Where did the month go? What was supposed to be the
longest month of the year somehow turned into more of a collection of short
weeks made up of various bus rides with preaching in between. For the sake
of clarity, and so this doesn’t turn into one long ramble, I’ve broken it up into two parts.
Part 1.
It started in Zanzibar.
We hadn’t seen our squad leaders
(Liz, Mike, and Noe) in over a month and they hadn’t spent any significant time
with us since the two days they spent with us in Cambodia (April).
Needless to say, a visit was overdue. Because of the way the buses work
(or don’t work) in Tanzania, all buses run through Dar es Salaam (the largest
city in Tanzania and closest mainland city to Zanzibar). So, naturally,
since we were so close already, why not meet in Zanzibar?
We spent two nights in Zanzibar and
spent the day there relaxing, snorkeling, and swimming with dolphins.
Yep. Swimming with dolphins. And I don’t mean kiddie pool, petting
zoo swimming with dolphins. We drove along the ocean surface – a perfect
succession of sapphire ripples with foamy white crests – on the lookout for
pods of silvery breaches in the blue. When spotted, we would get as close
as possible and then our driver would yell, “hurry – jump in!”
So I did. The dolphins immediately dove about 15 feet below the water.
We swam with them, following on the surface as the glided effortlessly
below. Eventually they came back to the surface – including us for a
moment in their formation until diving back down and leaving us behind.
It was breathtaking.
snorkeling in the most crystal clear water I have ever seen. It wasn’t exactly the Great Barrier Reef, but
it was beautiful. We saw lots of
beautiful fish, starfish (or Sea Stars as Lindsey insists is their proper
name), and coral. After an amazing lunch
and a nap, we spent the afternoon wandering through the narrow cobblestone
streets of Zanzibar’s Stone Town.
Zanzibar is a beautifully eclectic mix of African and Arabic influences
and nowhere is this more apparent than in Stone Town.
interesting news…I am switching teams. Without going into too much
detail (another blog will come soon) I will be moving to Billy’s team and Danny
will be taking my place on Current. It’s really a bittersweet feeling,
but I know it’s for the best. I am sad
to leave the team I have spent the past 4 months with, and the girls I have
spent nearly every day with for the past 7 months. Change is always a loss. But it is also an opportunity. So I am making the most of the last days I have
with them, and preparing to embrace the next chapter of this year for me with
my new team.
Please pray for both teams as well as Danny and
myself. Pray that this transition is
smooth and as painless as possible. Pray
that we are all able to embrace this change.
Pray that we learn all that we can from this and that in all of it, God’s
will is done.
