1. Our African friends rent a generator for a final farewell dance party, and all of us spend three hours dancing the night away together (w/ all the leaders) following an amazing dinner & an awesome time of praise & worship, & sharing.
2. There are a minimum of 20 kids at the home you are staying in because they never get to see “mzungus” (white people). There is so much LOVE in this place. Do you think I stand out?
3. Kids like to rub your leg hair because they don’t have any. It is so cool to see how the Lord has created the Africans and us to live in the climate and culture we live in. They have no hair and need no sunscreen. I have come to realize that White people are not made for the African climate.
4. When the horn is used 61 times within 5 minutes to warn pedestrians of the approaching vehicle. We've come to really appreciate & love the "motherland".
5. A luxury includes a flushing toilet and running water... SIMPLICITY.
6. Dancing around a circle with the Africans if the highlight of your day.
7. Your van breaks down and the guys have to get out and push/run along side the van to get it into “town”. Later, the axle breaks in half. May be time to put the van into the classic car museum.
8. When you feel like you are in a high-speed chase while driving down a one-lane dirt road with a big IZUZU truck tailing you only to pass you on the right with a 6-inch margin. Safety first.
10. Shower time is a community affair and just getting your hands, feet, and face clean feel awesome.
11. Your head lamp is the most functional accessory you can wear unless the moonlight is enough to light your way
12. When you start blending in with the Africans because of the dirt caking your face after truck rides. And your hair sticks up making you look like a lion.
13. You are greeted at a Young Life club with 250 people swamping the truck and then getting hoisted into the air in a parade through town. Club is a true community affair.
15. I count 17 chickens running around the yard and you are able to differentiate each rooster’s cock-a-doodle from the chicken coop starting at 4:30 a.m. each morning.
16. Your moto is “Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not break.”
17. It is not against the law to ride 20 deep in the bed of a truck meant for two
18. A dad will walk 3 miles into town in the middle of the night in order to sit with his daughter who is sick with malaria.
19. You go to watch a Young Life soccer tournament and 2000 people show up to watch. People came in large numbers to be apart of club.
20. The girls slept 9 to a 6’x10’ room. We sweated all night and felt bugs crawling all over you, but we still laughed and had fun.
21. When they say 30 minutes, it usually means at least an hour---it’s called “Africa Time”
22. Children wear tattered clothes, no shoes, and HUGE smiles (always). They have nothing and giving them your used plastic water bottle is the highlight of the day. They create many games with the one bottle that we Americans throw away.
23. Your host family builds a bathroom for you to use during your stay
24. You have an entire community come over to prepare meals and care for one another’s children
25. You don’t have the comforts of home (i.e. electricity or running water), but love every minute of it...
26. You learn about faith and trust not by a sermon preached, but by watching the Africans live.
27. Praise and Worship is an every-night activity.
28. You’ll miss not being surrounded by such an awesome community of people at all times because you have shared the kind of life-changing trip that comes once in a lifetime!
