Saturday, June 1

my trip to Africa + an opportunity to GIVE

A blogger friend of mine is headed to Africa soon and asked to see some pictures from our trip in 2011, so I figured I might as well post a few on my blog! I don't think I've ever shared any of our Africa pictures with all of the people on the World Wide Web, so here ya go!

It's impossible to sum up the 10 day trip into one tiny blog post. It was a life-changing experience I will never forget. It was my first time to leave the country, too! I can't wait to go back someday. Hopefully soon!

Anyway, we went to Zambia to build a tabernacle and teach children's workers and church leaders how to do kids ministry. Here's the trip in a tiny, tiny nutshell. :)

This picture is mostly to show what most of the roadsides looked like.

Here's a few shots of the tabernacle we helped build. (You'll see a picture of it completed when you scroll down.)

Below on the left is a picture of the ladies beginning to put together their "kitchen." They made a little room out of tarps wrapped around the trees, and that's where they cooked lunch for us! It was so cool.
And then there's the newlyweds working together in harmony. ;)
((fun fact: we often call our trip to Africa our second honeymoon because we had only been married for less than two months!))

Here's some shots of the completed tabernacle on the first Sunday they held service in their new church. What an exciting day it was! On the right, you'll see the ladies who led worship. I could listen to them sing and watch them dance all day long. It was an incredible experience.

These pictures are from a day we went to visit a small village out in the bush. The beautiful lady in the middle was probably one of my favorites of the trip. She was seriously radiating joy, and to listen to her talk was incredible. She was so passionate and so joyful. I wanted to be like her!

And, of course...you can't visit Africa without going on a safari!
We stayed at this gorgeous reserve and got to go on an evening safari AND a morning safari.
SO. STINKIN. COOL.
((see the giraffe behind me? he's hiding from you))

I'm sparing you from the graphic pictures I have of them feeding the lions (even though I REALLY wanted to post them because it was one of the coolest things I've ever seen). But here's a picture of a lion and a hyena. I know I've seen lions at the zoo before, but it's just a little crazy seeing them in Africa. And the hyena...c'mon...I know you're all thinking of Lion King right now.

Well, the pictures and my brief captions certainly don't do it justice, but they're still fun to look at.
I'm dying to go back, and I hope it happens soon.
Have fun in Africa, Annie! Can't wait to hear all about your trip!

To the rest of you, keep Annie in your prayers as she heads to Kenya soon! She will be teaching VBS and doing some discipleship with the locals. Pray for funds to be raised, travels to be safe, and lives to be changed!

You can check out her blog here and click on "annie in kenya" on the left side to read more about it!
And if you'd like to make a financial donation (which I strongly urge you to consider), go HERE! Not everyone can GO Kenya to reach the lost, but we can GIVE and SEND! :)

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