Two months ago, Daniel and I went to Africa. Neither of us had been there and it was our first time serving together overseas. We knew we wanted to take an overseas trip together and had been praying about where to go. Africa, though, was not on our radar. We prayed about and looked into going to countries in Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Europe, and South America, but God either shut the door of opportunity or didn’t give us the go-ahead. Then Daniel’s parents told us about the trip their church was taking to Africa. It involved a little bit of everything: mercy ministry (both mine and Daniel's passion), pastor training (Daniel’s interest), a medical clinic, and VBS. We prayed and believed God said Yes, so we signed up.
Africa blew my misconceptions from the start. It wasn’t hot and dry and dusty (at least not the first city we were in); it was lush and beautiful, teeming with flowers, plants, and birds of all kinds. The village where we did the majority of our work was more like I had imagined, but it still had more trees and greenery that I expected.
The people were friendly, curious, and joyful, much like I expected. They were very hospitable, even helping us set up camp. It was so great to partner with local believers who had a heart to reach their own people and communities. Our goal for the trip was not to come in and do the work and leave, but to work alongside of them and provide them with extra tools and training to reach more people for Jesus. Below are some pictures that tell the story from our 10-day journey.
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| Some of the flora of Africa |
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| Mercy Ministry :: BGR Hospice Buckets |
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| One of the places we delivered a bucket |
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| The African Bush |
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| VBS at local school :: they were waiting for us! |
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| So pretty! |
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| Me helping a little boy color |
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| Daniel teaching about the meaning of the cross |
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| Salvation bracelets |
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| They're all so cute! |
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| Theological Education :: Daniel spent one day teaching local church leaders |
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| Medical Clinic :: The line began forming before sunrise |
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| Evangelism Training :: equipping local church members to share the gospel |
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| Last evening in village :: the host church put on a special performance for us |
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| Beautiful African sunrise |
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| Trip to Safari :: climbing in elevation added to the beauty of the scenery |
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| Looks like the rolling hills of the Midwest! :) |
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| Safari :: a dream come true! |
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| A heard of elephants |
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| A lonely, lovely giraffe |
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| I got to pet a rhino! |
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| Yep! That's a lioness! |
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| A lioness walking towards the sunrise :: Epic! |
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| The watering hole right outside our tents brought many animals to our front door |
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| The type of tree I usually envision when thinking of Africa |
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| Team group photo on the Equator |
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| Beautiful drive to Nairobi |
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| Elephant Orphanage :: Precious! |
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| My hot husband :) |
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| I don't know what this is... |
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| Giraffe Sanctuary |
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| I kissed a giraffe!!! |
