Africa in Review!

--Since, I am back to blogging on a regular basis, I thought it would be good to reflect on what I have blogged about for the past 9 years, starting back in 2005.

 --Monday is Africa day, so, I thought I would post some of my previous posts on Africa.

 --I went to Senegal, West Africa in 2011.  It was an amazing trip, the above picture is just one of many from that trip.

--I think I'm going to continue my series of doing a profile on the different countries in Africa.

SENEGAL
--I am Going to Senegal, West Africa
--Senegal ABC's

SUDAN
--The Lost Boys of Sudan!
--Pray for Peace for Sudan
--Sudan--Global Day of Prayer!
--Horrific Flogging of Woman in Sudan!
--President Bush Fed up with UN's Lack of Action on Darfur
--Genocide in Darfur
--A review of Attack on Darfur

SOMALIA
--Going After Terrorists in Somalia 
--A Review of The True Story of Black Hawk Down

RWANDA
--Rwanda

UGANDA
--Kisses from Katie

The Africa Series!--Part 1--Senegal ABC's!

My passion for Africa started awhile ago, and ever since my trip to Senegal, it has exploded. I am in love with all things Africa.

God got a hold of my heart through politics/current events and through home schooling my son. We are now doing a Unit Study on Africa and making our way through each country. I will be posting about that in this series.

My first post is about my trip to Senegal. I meant to post something right away, but life was crazy and I never got around to it. Below is something I came up with for my church presentation and a letter I sent out. I had to change it a little for safety precautions.

Senegal ABC’s
A-African jewelry-I was given and bought to bring home.
B—Babies I got to love on
C—Charms-many villagers still think they need these to protect them from evil spirits.
D—Dakota, who was one of my teammates on the trip.
E—Ethiopia-One of the men on our team was born in Ethiopia, which gave him a special bond with the people we met.
F—French is spoken by some villagers but most spoke tribal languages.
G—Goats, chickens and other animals roamed freely through the villages, fields and roads.
H—Hands—they eat with the right hand only, the left hand is used for other things.
I—Islam—A lot of the people believe in folk Islam which is a mix of Islam and ATR (African Traditional Religion).
J—Joni was the other woman on our team.
K—Kenya, Sudan and Tanzania were the African countries where my Pastor, Dr. Hadaway had gotten his experience in African Missions.
L—Late—I am notorious for having “issues” with time. So, I adapted to “Africa time” quite well.
M—Mosque—I went with Dr. Hadaway to the mosque one day and was swiftly kicked out.
N—No Problem!—Our driver’s favorite phrase in English!
O—Orphans—the street kids broke my heart and made me want to sweep them all up and start my own orphanage.
P—Pop—I am a Coca-Cola addict, so I was shocked/happy to see that most places had Coke available for pretty cheap.
Q—Quickly, left to go to historical Goree Island. It was one of the main hubs where slaves were picked up and taken in the 1800’s.
R—Rhinos on the safari!
S—Safari that we got to go on!
T—Theater—so many of the experiences would remind me of movies/tv—Roots, Locked up Abroad, The Amazing Race.
U—Unbelievable—how stressful shopping was because of how they descended on you like vultures to pressure you into buying things.
V—Van got stuck in the mud numerous times. We were there in the rainy season.
W—Wife—Dr. Hadaway kept joking that I would become someone’s 3rd wife. I thought this was purely comic humor, but we found out it was all too real for the women who live there.
X—X-rated—I saw lots of naked people in the villages.
Y—Yummy—I wasn’t real excited about the tongue and the liver we prepared in the village, but the 1st week we ate at the retreat and that was great food.
Z—Zebras we saw at the Safari.

Previously:
Laura Bush Honored for her Work in Africa to Beat Malaria!
I am Going to Senegal, West Africa!

I am Going to Senegal, West Africa!

I have been horrible about neglecting my blog lately. I have tons of stuff I want to post, its just been hard to find the time. I am hoping I can find a balance between work, writing and everything else and still find a little time to blog.

I am very excited about the subject of this post. For about a year or so, I have felt this nudge from God about going to Africa on a short-term missions trip. I have been studying the countries with my son in school and praying for different countries via Samaritan's Purse's Prayer Points.

An opportunity arose recently for me to go, and the more I checked into it, the more it seemed right up my alley. I prayed about it and talked to my family and stepped out in faith. God has been amazing. I found out about the trip a little late, so I needed to raise $2,100 in a little over a week. I knew that if God wanted me to go, He would provide. And that He did. He waited up until a couple days before, but He provided. The whole amount was $3,500 and I am almost there. Amazing!!

I have been reading and learning a lot about Senegal. Its definitely going to take me out of my comfort zone. I will be in the "bush" a big part of the time. And its a Muslim country, so I will have to wear covered attire.


Yet, I am excited about what an opportunity God has provided. Jeremy Camp's song, Walk by Faith is my theme song for the trip and the summer. Stay tuned for more posts!!

Books:
Senegal--Tanya Mulroy
Senegal--Elizabeth Berg