Wednesday, May 29, 2013

We're off!

I have had the chance to tell many of you that I am going to Busia, Kenya with Buckner International's program "Project Go!" this summer!  And the day is finally here!  I have decided to keep a blog mainly for the sake of remembering this adventure.  But if you do decide to follow my journey, I hope that through these experiences and pictures you may feel that you have sent a little piece of yourself to Africa too!
Permethrin spray!
A week and a half ago I drove up I-35 from Baylor to Minnesota with Bethany, and have since spent the last week preparing.  It has been full of trips to Wal-Mart, stuffing boxes and suitcases, and excessive amounts of bug spray!  My favorite preparation event was hanging a rope between two trees in my back yard and spraying everything with Permethrin bug spray -- it stays on clothing for up to 48 days and can withstand 6 washings!  (We'll see if I'll still be their saleswoman in a month!)  I also worked on filling a box with humanitarian aid items, which included roaming the aisles of Sam's Club for an appropriately sized box, several hours of of meticulous packing, and resorting to sitting on the box to get it shut!
The Box :)
Yesterday morning I rode the shuttle to the Minneapolis airport.  The shuttle driver pulled up to the curb and got my stuff from the trunk, but from the look on his face, he seemed to doubt my ability to handle my backpack, 2 suitcases, and stuffed box.  Under normal circumstances, I would have agreed with him and had a look of dismay on my face as well.  But what the driver did not know is that I had prayed really hard over that box and knew God would provide someone or something to help me get it inside.  I couldn't help but smile as I turned and saw a line of 30 smart carts less than 10 feet away. 
I spent yesterday and this morning at orientation on the Buckner campus - a group of pretty red brick buildings consisting of foster homes and offices on a sprawling green lawn.  The past hours have been full of learning Buckner's rich history -- from a meager $27 dollars collected by R. C. Buckner in 1879 to start an orphans home to now an international Christian social work organization that helps orphans and communities around the world, I am excited to work with this organization for the next month!  I also met my team members Ashley, Taylor, and Susan.  And it is already evident that I will be spending the next month with some very good girls.  
We leave in two hours for the airport -- a 9 hour flight from Dallas to London, another 9 hour flight from London to Nairobi, and a 7 to 8 hour drive from Nairobi to Busia, Kenya - our final destination!  Considering I've never left the country before, this is going to be quite an adventure!  And while it seems I'm about to take a leap into the unknown, I have a strong sense that I am right where I am supposed to be.
Like normal, I have a song stuck in my head, and today it is strangely  appropriate -- from Christ Tomlin's CD "Burning Lights":
"I know who goes before me, I know who stands behind, the God of Angel's armies, is always on my side."  And now it is time to go!  And I go with the peace that God is with me, He is behind me, and though I have never been where I am going, He is already there.

From Left to Right: Christina, Susan, Taylor, Ashley