Together again

What a week it has been!  So sorry for not blogging sooner~once we met up with our group from church, our days have been very busy and in the evenings we are emotionally and physically exhausted.  We are all doing great and we hope this finds you well.  We miss you all.  I will try to summarize our experiences over the last week as best as I can in the coming days.  I have tried to take good notes, but some things we will not be able to adequately describe here~so much has been personally moving, overwhelming, and just beyond words. 

Nicholas and I reunited with Allan and Christopher on Friday and it was so fun!  We stayed at the Lutheran Centre in Moshi.  After they washed the layers of dirt from their bodies, we headed to Green Bamboo Barbecue where we laughed, heard all about their incredible week, exchanged stories and ate some great food (the closest to American food that we've had for awhile)~which the two climbers especially appreciated. They did great on the climb and it sounded very adventurous!  They shared an incomparable experience.  I have added a few pictures of their climb to the roof of Africa.  We are proud of their accomplishment~Africa’s highest peak and one of the tallest freestanding mountains in the world.  After lunch, we went outside and were treated with a pretty rare sight (believe it or not) ~ a clear view of the mountain!  I didn’t realize this but Mt. Kilimanjaro only shows herself a handful of times each year.  Most of the time it is hidden behind clouds.  I was beginning to wonder if it really existed since we had been there for two and a half weeks and did not see it.  It was so beautiful!  The pictures don’t come close in capturing the size of this mountain.  We looked in awe at such a beautiful sight~a mountain on the equator capped with snow.  It was great to be able to take a picture of the two of them with the mountain in the background.  They literally and figuratively had the mountain behind them.  They were thankful to have reached the summit safely and appreciated the support of their huge team of guides, cooks and porters~but they were also glad to be down off the mountain and we were glad to have them back down as well.

We all slept great and awoke early to hop on the Dar Express to meet up with the other 12 members from Augustana~the ten hours were long as it was hot and crowded with nasty, loud African music videos playing most of the way~all part of the experience ;)  We took a taxi to the Landmark Hotel where our group had arrived about a half hour before.  It was exciting to see them all!  They told us about their travels from Minneapolis to New York City to Dubai to Dar Es Salaam and we shared our adventures so far over dinner.  Our group has a lot of energy and enthusiasm~the dynamics couldn’t be better.  A great group of nine youth and seven adults about to share some unforgettable moments…

I will add more posts as soon as we get back from a two-day safari to Ruaha National Park (a much needed little break as our days have been very full and our minds are being “challenged” as we take everything in that we are seeing and experiencing).  It has been amazing~especially the people we are meeting and witnessing firsthand the difference Augustana Lutheran Church has made in the lives of so many people.  God is definitely at work here!

Until Friday...  Love to you all!