Africa or Bust!

Packing lists are shrinking and we are making final preparations to embark on a great adventure surely to be ordained by God. I hope I can keep my hands out of my candy bag as this is the 4th trip to the store to replenish! Janis and Jason-can't wait to have you meet and join the group in Washington. Love to all!

Terry

2 days

In two days we are off... where has the time gone? I feel like the past month or so leading up to our trip has just flown by! 

If you are at all like me, you are running around like a chicken with your head cut off trying to make sure you have everything together and ready, that you haven't forgotten anything obvious like underwear and that you have also remembered less obvious things, like a gift for your home stay family... 

Part of what excites me most is trying to grasp the shift in mindset we'll experience once we arrive... I am looking forward to experiencing a different way of life; a culture that does not exist on how many things you have and how fast and how much you can accomplish in a day.

I am looking forward to peace, stillness and quiet. To slowing down and serving the Lord through our serving others in need. To hear Him speak to my heart and to draw nearer to Him in the solitude. I know He has great plans for us. Plans to use us in the lives of others and plans to use others in our lives. 

Drew and others have continued to tell us to be ready to be flexible, "TIA" (this is Africa), and not to have any preset expectations, but I do have one expectation: I EXPECT and KNOW that the Lord will do HUGE and AMAZING things through this trip. I EXPECT and KNOW that HE will blow my mind in just about every way possible and that HE will make HIS presence known. 

This is going to be amazing - AMAZING. Huge thanks to Drew, Grace, Heath and everyone on YL staff that have worked so hard to bring us all together. Huge thanks to all of the wonderful folks that have opened their homes to us and allowed us to meet and prepare for this journey together. Huge thanks to all of our friends and family that will be here praying for us and lifting us up to the Lord. and Huge thanks to the Lord our God, for making each of us and bringing us together to glorify His name.

I pray each of us has a safe and stressfree next two days as we prepare and that each of us will be able to slow down for at least a moment to pray about what lies ahead. I can't wait to see y'all at the airport on Wednesday at 11:30 am! until then, pamoja pamoja!

God Bless, 

Anne Genevieve