Welcome to Africa

We arrived in Liberia mid afternoon local time. We exited the plane by a staircase onto the asphalt. A bus then took us to the terminal. It was exciting for me to actually be in Africa. I kept checking myself on the plane – “I’m on my way to Africa” – and now here I am.

Inside the terminal was very African, I would soon come to learn. Humid, stuffy air, and many many people. Everyone was clamoring to see a glimpse of their bag. We were standing there waiting for our luggage and sweat was dripping down my face. Welcome to Africa. 

We load up in the car and ride Liberian style – packed in like sardines. As we left the airport gate, there were 5 boys competing with each other to sell us a bunch of bananas. Oh the bananas! Sweet, starchy, small and delicious. We bought a bunch for 200 liberian dollars ($2.50 USD). 

There were many sights and sounds that we experienced on the drive: Neighborhoods were filled with puddles left by the rain and houses made up of cement walls, tin roof and no windows or doors. Clothes were hung on  lines out in the yards. Children were running around the puddles shouting in playful tones. Many more children were walking home from school in their khaki pants and green shirt uniforms

Water pumps were sprinkled among the neighborhoods and the Liberians were filling containers to bring back to their homes. There were many road side markets selling a variety of items - produce, water bags, packaged goods and gasoline in glass jars – you trust it’s real and not watered down with koolaid. Welcome to Africa.

typical street in Liberia 

roadside market stand 

September: coffee shops | getting ready for Africa

Hi Friends!

These past few weeks have been such a whirlwind. We are still fighting with the internet company, which means that we still don't have internet, which makes updating this blog nice and tricky. Let's just say that coffee shops are being frequented.

I am currently in the midst of getting ready to leave to Liberia, Africa tomorrow - exciting adventures are in store for the next few weeks! My team has made a calendar for you to keep up to date with our trip and be able to pray for us as we travel - see below for details!

September Newsletter Update:

Road Trip!

And 1,435 miles later - I'm in Texas! I've been here just over a week and am still getting settled into my apartment and to work, but I had a fantastic road trip out here. My friend Brianna came with and we had some fantastic adventures. Like being stuck in traffic for hours, and seeing 43/50 U.S. License plates!  We started off from Washington D.C and took a day to drive on out to Nashville.

 In Nashville we stayed with our friend Lexie for a few days and helped her move into her new apartment! It was a moving week. She took us around Nashville and we went to some charming places! There is a restaurant called the Pfunky Griddle where the middle of the table is a griddle. They bring you batter and you cook your own food. Such a great experience! We went downtown Nashville, visited local coffee shops, and just took time to catch up.

After a great time in Nashville, it was time to start out on our Texas leg. We took a day to drive through the rest of Tennessee, Arkansas, and part of Texas! We made it safely to Texas and one of the first realizations we had was that Texans are really proud of their state. The first stop we made had a texas state shaped mirror in their bathroom - proudness, I tell ya. 

1,435 miles after we started driving from D.C, we made it to Plano, Texas and my apartment. This is the place I will be calling home for this next year. I have always wanted to live in a place that had a red front door and now I do! Cherish the little things, y'all.

life /līf/: (adjective) 1. meant to be shared

Let's imagine for a minute.

It's finally the weekend and you want to spend the day outdoors. You decide to go out golfing* for the day on your own. You grab your clubs, your golfing shoes, your other golf items and set out for the green.

Once at the green you set up and start playing the game. You start to get into the swing of things after a few holes and towards the end of the course, you hit a hole in one.

You stand in disbelief. Was it really a hole in one? You move closer to make sure it actually made it in - and it did! Disbelief then turns into excitement, which then turns into disappointment when you realize that you were alone. No one saw you get that hole in one. No one can celebrate with you.

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Life is meant to be shared with others so they can share in your excitement, your disappointment, your hurt, your love.

If you go golfing alone, you go through all the emotions yourself. Disappointment of a bad shot, the happiness of a lovely weather day, the sadness of landing in the sand trap, and the excitement of a hole in one. If you go golfing with others, you get a chance to share those emotions, and memories, with them.

If you spend your life alone without sharing it with others, you take on all the emotions yourself. When you share you life - the everyday moments, how God is working, etc - you allow others to be involved in the emotions, memories, and growth with you. Because, honestly, sometimes you just need someone to cry with you and other times you just need someone to be excited with you!

"Living a life without relationships is like hitting a hole in one without anybody around" - my uncle

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Sharing my life with others is part of what this next year is about. I've realized just how valuable it is to be open with others about my life. But sharing in the emotions of it all is just part of it, the other part is about sharing what God is teaching me, how He is using me, and what I am learning.

