First, Emily and I went back to the care point that we had been visiting. A care point is basically a hut or biudling where the local kids can come and get fed one hot meal. For some of them, this is the only meal they receive, and most of them walk very long distances to get there. It broke my heart to see a little 4 year old carrying her younger sister, who could only have been a year old, on her back. The level of responsibility these children live with is unbelievable. So, once the kids get to the care point, they just sit there and wait. There is nothing and no one to entertain them. They sit under the hot African sun, until a woman comes to cook the food. These women are so awesome for the way they volunteer to cook for the children. Without them, the kids would go hungry. Most of the food comes from worldwide organizations, and Americans greatly contribute to this need. This day Emily and I brought coloring sheets and crayons for the kids. Because they are used to entertaining themselves with nothing but dirt and rocks, and becuase many of them had never seen a crayon before, we almost had to persuade them to color! After a little demonstration, they caught on, but were very careful not to break their new gifts.
After visiting the care point, we went and joined the other teams at the teacher training they had been facilitating for the last few days. This was such a great vision one of the January racers had and ran with. She had a heart for the women who help at the care points and decided to leave them with something tangible. She led teaching seminars so the women would have something to do with the children who came to gte fed, something mentally stimulating. Those women were so precious and eager to learn! We wanted to bless them for their hard work and sacrifices, so we gave them all pedicures and manicures. I have never given a manicure in my life, but the woman who let me experiment on her seemed appreciative, so I consider it a success!
Then it was back to the homestead, or “ranch”, as we called it. I must say, after sharing a house with 27 people for the three weeks before, coming home to nothing but land and my tent was lovely! We normally had time to hang out in the evenings, so I spent my lazy late afternoon painting my toenails in my tent! (What? I was inspired by the pedicures!) It’s nice to have a small sense of normalcy in a place where there are cows staring at you when you wake up, warthog is on the dinner menu, and chickens are alarm clocks. At least that’s how I justified painting my toenails while camping in Africa! Then, as always, the Lord did not disappoint with His sunset. I can’t describe the sunsets here in a way that would do them justice, but it’s weird to be able to stare directly at the sun without it hurting your eyes. Something about the dust in the air, I’m told, but you can just stare at the hot pink sun until it sets without blinding yourself!
My sunset moment with the Lord was followed by, what else but a dinner of impala stew! Impalas are those deerlike animals you see on the Discovery channel being chased down and pulled apart by lions. Actually, it looks about the same when World Racers eat it too! Where else would a campfire become your kitchen and impala your main course? But, as we have learned to say with a shrug, “This is Africa!”
After dinner, everyone surprised me with a birthday cake and gifts. The gifts were hilarious and let me known once again that I’m not in Kansas anymore! What other birthday would I be excited to get deodorant as a gift? I also got bubble bath (wishful thinking, definitely, but we’re talking about a wonder-working God here!), pens, and of course a lifetime supply of chocolate (which I have learned to horde until travel days!). Oh, and I forgot to mention that my team woke me up at 6:45 am to throw balloons on me and sing, much to the frustration of the rest of the campers! They were very good to me the entire day….I am truly blessed with this World Race family I have been given.
So, that was my 23rd birthday… another year, and I got to start it in Swaziland, a country which I didn’t even know existed a year ago! The Lord is blessing me like crazy and I feel like one of the luckiest people alive, to get to give my life away to the Lord and have Him take me around the world to do His will. 23 should be a great year…
