Dear Mom and Dad ::

Dear Mom and Dad –

I’m not a blogger. I struggle to actually sit and write out
my thoughts, ideas, and babblings on paper.

Maybe I’m just the more ‘face to face type’. Well, I know
that I am more that type.

 But I realize that
you are not here in Tanzania
with me to sit, drink some African coffee and talk and reflect back on the last
four months.

I could tell you about
the time when my team and I rafted the Nile River.

I could tell you about
hospital visits in Uganda
praying over precious souls that have been infected by AIDS.

I could share with you
the crazy experiences and stories of living in the bush of Kenya with the
Maassi tribe; carrying water from a creek, 3 miles away. Waking up at 3am to
elephants running past our tents.

I would love to share with you all these stories – and thousands
more.

But these stories are
not just mine.

They are the stories that involve some of the most
incredible people I’ve ever been around. They are the stories that have a voice
because of those who have given up the comfortable in exchange for the
uncomfortable – the known for the unknown – the safe for the potentially
unsafe. 

These people are 20
somethings. College students. They are my
generation.

They are YOUR
sons and daughters.

They are the stories
of those that I have had the incredible honor
of leading and loving the last four months.

Dear Mom and Dad,
this blog is for you.

Thank you for
blessing Africa with your son or daughter.

Thank you for your
prayers and tears over us.

Thank you for the
investment you’ve made in her life.

Thank you for never
giving up on him.

Thank you for
releasing and letting go.

Thank you for
supporting and loving endlessly.

You have been the
ones waiting four weeks to hear an update, wondering when we’ve left one
country for the next- the ones who get that call saying that your 20 year old
baby is in the hospital with malaria – or that the ATM card doesn’t work and I need
money wired to Kenya – and the ones that celebrate birthdays, weddings, and graduations,
and births apart.

Out here on the field
we can all be admired when we post pictures of us holding little orphan
children and when we’re knee deep in dirt building a hut.

But there’s something
to be said about how we, as students, got to this crazy place.

I read a quote a year
or so ago that sums up what I want to say –

“The
church in America
needs parents who are willing to release their children to the mission field.  We need parents who love God more than their children.  If we recognize the importance of evangelism, we will
encourage future generations to give their lives for God and enter the heat of
the battlefield even in the face of great danger.”

No matter what your relationship with your son or daughter – you have
had an impact in their life – and not only in theirs.

But mine.

And Africa‘s.

Although I have been
their leader, I have learned beyond what
I could explain, from their lives. They have been daily reflections of
Jesus. Their willingness to learn and grow has challenged me. Their joy and
laughter has been contagious. 

Their lives have
brought life to most dead and darkest of places.

So from the bottom of
my heart I want to tell you. 

Thank you! 

Every one of these
nine students that I have led are incredible. They are fantastic! They are ROCKSTARS. And I am humbled and
honored to have been apart of their lives; speaking into who they are – and are
becoming as Sons and Daughters of the Kingdom!

Devon,
Katie, Erika, LaDawna, Rachel, Jordon, Megan, Taleh, and Allie–

I love each of you like crazy and am so proud of who you are!

 Thank you for your patience,
love, and grace for me as your leader.

I haven’t always had it together – you’ve sure have seen me at my weakest
– and maybe a few times at my better. But through it all you’ve laughed with
me, prayed over me, and given grace and love. You are the best!

Much love from your team
leader and biggest cheerleader,

Elizabeth