12 Americans. 1 bathroom. You do the math.

I apologize in advance for the lengthiness of this blog, but summing up 11 people into 2 pages was a challenge. Enjoy!

If someone would have told me 2 months ago I would be comfortable enough to share with 11 strangers just how well, or how not so well, my colon was working on a day-to-day basis, I would have laughed at such ridiculousness. But oh how wrong I would have been. After spending every waking…and sleeping moment with people for almost two months, your business becomes just as much their business.

No I’m not in a sorority…

So apparently before I met my team, they were under the impression I was some “pretty girl” in a sorority. Ouch! I wasn’t sure how to take that… but man were they in for a surprise when they saw the real me. Although I’ll never live down the “oh is that what you and your ‘sisters’ do” comment. But nevertheless I fell head over heels for every single person on this team instantly, and I’m certain Africa would not be the same without each one of them. I’ve spent the last month and a half thinking, ‘where have you people ben all my life?’

I’ll bet you a baby wipe…

I never would have guessed how much comfort I would find in knowing there is always a fresh package of baby wipes near by. After not taking a shower for… well who knows how long, baby wipes are practically gold, and they have become the national currency for this team. You have Weston on one hand who is pretty much baby wipe fasting, and trying to see just how much of “Africa” he can get caked on his feet while still being able to fit in his shoes. Then you have Kaiten who uses a baby wipe after every breath. But all around baby wipes are quite rare and much loved by this team, and when you have to sleep next to someone who may or may not be covered in goat milk, baby wipes are very much encouraged. So we gamble with them, but hey who doesn’t love a nice baby wipe shower before bed?

I 1-10 you to… Ok who invented this game?

Object of the game: pick a humiliating dare for someone, then think of a number from 1-10. If they guess the number right they have to take on the dare. Rules: You can’t back down. Oh how this game has led to some of the most interesting moments on this trip. You got Brooke taking on the challenge of eating a handful of sunscreen with a shot of ketchup and sugar ( only afterwards did we see the poison warning… whoopsy!), poor Daniel living up to shaving his left arm, right thigh, left leg (he won’t be wearing shorts for a while), and Weston having to confess his love for a random man in the airport using his creep voice (you are so cute!) Seriously I thought I had seen it all…but who could forget Anna relieving herself on  PLATE. I was unaware of this dare until I found it on my bedroom floor… Two questions. Who are these people? And Can I keep them?

Yeah sure why not?

Here on this team we are all about freedom in Christ, and Darby always encourages us to “be very free”. So why not? Yeah sure we’ll break into random dance and song on a daily basis (Africa the Musical). Yeah sure we bring giant illegal plastic bags full of popcorn into Rwanda. And yeah sure we’ll fight over eating it even though that thing is never going to run out… Yeah sure Darby will shower fast and Jillian will continue to tell her shaggy dog joke that no one seems to understand. So what if Anna has an automatic snort button and Daniel has a nose flute. You play that thing! And so what if Austin has the same movie and song playlist as your 14 year old sister. No judgement. Clay will keep busting out his sick karate moves, and Kathryn will continue to a have a weird obsession with beards, and I will keep translating Kaiten’s unique language to the rest of the team, “You guys are gonna crisp!” So Nicole will keep hurdling thorn bushes to make it to the bathroom in time, it’s okay if Brooke is a thug on the inside, and it’s alright if Weston’s “caring” comments do come off a little insensitive. “Jill you have a huge bug bite on your face…that’s a cyst…”Because although we have all transformed during this journey, we have not lost who we are individually, and all the little quirks that make us… well us. We have no time to look for worldly affirmations, we are too busy being free!

I’m in love with these Mizungos

It’s amazing how far we would go to humiliate or scare each other, and it comes in all forms. Some people take on the dare of reliving their nightmare of peeing their pants in front of the whole team. And some accidentally shatter windows just to scare the pants off of someone. We bicker like brothers and sisters… in Christ of course, and some of us still haven’t recovered from an intense game of mafia. One of the rules of this trip was no falling in love with each other, but honestly it’s pretty hard to “stumble” when you’re busy rejoicing in each other’s bowel movements. But just as much as Jesus does, I know these people will always have my back. Jill never once complained about shining her head lamp on me outside our tent at 2 in the morning every single night to make sure hyenas didn’t eat me, and there was always someone to drink my goat milk chai tea with a smile on their face. Along with all these fun crazy times I’ve also gotten to see each one of my teammates grow so much. I’ve been treated with such Christ like actions and have been covered in more love than I could have asked for. Blessings, blessings, blessings.

African time: where 2 hours means 5

Although the days are long and each hour seems to slip by slowly, I find myself looking back on the past 1 ½ months and thinking, where has the time gone? Our days here are numbered, so I’ve been trying to soak up each moment. Allowing God to continue to reveal himself and grow me, and loving each moment I get to spend with these people who have found a place in my heart. Oh how I’ll miss Austin’s “good morntings”, and waking up to the Lion King soundtrack. And I don’t know what I’ll do without Darby always rebuking negative thoughts in the name of Jesus. We are so much more than a team, we are a family. We are the body of Christ. And it has never looked more beautiful.

Challenge Accepted

So after everything we’ve been through together, finding out all 12 of us had to share one bathroom, I secretly thought to myself “is that all you got Africa?” I’ve realized the enemy would do anything in his power to try to tear us apart and cripple our spirits. But why wouldn’t he want to break apart such a strong community? He is so intimidated by the unity we share and he is fearful, because we are unstoppable, relentless, and with the spirit, we have it all. So with 10 days or 200 days left, I will remember how loved and pursued I felt by these people in this moment. And though the memories fade, this feeling will not. Besides we’ve already planned our family reunion…so let the clock run slow, and bring it on Africa!

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. –John 16: 12-13

10 days until we are back on American soil! Until next time!

Love from Africa