Monday-Wednesday, June 12th-15th

Well, we are back from Safari! Sorry, we haven't updated the blog in a couple of days because we have been out in the middle of the Masai Mara and let's just say there is no Wi-Fi out there! Anyway, we are back safe and sound and no one got eaten by a lion (even though we might have wanted to leave some there- just kidding).

What an incredible three days of exploring God's awesome creation! The Tea Farm is always a great precursor to what is to come on Safari because we are just dropped in the middle of the Mara and left to enjoy all that God has done. You know the excitement you get when you go to a new zoo you have never been to before and you see animals you have never seen before? No?

Well, imagine this...

You walk out of your tent at 6:25 in the morning and head to a 9-passenger van and get loaded up. Once everyone is there, you head out into this vast, expansive wilderness where your eye can see for miles. Spotted across the landscape are trees standing by themselves with nothing else around. There are zebras, gazelles, warthogs, wildebeests and other small animals grazing everywhere. The air is cool and there is a breeze as you stick your head out of the roof of the van to see everything. Then you drive up on a pride of lions just laying in the sun. That's followed by driving up to a couple of giraffes and then elephants so close you can hear them eating. That night you do the same thing. You go back out for a sunset drive. This time you see cheetahs laying in the sun and hippos swimming in the hippo pool.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is safari in the middle of the Masai Mara! What an incredible experience. I remember two years ago thinking the exact same thing. I am truly blessed to be able to see this with my own eyes. I know you are probably thinking, "That sounds so awesome! I can imagine what it must have been like." But the thoughts that you are imagining are not anywhere close to actually being here and observing it. It is indescribable. I can try using the most descriptive words I can think of but nothing will amount to the personal experience of being here!

As I took time out each night and afternoon to talk with our students who came on the trip, one thing kept coming up- this place is so different from home! What they meant by that is we can see Africa on the TV and Internet all day long but never really know how different and how much we are blessed to live in America. I have shown them pictures of our previous trips and explained things to them when I came back two years ago, but they never really understood what I was talking about. Now they do! They get it! They understand why this place is so different and how it is an amazing type of different. A type of different we love and so does our Creator.

I love what I do and I love seeing students "get it". What I mean by that is I love seeing them understand what it means to be a follower of Christ. There are so many facets of our relationship with God, and whenever a student understands and grows in one of those areas, I relish it! This trip has produced some serious fruit in not only our students but everyone on this trip.

Sorry about the tangent! Back to what I was saying before...it's just a different that shows you how amazing our God truly is. How creative He is. How joyful He is. How loving He is. How glorious He is. How extravagant He is. How merciful He is. I could go on and on but what I pray for most is that you see this in your everyday life. You don't have to come to Africa to experience this love for God! It is right in front of your nose and right in front of you every single day. You just have to open your eyes and realize that He is right there...waiting for you to notice! Will you?