My Journey to Kenya - Part 2

After an amazing summer with Teen Missions International (TMI) in Brazil I flew home to CA.

(Note to high-school students doing missions trips: Please wait at least a few days after getting home from one missions trip before bringing up a future trip to mom and dad.)

I basically got off the plane and told my family that I was supposed to go to Africa the next year. And sure enough I did. I wound up on the 1995 Mozambique Orphanage Team that had captured my attention the previous summer. It was an amazing and life-changing summer for me. It turned out that half of our team members had been sitting in the same TMI training session the year before and had felt the same urgency as myself to be a part of this team. Having a group of young people so united in their desire to serve the Lord was a beautiful thing to be a part of.

Our first night in Mozambique we heard drums beating as local Bible-school students had their evening devotions. It didn't take long for Africa to get under my skin.

During my time in Mozambique I began reading a biography about Paul Brand. He was a physician who did amazing things with leprosy in India. His medical mission work really had an impact on me. If you would like to read his story for yourself you should check out this book: The Gift of Pain.

One day while on the construction site I had an eye injury. A string that had been tightly strung up was accidentally cut while my face was just a foot away. It flew up and whipped across my eyeball leaving a red mark behind. My vision was affected for several days. I remember someone mentioning that perhaps I should be flown out of the country to get medical attention. That's when it really hit me that because I was an American I had access to good health care. I asked myself "What about all of these Africans who have life-threatening medical problems and have no access to health care or options to travel to get it?"

By the end of that summer I knew that I wanted to pursue a medical route to my future missionary career.

After returning home from Mozambique I made a personal commitment to never date anyone who did not have a passion for full time Christian service in Africa. I knew that God had called me to a life overseas and I did not want any relationship to come between me and that calling. I was often questioned about the "radicalism" of such thinking. Once when in a discussion with someone who thought my commitment was ridiculous the other party asked: "So what if you never find anyone to marry then?" My joking response was "Oh heck, I'll just marry an African then!" So be careful what you joke about because it just may come true!

Part 3 to come soon...