**I tried to upload pictures and a video for this post but the internet was not strong enough**
I turned 21 while in Africa! I just wanted to share a little bit about my amazing day because God is awesome and knows my heart so well.
I was awakened to many Happy Birthdays at breakfast and was also super exited that I would be able to open some of the letters that were given to me by friends and family at home! After that, Bitty, a sweet woman from our church walked all of us around town. We stopped by the church and school that we will be doing ministry at and played with the preschoolers. Playing with little children of the community on my birthday?! I think yes!
For Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner, everyone wanted me to go first in the front of the line. It’s seriously the little things that mean the most.
A little back story… Papa Josh (Josh on my team) LOVES gummy bears. He brought a 3 lb bag with him on the race. It’s basically forbidden to take a green or red gummy bear from him, but he will gladly give you any other color if you ask nicely. Well, he came up and handed me a green gummy bear and said “Happy Birthday!”. Best gummy bear of my life.
Around 5 o clock, I was able to go down to the internet café to facetime my parents. This is a super tiny place so only a few people are allowed to go at a time. I was super happy that the teams agreed to let me go in order to talk to my parents on my 21st birthday. I was able to talk to my mom and dad, both 30 minutes each, since that’s all the time I had before I had to head back up the hill for dinner. It was around 10 am their time, but I absolutely loved being able to see them and talk to them. God is seriously blessing me because I can see how he is growing their faith.
My mom posted on facebook about a memory written 2 years ago on my 19th birthday. She said “ You will be leaving for college in a few days. I know you’re only going two hours away, but it feels like youre halfway around the world!” How prophetic! Two years later… I am literally half way around the world.
After dinner, the wonderful women in our house made me homemade popcorn for an after dinner celebration. Oliver, a local pastor, came over to wish me a Happy Birthday. He brought chips from the market for everyone to share!
Mariah, my sweet teammate, went out of her way to make this day amazing. She went to the market and got us Coke and Pineapple Fanta to drink with out popcorn. She said she tried to find cake or cupcakes, but apparently that’s not a thing in Africa. Mariah also told me she tried to get “Fat Cakes”, kinda like fried dough with sugar, but that didn’t work out. So, she got me some chocolate which is ate in like one sitting!!
Last, but not least, she surprised me with a video that she recorded secretly throughout the day. She got each member of the 3 teams with us to say Happy Birthday and a sweet message. I was also sung to in 6 different languages; English, Spanish, Dutch, French, German, and Setho.
Thank you to everyone at home who wrote me letters and said Happy Birthday on Facebook. Also, a HUGE thank you to everyone here in Lesotho who made my 21st Birthday more than I could ever dream of.
