The Adventures of Theran and Kate: Africa

Tomorrow morning my journey to Africa will start. I will be headed to a place where my heart has been this past year. I'm excited for new experiences and also meeting up again with Kenyan friends from last summer. I'm anticipating learning more about the African way of life but also learning more about myself. I feel like the Lord has a lot more eye opening and awareness planned for me.

This trip is especially meaningful because my best friend will be along for the journey. He hasn't traveled to Africa before and I feel privileged to be a part of the experience with him. It has been awesome what my eyes have been opened to and the sense of belonging & love I feel in Africa. I'm going to be so blessed to be able to have that same shared experience with my best friend.

Theran will meet the two orphans that I fell in love with last summer . Hear their laughter, see their smiles. He will experience the feeling of community in the harsh slum conditions of Kibera. He will witness the perseverance and hope of people who wake up every day knowing that life is going to be a struggle yet rejoice for the day that the Lord made. Theran will see all of this.

I pray for both of us to absorb all that is to be learned to the fullest, and upon arriving home to the States that we adjust our lives to our new realizations.

Life is calling...

Life is calling...how far will you go?

Today, I began a process that will direct my life post-graduation. I started my online application to become a Peace Corps volunteer. I can remember when asked "what do you want to do when you grow up" on a school project I was in 4th or 5th grade when I wrote be a peace corps volunteer.

At the time, I don't think I fully understood what it meant (I probably don't even now.) My heart is set on serving abroad for two years. I want to be able to contribute to a community in a developing country but I'm most curious to find out what I have to learn from nationals of the country that I will get placed in.

Until my departure, my day dreaming will consist of peace corps.

god it's me again...

and i quite frankly don't understand.

it is one thing to be oblivious to what is happening in the world. if i don't have an idea it makes sense that i have no urge to change anything. but i don't understand how after seeing injustices with my own eyes, how i can go back to normal life.

i'm angry. i'm upset that tonight i will lay my head down in a comfortable warm bed with no worries of what might happen in the night while there are children a third my age sleeping on the hard, cold ground fearing what the darkness brings. why them and not me?

i am not the only person who recognizes the suffering going on in the world. how do we continue to live our extravagant lifestyles while turning our head to the truth.

i realize i am one person of not much influence, or power. and if i go to these people in need, i most likely can't single handedly find a solution to this incomprehensible complex problem. i realize, i do.

but i can be there. i can offer my attention and affection. lord, what is it that you want me to do? what path can i take that best uses my skills? how do i do your will in your timing?

waiting impatiently,
kate

35 and counting...

35 days til Africa. There is so much that needs to get done before then.
But I can't help from day dreaming...

Can't wait to hear the laughter and see the smiles of the children... Can't wait to meet the Lord in the streets of Kibera... Can't wait to stare at the waters of the India Ocean and be in awe of the beauty He created...

If it fits...

Try this bracelet: if it fits you wear it; but if it hurts you, throw it away no matter how shiny.- African Proverb

I luck out last summer and get to go to Africa for 3 weeks. I luck out even more to go again for 4 weeks (possibly longer). I might be the luckiest person in the world because my friend since the age of three will be traveling along with my group this summer.

One of my closest friends will be able to share friendships with the people of Kibera, the workers of Shalom, the young children of Nyumbani, and street kids of the Anita, Kivuli, and Tone La Maji.

He will be able to experience days with people who my thoughts often drift to. He will see where my heart is and where I fit. Hopefully, he will fit too.

Round 2

Seeing is different than being told- African proverb

Today I found out that this summer I will have another great opportunity to visit Africa. I will join a group of 5 other North Central students along with our assistant ministry and service director and her husband. We will travel to Uganda and Kenya for 4 weeks.

In Uganda, we will help to set up a resource center for disadvantaged children and create a refugee document center. That all includes building, painting, carpentry work, gardening and planting. We will be able to learn the stories of these people, many whom seek shelter in Uganda as refugees. After 2 weeks, we will leave the rural areas of Entebbe to travel to Nairobi.

In Nairobi, we will stay at Shalom House, the place I lived last summer. We will do similar activities such as visiting an AIDS, touring social development projects, and enjoying the centers that are home to many street kids.

I’m so excited to be able to see familiar African faces. I’m even more excited to be a part of other students’ first African experience. It is one thing to be able to share stories of what Kenya was like but to be there when others are seeing it for themselves will be amazing in its own way. After coming home last summer, I did not think I could be blessed anymore than I already was. But two trips…

New Cut & No Regrets

Before & After



I would rather regret the things I have done than the things that I have not- Lucille Ball

Besides trims, I haven't gotten a real hair cut in more than two years. Today I feel like I got a hair cut that is more like my personality. It is fresh, has bounce and simply is fun. I love my new look and definitely no regrets. Feel so good I might even go for a "I Love Lucy" red.