03.10.10

1 day, 20 hours, 16 minutes.

That's how long I have to anxiously wait (and frantically make sure I have everything together) before I leave for Kenya, Africa!

This morning, I packed. I'm taking less on this trip than I normally take on a weekend trip back to Midland. Seriously. I'm going to weigh my bag when I finish, but it has to be under 5 pounds. I'm considering ditching the duffel bag and just packing in my backpack. That's how little I'm taking. Which is pretty amazing..

For the trip, my parents got me a Kindle! I was so pumped, because I had been thinking about buying one for myself for the trip, and now I can use my money on something else. For those of you who don't know what a Kindle is, it's basically an iPod for books. That's the best way I know how to describe it. You buy books from amazon.com for usually about $10 and they download directly to a hand held device with a 6" screen. It's so easy to read, I often forget I'm not holding an actual book. I got my Kindle registered to my dad's account (my mom got him one for Christmas) so that I can read all the books he's already bought. I got 4 books from him, and bought one more. I also bought a study Bible, which is AWESOME because now I don't have to take up space with my hard copy (which weighs about 5 pounds on its own..) AND I still have God's Word with me at the touch of a button! The joys of technology :)

I also bought a hard copy of a Max Lucado Bible Study called "Experiencing the Words of Jesus" which is a study of the teachings of Christ. I'm excited about it because it has it broken into daily studies with prompts and places to journal right in the study book! It isn't too big or heavy (about the size of a spiral notebook, maybe a bit thicker) so I'm taking that with me to Africa too.

I got my last shot yesterday, so I really am ready to start this adventure! I do have one request, though, of all of you. Pray. Please pray. General prayer for us would be GREATLY appreciated! There are also several specific things I would like you to pray for:

1. Our hearts. Please pray that God will prepare us to do the work He wants us to do. Pray that we would all be open to hear His voice and have willing hearts to serve Him.

2. The Kenyan people traveling with us. There are about 5 Kenyan people that will be traveling with us while we are there. They work with World Bible School, which is a program we help support in Midland. They will be taking us to each orphanage and staying with us the entire week we are there. Thank God for them! And pray for their hearts as well, that they would be changed by this week, just as we undoubtedly will be.

3. The orphans and widows we'll be visiting. Pray that they will receive us gladly and understand that we are there because we serve and love the same God they do - and He is amazing! Pray that they will truly see His light shining through our actions this whole week. Pray that they be encouraged, and encouraged greatly. The whole point of this trip is to be an encouragement; pray that we accomplish this goal.

4. Our safety. Pray for our flights to and from Kenya, as well as our travel while we're there. We will be traveling for over 24 hours each direction, and I can only imagine how tiring and draining that will be. While we're there, we will be traveling in two vans on awful dirt roads. I don't know about any of you, but my mom, sister, and I all get terrible motion sickness. This may seem minor, but please pray for that, because it can ruin a trip so quickly. It's happened to us before, and this would be the worst time for it to happen again.

Thank you so much for your prayers! I'm not sure what the internet situation is over there, but I'll update this blog if at all possible. And if it isn't, I'll be sure to give a complete recap of the entire week and how the Lord moved in us and through us.

-AG