Practice and Preparation

In two weeks from tomorrow I will be on a plane on my way to Kenya! Everyday, with every new detail, I get more and more excited for what is going to be a mind-blowing summer. My last month has been comprised of me asking Danny and Traci question after question after question in my pursuit to be as prepared as possible. I have been researching Kenyan, Tanzanian, and Zambian culture, customs, and geography with some ferocity. I've been cramming as much Swahili in my head as I can amidst the end of a school year. I am happy to say that I got to hear Danny and Traci carry on a conversation with one of their friends in Kenya via speaker phone and was able to understand about 50% of what they were saying. I'm still pretty slow, but I've been told that I am going to catch on pretty quickly in the first couple of weeks. I think after the first two week, when Justin and Jacob get there, I should be starting to get conversational and hopefully be able to translate for the other guys here and there. It's nice to be able to use my aptitude for languages to help our team out.

Mr. Harrod has been working hard to talk with missionaries for us to stay with in our journey throughout Tanzania and Zambia. Traci told me the other day that one of their friends from the international church in Boise has family in Tanzania that she really wants us to stay with. It would be such an amazing opportunity to be able to stay with native Tanzanians. It's also looking like our journey is going to take us through Dar es Salaam, which is the principle city of Tanzania and is predominately Muslim. It would be such an awesome experience to get to see the Muslim culture first hand!

Another exciting turn of events has been the addition of Jacob Vaden, one of my good friends from school, to our trip through Tanzania and Zambia. Originally Jake was only going to be able to join us at the end of June for our time in western Kenya, but do to his family's trip to Mexico being canceled because of the Swine Flu, he's going to join us! I am looking forward greatly to his companionship through that time.

Preparations are going along well. On Friday I finished up my Hep A and B shots. Today I started me malaria preventative medicine. As of today I'm only about $15o short of my needed funds! It's amazing to see how God has brought in $3900! That's so huge for me. He's trying to make sure I know that He's going to take care of me. Thank you to all of you who have helped make this happen! I can't thank you enough. Another more unusual provision was that of my friends Mike and Jen. Jen works at the North Face store here in Boise and they together took a chunk of their tax return and took me shopping at North Face. They bought me a good rain jacket (we are going during the raining season), a fleece, and a good sturdy pair of shoes! It was such a great gift and I am thankful to have such high quality gear to use while I'm there.

So much is unfolding. God is moving in some awesome ways. I'm being moved and taught so much even before I get there and I wish I could share it all. If you have any questions or comments, please leave a comment and I will get back to you! I'm going to post once more before I leave, and then I will post as regularly as I can get internet in Africa (which may be only once every 2 weeks or so). Please continue to pray as Danny, Jacob, Justin, and I enter our "summer of listening" in Eastern Africa! Mungu akubariki!