Who? What? When?

Saturday August 6th I embark on the journey to Africa.  I wanted to take a moment to share with you what this trip is about, what we will be doing, and with whom we will be serving.

I will be traveling with a group of from Visiting Orphans (www.visitingorphans.org).  I came about finding this mission organization through a blog I was reading about supporting Africa.  This is not my first time traveling there.  In 2008 I was blessed with the opportunity to serve in Uganda.  It was an amazing trip with so many life changing moments.  We traveled to the remote islands on Lake Victoria and spent our time loving on those beautiful people.  Most of them have never been off the islands, getting to the mainland of Uganda is expensive and a long journey.  Therefore we were able to bring them supplies, a medical team to help heal the tribes, and much needed support and love.  It is hard to believe that most of them had never experienced electricity, running water, a grocery store, a doctor visit.  It is was incredibly humbling to see their happiness.  What we saw was all the things that they did not have, what they see is all the things that they do have, family, shelter, and resources such as fish from the lake.  In our eyes, their life was challenging and hard.  In their eyes, their lives are an incredible blessing from God.  I will never forget those beautiful people, their smiles, their loving spirits, their infectious laughs.  They taught me that life isn't about things, that the true spirit of love is found through God, our Father.  

Coming back home to the states was challenging.  The adjustment to American life seemed selfish and needy.  I couldn't take my mind off seeing those beautiful people and I knew that I was to one day return to serve again.  So here I am, once again crossing the sea to love on those beautiful, amazing, people and I just can't wait!

A bit about this trip

I will be traveling with a team of about twenty people from all over the US.  We will make the 9,000 mile trip together and our first stop is Kigali, Rwanda.  Where we will be visiting the Genocide Memorial & Museum and traveling to Gisenyi, home to the largest orphanage in Rwanda.  It is there that we will be loving on over 600 children, ranging in age from infant to teens.  Our mission is to love on these kids and provide the orphanage with resources and assistance, whether that be by physically helping with projects or assessing their needs and helping them purchase neccesities that they do not have the funds for.

After several days in Rwanda, we fly to Addis Abba, Ethiopia.  Once again we will be visiting a couple of orphanages during our stay and going to the Village of Korah.  The Village of Korah, is basically the city dump.  It was originally formed to be a leprosy colony and has now home to thousands of struggling  women, children, and families. The link below will take you to a short video about the Village of Korah, please take the time to watch this, it is impacting.

The Village of Korah
http://vimeo.com/13771428

During this mission, I will have the opportunity to bless hundreds of children, to love on them, hold them, comfort them, embrace them, feed them, serve them, and simply tell them they are loved.  This is such a special trip, such a sweet time for these little ones, and I am so grateful for your thoughts and prayers. Thanks for making it to the end, I am off to work on some packing;)  I hope to update you guys one more time before I head out!

Much PEACE and LOVE-J