"I think this is the craziest thing that I've ever seen/done/experienced." I feel as though I say this sentence or something like it almost every day here, which is a wonderful thing. New experiences are around every corner and it's so amazing to be a part of them! Every time something else crazy happens, we turn to each other and say "Welcome to Africa," because here, our crazy is their normal and it is fantastic. Whether its using the bathrooms here called squatty potties with a lizard keeping you company in the corner, cooking dinner in the hallway because...

One prayer that has really been laid on my heart is for God to continue to push me out of my comfort zone. And after the first full week of ministry at Makobore High School for boys, He has done just that.   After our morning devotion with the students, they all go to class. As we found ourselves on Thursday with not much to do, two teammates and I went to the headmaster to ask if there was anything we could do to help out. He asked me which classes I liked, I told him math and science. He looked at his schedule, then back at me and said “okay you go teach physics class.”...

Today, I was "one of the guys". Over the weekend, Garrett and Colin hiked out to some of the more remote and rural villages a few miles away, and ever since they returned with stories of the people they met and things they experienced, I've had an inexplicable desire to go see for myself. I tried to get them to go back and take me with them on Monday. And on Tuesday. And again on Wednesday. And I was a little confused about what God was doing and discouraged when the days came and went and we still hadn't gone. And then I realized, for about the thousandth time since being...

It is day 4 here in Rukingiri and I am lovng it! We havent started ministry yet, but we have been provided with the opportunity to enter into the town and shop at the markets and build relationships with the shop owners and locals.    Yesterday a few of my teammates and I were walking all around town looking for food and people to talk to. I had so much fun exploring and experiencing what africa has to offer. One of my favorite hilights of the day was when we were buying some vegitables, a group of about 8 children ran up and attacked us wth hugs and smiles. All I could think...

It is extremely hard to believe that we arrived in Rukungiri, Uganda only 2 days ago. So much has happened since then, and I feel so at home, that it feels like we've been here forever. It is even harder to believe that our team has only been together for a week. It feels like I've lost the concept of time, because within one week, I have experienced more of life than I think I ever have in my 19 years of life. I travelled all by myself, bonded with people I had never met in a way that only God could have orchestrated, I crossed the ocean for the first time, stepped foot in...

[Side note: this is our last day of internet so this will be my last blog until I go home] I was reflecting on those first awkward moments when my team met at the airport and where we are now. We were a ecclectic group of 18 to 20 somethings coming from many different backgrounds and passions in life. We were different, not like the other teams at training camp. But I knew from the beginning that we were special and that God would bless us if we were faithful. My team has been in some of the lowest valleys and faced some of the biggest mountains these past 3 months. We struggled to find...