For as long as I can remember Africa has been my goal. Actually being here has been monumental in my life. It has been such a huge dream for me, and looking back on the last two months almost feels like one–a dream. Like it happened in a split second, or not at all. It’s really the weirdest feeling coming to the realization that I did just spend two months in three of the most beautiful countries in Africa. That it wasn’t a dream, but a reality. And as I get on that plane to head home tomorrow night, I will be leaving such a large part of me behind. And I will leave with full confidence that each and every child that I covered in kisses, each child I hugged tightly, each baby girl that fell asleep in my lap-felt the love of Christ. Because I am His. I am His hands and His feet in this world, and His love spilled out of me and drenched every one of them. And I am so thankful for the opportunity to be the person that was able to love a child who may have never felt loved before. What an honor that is.
I followed the Lord to these places. I did my best, I loved my best. And as I leave, God will continue to change lives through the love that He poured out on them. All of them. The two year old with the large tumor in her stomach, the street kids, the tiny frail boy in that hospital bed who has been robbed of life by AIDS, the sad and broken elderly lady, the orphans, the giggling girls with now painted fingernails, my beautiful friend Sarah–all of them, each and every one, has felt the love of Christ-which is a powerful love. And I believe that there is no way God is done because we are leaving. No way, He is just getting started. And I am so thankful that He has used me as part of His plan in these people’s lives. I am heading home not knowing if I will ever set foot again in Africa, but knowing with certainty that pieces of my heart are spread among the beautiful people of Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania.
