for as long as i can remember i have dreamed of africa. specifically, i grew up desiring to live amongst a tribal community which just so happened to be located smack in the middle of a game reserve. ha. yes, i was, and remain, a big dreamer. God gifted me with my first taste of africa and its extraordinary nature and people in 2003 when i went to kenya. learning that i would spend three months in africa on the world race seemed like icing on the cake. and it was. imagine my deep delight when my team found ourselves living in a south african township right on the border of krueger national park. and not only that, one of our ministry contacts was a krueger guide. looking out over the mountains from our home was intoxicating, knowing that just a few kilometers beyond the hills lay the animals i had so longed to see in the wild. often during a day i would will myself to swallow the hope of being able to experience this majesty with my team. the first few days in backdoor we talked about it, often. at one point, our discussion became intense and i knew then that i must lay it down immediately. if God would allow us to go, then it would happen in His timing. so, we let go of trying to make it work out, holding on to the hope that it would come back around. i admit that it was difficult to think that i had gotten this close to krueger and might walk away without it becoming a reality. God often places our dreams into our hearts and He did not disappoint – upon returning to backdoor after our crazy time in mozambique, we picked up treday, jeanette and megan from team ignite and along with lynn, our magnificent guide, off we went for two days in the park. our first day was unfortunately without our christie, as she lay in the hospital battling malaria. yet God healed her, and she was able to meet us along with one of our hosts, linda, for the second day. we camped amid mischievous monkeys and spent our time in wonderful communion with god, his gorgeous creations, and each other. we saw a vast array of beautiful animals and plants thanks to the keen eyes of lynn. here are some of the highlights:
we saw four of the ‘big five’, only the leopard alluded us
God’s beautiful creation
lunch break fun
campsite fun
new morning
a very rare sighting of wild dogs, at a kill
and much to my surprise, my favorite creature of the two days, the humble dung beetle
a fabulous journey, a fabulous gift from God
