For so long I looked at Africa as a dream that I may never get to experience. Now I lay in a house in South Africa, listening to rain pour down on the tin roof. I’m in a room of bunk beds full of 6 other women, my team Eliora. It’s past midnight but my brain won’t shut off. There’s so much to process, so much going on. And honestly, everything still feels surreal, like I’ll wake up at any minute and find out it was all a figment of my imagination.
My whole world has been turned upside down the past few months. God wrecked my world my first mission trip and I knew my life would never be the same. But I also never expected this kind of adventure.
When my ticket to Johannesburg was handed to me yesterday, I looked at it again and again and again. I couldn’t believe I had a ticket to Africa with my name on it. God works in fun ways.
Our flight was long but good. After several days of training in Atlanta and sad goodbyes with awesome family and friends, my brain was mush. I couldn’t take anymore mentally or emotionally. For some reason, God blessed me with a window seat during our 16 hour flight. I was so thankful. I also sat next to a man I didn’t know who slept most of the time. I was a little jealous when I saw several of my squad mates sitting next to each other, but it was also nice to just decompress on the flight and process everything that’s taken place. They served us 3 meals. I watched “The Sound of Music” and wrote in my journal and colored in an adult coloring book. I felt spoiled having the time to do these things, but it was a great mental break.
The rest of our squad has an all day travel day to Cape Town and other coastal cities tomorrow, but we got incredibly lucky with our contact picking us up from the airport. The folks we are working with this month are awesome. They’ve built a great ministry here close to Pretoria. We’re staying on a compound in an amazing house with bunk beds and hot water! We feel spoiled and lucky. Tomorrow we start ministry- first we’ll work in the garden (unless tonight’s rain has washed it out) here on the compound and in a few days we’ll go out to teach the life skills class to orphans and others living in extreme poverty who may have never held a job. Some of them are third generation jobless. Our ministry contact wants to see that cycle broken.
Tonight’s rain is very welcome given that there has been an extreme drought in South Africa recently. The farmers will be happy tomorrow morning.
I’ll catch up again soon.
