back

In just an hour I'll be leaving this place that's been "home" and heading to the airport to go home. Nine weeks have passed. I've been to Zambia and back. I've completed over 300 hours of my internship. I've seen a lot. Learned so much. I love it here in Africa but something just feels ready to be back. Maybe because I'll be returning in a few short months so it's not "goodbye," it's "see you later."

There are some things I won't particularly miss over the next few months though. I won't miss the uncertainty of every meal, wondering how it'll make me feel in a matter of minutes and never really feeling 100%. I won't miss this country-wide water shortage that forces me to take bucket showers with water fetched from our pool. I won't miss the smells or the gagging feeling walking by a particularly rank gutter. I won't miss sweating. All the time. There are of course other things I won't miss too badly. As I was thinking about all of these things my heart leaped a little bit about the comforts I get to slip back into. However in the back of my mind I couldn't shake the thought that it's not fair to think like this. I get to leave. Everyone here has to stay- battling disease, malaria, parasites, malnutrition, life difficulties, poverty, water shortages, dehydration, even death. Rather than only rejoicing over what I'll gain over the next few hours, I will choose to pray for what I leave behind, for the people who can't just hop on a plane to live a different life. I pray for their strength, their safety, but most of all, their eyes to be opened to the only One who can save them from all things in this life- Jesus.

Will you join me in praying for the people of Ghana, of Zambia, of Africa?