Post 1 - Landed in Africa!

I am so sorry about the delay; Internet access is few and far between here in Tarime! I just want to thank everyone who made it possible for me to come on this mission and serve The Lord!

Touched down in Tarime, Tanzania! What in incredible journey it was traveling to arrive here; I left North Carolina at 4:30 PM on Wednesday and arrived in Tanzania Saturday morning at 8 AM. I was so blessed to meet some truly amazing people on my flights. My flight from Amsterdam to Nairobi was delayed, so I sat down on the only empty seat I could find while waiting to for the plane, I naturally started a conversation with the woman next to me asking why she was flying to Nairobi (I guess you could say that’s the Paul in me coming out). Her name was Catherine and of course I told her that was my middle name; after talking for a while she looked at me and said “I believe that everything happens for a reason, and God placed you next to me for a specific purpose, I usually do not speak to the person next to me.” Let me tell you, she was the biggest blessing God could have put in front of me. Once in Nairobi (we landed at 10 PM) she waited for me off the plane, helped me get my visa, waited for me to get my luggage, helped me through customs, and then waited with me outside while we looked for Holly. I would have been completely overwhelmed and lost if it were not for her, my Saint Catherine!

My experience in Nairobi was awesome for the most part! The people, the food, the culture, it was wonderful! I was fortunate enough to spend one day there and it was jammed packed with exciting adventures! I was able to spend the day with Holly, Carolyn, and Lyle aka Skip around Angel House, and this was a great treat because Carolyn, Lyle and I all completed mission training in Kansas together! It was great seeing them and being able to pick their brain a little, as they were just finishing their two week stay at Angel House! They are such wonderful people! Holly found a lot of great things for us to do that day in Nairobi.  We began our day at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trusts’ Orphans’ project, this is where they take in and raise baby elephants and rhinos! This was much different than any zoo I have ever been to before; we were within arm’s length of these adorable baby elephants as they were being bottle fed!

The next thing we were lucky enough to experience was going and feeding the giraffes! I absolutely loved this!! They were the sweetest animals ever, so gentle and kind! Holly and I were the only brave ones to feed them out of our mouth, so we got giraffe kisses! One of the coolest parts about this was it was field trip day, so there were kids running all around, and I couldn’t help but pick them up so they could feed the giraffes!

The last thing we did before Carolyn and Lyle had to catch their flight and Holly and I had to get on the bus to Tanzania was go to the Amania house! This is a woman’s project and this had to be without a doubt the most heartwarming, inspirational thing to witness. These women started this project with just 3 of them in a garage, and now they have a huge building, their own shop and over 90 women in the project! It is just amazing, in their building they have a chapel, where they begin and end every single day thanking The Lord. These women, many of whom are refuges from all over Africa, are taught a variety of skills, and as a result of those skills they are able to be completely self-sufficient. These women were so incredible and welcoming! When we were being introduced to them, they broke out in a song, it was awesome, then they all went around telling us where they were from, it was truly an amazing experience I will never forget!