A Leap of Faith...

It's hard for us to believe that we are leaving for Africa in less than twenty-four hours!  We began committing our hearts to this trip over five years ago.  The feelings of excitement and anticipation are overwhelming.  We are also anxious and nervous at the same time, but we are leaving with great faith and confidence in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our family.  We are truly blessed.  We have enjoyed all of the planning (with the exception of all the shots), research, and many meetings with our church group in preparation.  We have prepared our hearts with much prayer.  The support from our family, friends and congregation at Augustana Lutheran Church has been tremendous and we are grateful.  Feel free to follow us on this journey~we will post as electricity and internet access allows.

We will be gone for a total of four weeks.  The first half of our journey begins with just the four of us.  Flying stand-by, we have a list of things that we would like to see and do should we arrive early (so far the flights look good).  We then have a scheduled itinerary of safaris and various activities until August 2nd.  On August 3rd, Christopher and Allan will begin their climb to the "roof of Africa" atop Mt. Kilimanjaro via the Machame route until August 9th.  During that time, Nicholas and Sally will be at Cradle of Love orphanage near our cottage and visiting other places in the area of Arusha/Usa River.  On August 10th, we will take a bus to Dar Es Salaam to meet up with the other youth and chaperones in our church group.  Together we head to the area of Iringa to develop relationships with the people in our companion congregation of Ipogoro.  Our youth director has an incredible looking itinerary that promises to make for a life-changing experience.  If you are interested, we have added links on this page of places we will be staying and visiting.  We have also added a link for more information about our church's global mission, specifically in Tanzania.  We return on August 22nd.

A month is a long time and Africa is far away...it will be difficult for us to be away from Amber, our family and friends.  We will miss them terribly.  We will have them in our minds and hearts more than ever.

My sister thoughtfully gave each of us a leather bookmark to take with us, each one with a special bible verse.  On one of them happened to be the exact same verse that is on the first page in our book of devotions that was given to us by our group leader at our very first meeting for this trip...

"Come to Me with a teachable spirit, eager to be changed.  A close walk with Me is a life of continual newness.  Do not cling to old ways as you step into this newness.  Instead, seek My face with an open mind, knowing that your journey involves being transformed by the renewing of your mind.  My thoughts embrace you in everlasting Love.  For I know the plans I have for you: plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Give yourself fully to this adventure..."
Romans 12:2; Jeremiah 29:11

And that we will!

Kwa heri! (Goodbye in Swahili)  Love and Blessings!

Allan, Sally, Christopher and Nicholas