Now in Dar!

I arrived safely in Dar es Salaam almost a week ago. I can't believe I've been here for a week. The trip here was pretty long and I was very thankful to get off the plane and go to my new home. I had an 8 hour layover in London and did not get to see much of the city but oh well. It was a dreary, cold day in London and I was not prepared. So this is what I saw of it...

I had a day of rest after I got here and the next day I hit the ground running. A volunteer team came in the night that I arrived and I've been spending a lot of time with them on campus. We've been walking around campus each day and meeting some of the students there. There have been some great conversations about the Lord with some of the students. And I have gotten some digits so that I can contact them and begin a relationship with them. Pray that God would help me discern who to pour into. Yesterday I was able to go with one of my roommates to some Bible studies she has and it was so good. We met with this one Muslim girl that she has been storying with. Currently they are going through Acts and we were talking about Saul and his conversion. It was great to be able to share this story with her. Then we shared our stories and our encounter with Christ. She's on the brink of accepting the Lord! She's asked us to pray that God would help her to believe! So be praying that for her. And the volunteer team is so awesome. I've had so much fun spending time with them! So much fun that saying goodbye to them is going to be hard. I thought I was done with goodbyes for a while when I left, but I guess not. Oh well, part of my life. God is faithful through it all!
(So two top left ones are of campus, the top right is a band in a truck for a wedding, the middle right and bottom left are the volunteer team and the bottom right is one of my housemates)

Packing...

I tried to put off packing as long as I could. And to do this I played...spent time with friends, shopped (although it was for things that I needed to get for Africa), etc. I even went and spent some time with some crazy youth. It was so much fun to see my kids again. We cooked out and just laughed. And a concert was even put on for me. Then we just took a lot of fun pictures...good times. I'm going to miss those silly kids. When I get back they will all be driving and I can't believe it.


Then I woke up on Friday morning and freaked out a bit because my room had exploded (evidence below). But my mom and I went to get a massage and that was an absolute beautiful thing! Came back shortly after very relaxed and started working on it. And so the craziness of packing is pretty much over (many thanks to an INCREDIBLE friend), which is a good thing since I'm leaving on Sunday and I have no other time to get it done. And now my life is crammed into 4 suitcases, hopefully I'm not missing anything.

Back in Houston

As usual it has been a whirlwind of a couple of weeks. I continue to be going at a mile a minute and I have no idea when it's going to slow down. Last week was a very rough week, but also good in a sense. I hadn't planned on meeting some awesome people in Virginia that I would have to turn around and say goodbye to. I think I cried constantly for the last five days that I was there. But it's a testimony to how much God blessed me over the past two months. I learned so much from them and was continually changed because of God working through them. Thank you so much for pouring into me, I miss you gals!
Before we had to do all the goodbyes we had a chance to go out to Virginia Beach for the day. It was so much fun and relaxing! All we did was lay there in the sand and rest. And reflect on the fact that as many as are the grains of sand on the shore is how many thoughts God has of us! Isn't that incredible?!? He thinks of us that much...why do we ever doubt His love?!? He is so faithful too...the God who is faithful to cause the earth to spin so that the sun will rise and set at the perfect time is faithful to provide in every way.

Then on Thursday I headed to the homestead. And as soon as I got off the plane I hit the ground runnin'. We went straight to eat...Mexican food, mmmmm good! Then I came home dropped off my stuff sort of unpacked just to get my dirty clothes out and then left to surprise some friends from church. It was so awesome to be there and share all that God did over the last two months. I felt like I was running my mouth at a mile a minute but I was just so excited and I couldn't stop smiling because I was around these great people talking about our Lord. I came home after that really unpacked only to repack for the beach. We left Friday and then I was able to relax. But it has all picked up again because now I only have 6 days before I get on a plane to leave this country for two years. How in the world am I going to pack for that? I have no idea but it will all work out...moving one step at a time and eventually it will get done.