I am excited to be able to share my life with you all through this blog and my ministry updates. I am excited to see how God uses this next year to change my heart. Come follow along and see how He will help me put it all into words. :)


* disclaimer: I don't know the first things about golf. Let's pretend I got it right ;)

the ending of one adventure begets the start of another

This week marks the last week. The last week of the lease at my college house, Cherokee.

Cherokee has been such the place. It's provided many memories, laughter, late night studying, and conversations. I am so thankful for the time that I have been able to live here. The past 2 years I have lived with 8 different girls, yet only 5 of us lived there at a time. Each semester I had the opportunity to share my room with a different girl. I learned how to share one shower with 4 others and what time of the day was best to hang in the hammock. I lived in a room with no closet, but with a slanted door and ceiling, and I participated in the Cherokee tradition of Wednesday night dinner and Friday morning breakfast.

Cherokee's got character. It's not much to look at, but it feels a lot bigger once you get inside.

The original Cherokee girls, fall semester 2011. 

(Julia, Amy, Emily, me, and Tessa) 

With the chapter of college and College Park living coming to a close, I am so excited to start this new chapter of GAiN and Texas living. Just another month and 26% of support to go until the new adventure starts!

The first adventure: support raising

My job at GAiN is funded by support. GAiN is a non-profit & a ministry and doesn't have any central funds to fund employees. My task this summer has been to build a team of financial partners who will support me monetarily as I work next year. I have been contacting people to meet up with them, telling them what I will be doing, and asking them to come on this adventure and partner with me next year.

If you asked me before if I would ever take a job that required raising support, I would have laughed. No way. I am too independent and I don't want to depend on people. But God had a different idea. Since going through this journey my attitude has changed. I have seen so many blessings come out of support raising.

1. It gives others the chance to be a part of what GAiN is doing. Not everyone can or wants to go and travel to different developing countries to bring humanitarian aid, and not everyone has the curriculum development skills set that I do in order to further GAiN's health programs. But many people still want to be a part and support the work we are doing, and this is a way that they can do so.

2. It has reminded me that we are not supposed to live independent of one another. While I would like to keep my life on the private side, I've realized that life is not meant to be lived in isolation; it's meant to be shared. Life is sacred and sharing how you are impacting others, what God is doing in your life, and your perspective on it all is so important.

3. It makes me so passionate about my work. In support raising, you meet up with many people to ask them to partner with you. During this time I get a chance to talk about what I will be doing and the specifics of my work. It is a time that I get to remind myself what I am doing and why I am doing it.

This summer is the season of support raising. And just like that it will be over and I will be in Texas. For now I am trying to live in the moment and cherish this part of life that I am in. To date, I am 62% supported and it has been incredible to watch God pull in support from all over! 

Pennsylvania Distribution Center (PDC)

GAiN has two locations in the U.S - an office in Dallas, TX and a Distribution Center in Mt. Joy, Pennsylvania. I will be working out of the Dallas office, but got a chance last week to visit the distribution center. All of the aid is processed through the distribution center and is then shipped over seas to different regions and partners. Twice a year the distribution center has a week long packing event where volunteers come and pack up the aid that is to be distributed throughout the next few months.

Last week was one of these weeks and I went to help out for a day to see more of what GAiN does out of their distribution center. They have many types of aid that they pack up in the PDC: blankets, seed packs, food (rice and beans), medical supplies, shoes, clothing, and even teddy bears and gospel bracelets that get distributed with the aid. 

I had the opportunity to work in the food area and help package and pack beans to be shipped out to different regions. They have a whole process assembly line in order to get the beans packed! First, you place a plastic bag underneath the funnel and then measure one scoop of beans and pour it into the funnel. 

The bag then gets placed on the sealer. But before the bag is sealed, it needs to be completely free of air  so you are left with a bag full of beans and nothing else! After all the air is smoothed out, the bag gets sealed with heat. 

This is my friend Makayla helping me seal the bags. She came up from NC with her church to help out at the PCD for the week. This was her first missions trip and she was so excited to be able to help pack food for people.

Seeing the tally board and realizing how one bag provides 6 meals really made an impact on me. It made me realize just how much we have in the U.S. Why do we in America think that we need so many options and so much food?

The bean packing session that I was a part of sealed and packed 246 boxes, which adds up to 35,424 meals.  

Throughout my time at the PDC, I realized just how much my heart is bent towards helping those without basic needs. My heart is for those nations who don't have those basic needs met in the form of food, clothes, water, etc. Being at the PDC really grew my heart more for what is to come next year!