"If I had a thousand lives, I'd live them all for Africa."
--Hudson Taylor

J o y.
Unexplainable, all-encompassing, came-out-of-nowhere joy fills me tonight as I imagine where I'll be in only sixteen days. I will be in Africa! Africa! I almost can't believe it! I think that for the first time, the fact of it all has hit me. And, also for the first time, my fears and worries and nerves and doubts are melting away, and all I am left with is an uncontrollable desire to go and serve and reach out to people and be changed in a way that I thought I'd never get to experience. I can't think about anything else these days, all of my thoughts have been going directly to the people of Uganda and how they and I both will be forever changed. My wishful thinking about Africa has even been clouding out my excitement about Pine Cove, which happens first, and that is not easy to do. I feel like there is no better time for me to go to Uganda than right after camp, which fills me with the spirit of the Lord and refreshes and renews my faith even stronger every year. I am so glad that I'll be able to go over to Africa with my heart in the right place.
If you're reading this blog and you've noticed that many of the recent posts have been about Africa, it's only because it is the biggest thing going on in my life right now, the biggest and craziest adventure I've ever been able to take. If I have this much emotion 2 weeks before the trip, I can only imagine what I'm going to be like when actually traveling!
To wrap up this post, I will ask you all to pray for me and my team not only while we're there (July 28-August 11) but also before we go, so that we will be able to go with a big group of people supporting us through their prayers. I have been wanting to go to Africa so badly for so long, and I never ever ever expected to actually be able to go, but that just shows you the power of patience and trusting in God to get the timing right! I will cherish this trip for the rest of my life, and I can't wait to see where else the Lord takes me!

"Christ alone can save the world, but Christ cannot save the world alone." --David Livingston
"I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light" --John Keith Falconer
"Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell; I wish to run a rescue mission within a yard of hell."--C.T. Studd
"Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God"--William Carey
"Lost people matter to God, and so they must matter to us."--Keith Wright
"Let my heart be broken with the things that break God's heart"--Bob Pierce