African Adventures - The Prologue

I'm not sure I'll ever be able to put into words everything I'm feeling right now.  I knew Africa was going to be big for me, but I don't think I realized the impact it was going to have on me.  The way it was going to make me feel. Something so foreign that I feel tugs at my heartstrings...it physically aches for these precious people I've met.

I want you to meet them too. I want to tell you their stories.  I want to make you love them. I want you to feel as deeply as I do, but unfortunately I don't think that's possible.  So I'll do my best to bring their stories justice.

Due to unreliable internet, I wasn't able to blog while we were over there.  So I journaled the old fashioned way - in my favorite leather bound journal.  I tried to write about the people I met, some of the things we experienced, the things we saw, faith so huge I might never understand, beauty, pain,  disease, amazing cups of coffee, friendship, and love.  Of course, some of those things are more exciting than others, but its all real and raw.

Our African adventures started months ago with fundraising, events, and meetings in preparation.  But finally, Friday morning, June 3rd it became real.  Our flight left Nashville late Friday morning with 12 of us on board heading to Atlanta.   We boarded our international flight to Amsterdam where we had a layover that was long enough to let us enjoy the crisp early morning air and a brief walk around the beautiful city (and a quick visit to Anne Frank's house).  Then, back to the airport to catch our flight to Nairobi.  We landed in Nairobi and headed to the guest house after over 30 hours of travel.  As we sat in the van and stared out the windows and got our first taste of Nairobi, I had no idea how I would feel at the end of those two weeks and how I would leave a huge piece of my heart there.