We left Uganda a few days ago after finishing or 8 month debrief; meaning we only have one more debrief left. I can’t believe that I only have 3 more months left to go, the trip has gone by really fast, but yet so much has happened that it also feels like I’ve been away for a long time.
At debrief we had the chance to go white water rafting on the Nile river, and as much as it freaked me out I had to take the opportunity. My team also ended up paying for most of my trip as a birthday present, which was awesome!! I had the time of my life, and yet there were moments when I felt semi close to death trying to swim out of the rapids. Our boat flipped 3 times and one of the times we flipped we were in what our rafting guide called, “the BAD PLACE”. He didn’t mean to take us in there but the water pushed us into it and our boat flipped and pretty much fell apart. I got sucked under the rapid for probably about 8-10s and the safety boat had to come rescue a few of us. But all of it was soon forgotten because as we got back into our boat we realized that one of our boat members had lost her pants and was completely naked from waist down. She had to borrow a pair of shorts from someone else who was also wearing a swimsuit, so that she could get back into the boat. We laughed for a long time about it, especially since that funniest part was watching our rafting guide lean over the boat to help her put the shorts on. Our rafting guide’s name was Hassan; he was 26yrs old and incredibly strong, as he would lift 2 of us out of the water at one time. He would also row our boat plus the safety boat by himself between rapids, we would tell him that we could help but I think he saw how sad our paddling was so he gave us a lot of breaks. That night Melissa and I had a conversation with him, and we became friends with him in the days to follow. We were able to purchase him a Bible and highlight verses that were some of our favorites, he was happy to receive it and he read all of John in that first day of having it. If you remember please pray for him, I know God is reaching out to Hassan and that He will do great things in Hassan’s life.
To view our rafting video go to: https://vimeo.com/73401497
Before the end of debrief we once again had team changes, I was sad to see the Holy Cows come to an end but I also knew it would be good for us. So God has blessed me with another great team, we don’t have a name yet as our team leader and another teammate are still at Parent Vision Week. My teammates currently are:
Erin Hogan- Team leader- we’ve been together since the beginning
Megan Terrell- we’ve also been together since the beginning
Chanelle Copland
Pamela Gessler
Teresa McMillan
Jessica Lindsey
Annie- promoted to Team Treasurer
We arrived in Kenya on the 3rd of September and stayed the night in Nakuru, in a house that could have been in one those Scooby Doo episodes. Erin and Megan continued on to Nairobi for Parent Week and we stayed there for 2 nights. From there the 5 of us got in a van and headed up to Nyeri, about a 4-5hr drive. Along the way we saw, “The Great Rift Valley”, which stretches from Israel all the way to Mozambique. The valley was so incredibly beautiful, and we just happened upon it we didn't even know it there so that was a nice surprise. We then proceed down a long desert road, which was located right next to a Kenyan National Park, so we got to see Zebras and gazelles along the way. To top that we live about 15min from the Kenyan Mountain National Park so we are definitely going to go see some African Wildlife while we are here.
This month we are working with Asunta, she is an amazing woman of God. Asunta is married and has 2 children, God has given her an incredible love for children and those infected with HIV. So we will be going along side her, visiting the orphanage she has started and visiting all the groups that help keep the orphanage going as well as visiting the support groups that she has set up for those infected with HIV. Rape and HIV are very prevalent in Kenya, and there are many orphans as a result of AIDS. But Asunta has dedicated her life to reaching out to these people, and God has blessed her with much wisdom, love, and perseverance in her ministry. I’m really excited for this month for many reasons, here goes:
- I get to go to an orphanage
- We are living on a farm within walking distance of a Safari
- My team is super Joyful and Crazy J
- It’s colder weather so it feels like fall which is the season I was the most sad to miss.
Thank-you so much to all of you who are supporting me through prayer I really cannot express how much I appreciate it. I have gone through many hard/great things this year and knowing I had people praying for me has been really encouraging. And thank-you as well for all the financial support, without it this trip would not have been possible. If you would still like to donate to my personal account I would very much appreciate any gifts. Any personal money I have goes towards the extra fun things the team wants to do as well as helping me for when I get home and the cost of switching my flight dates. So if you feel led to give in that area then please send donations to this address:
Annie Goertzen, P.O Box 402, La Crete, AB, T0H 2H0, Canada
Prayer Requests:
- For the ability to do my finance task well and for the joy in serving my team in that way, I can’t say I was too excited for the job.
- For my team as we get to know each other and that we will be able to build each other up and serve well together.
- For our ministry that we will be doing, that we will have wisdom and discernment in all that we do.
- And that I will make the most of the next 3 months and that I will be open to anything that God has for me to grow in, as well as continuing to have the strength physically/emotionally/spiritually to be all here.
- Please also pray for our team to stay healthy, at the moment there are a few who are sick. And adjusting to the altitude is causing some lightheaded and dizziness.
Sorry abour having no pictures, our internet is slow and so it's hard to upload them but I promise that soon I'll have some up.
