Faso and Senegal. They speak French there, so a few months ago I bought an 8 CD "learn French" kit so I could maybe have some sort of conversation with the people there, but do you think I ended up learning anything? Let's just say I know about 3 words...on a good day... We were initially going to go to Congo, where my dad lived, but it ended up being too dangerous to go, as well as too expensive. So we're going to go to a couple countries that my dad worked in while he had a job with a missions agency here in Elkhart. He would travel to Africa a lot, and through that he got to know a lot of the missionaries and African families that lived there. So we're going to be staying with the people that he worked with. The purpose of the trip is basically just to see the mission field--to see how the missionaries are impacting their cities and villages and ways that they are sharing the gospel there. We're also going to visit some hospitals, schools, and get to interact a lot with the Africans that live there. We're also going to visit a Wycliffe Bible translation place and see the work of how the Bible is being translated, and perhaps work with the missionaries who are doing that. I'm PUMPED, to say the least!
I'm mostly excited because our whole family will be together again, including my sister and her husband who are going, and it's the first time this has happened in almost 2 years. So it will be awesome family time. We're leaving on the 18th and get back the 5th...or 8th...or something...but Bethel doesn't get out until the 22nd...(way late, I know)...so that means I had to reschedule all my finals early. And THAT means that next week I have 7 TESTS. Not much fun if you ask me. But it'll be worth it!
So you guys can just pray that we're safe while we're there, and that I will be able to keep my eyes and heart open to ways that God can use me to touch people in Africa, and also ways that my life can be changed through this experience. I'm also praying that it will give me more of a direction as to whether Africa is truly a calling for me. I just want this whole trip to bring glory to God, and that He can be praised by our efforts to help the people there.
So yeah, that's what I'm doing over Christmas break, so I'm sad I won't get to see any of you! But I love you guys SOO much...
Well this is a pretty good post for now, I'll keep updating you on new things in more posts so there's not one, majorly huge post. Hope you all are doing awesome. YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST
