What an adventure!

Hello, everyone!

This is my first time setting up a "blog" and I cannot think of a better reason to do so. This "blogspot" will be my primary source of communication with you all - my share partners in this adventure to Africa. I am so excited to see what God will reveal to me on this trip, I can't even begin to tell you! Going to Africa is something that I have longed to do for many years. The coolest part is that I get to actually DO something when I am there -- I get to GIVE BACK a little bit -- and I couldn't be more happy about that.

We will depart from San Francisco on Friday, May 25, 2007. It will be a very long flight with many stops.

We will arrive in Blantyre, Malawi, Africa on May 27, 2007. We will be traveling with the Feed the Children organization (http://www.feedthechildren.org). Feed the Children runs an orphanage in Blantyre that we will be visiting and helping at. There is an orphanage, a large kitchen and feeding area where many people are fed each day, and there is also a hospital on-site.

On June 1, 2007, we will travel to Lilongwe, Malawi, Africa. We will be visiting an orphanage that is run by Children of the Nations (http://www.cotni.org/). I am especially excited about the time here because I am friends with a gal named Monica who lived there for six months last year. She came home for a few months over the holidays and has recently gone back to Malawi. I can't wait to see many of the sights she has seen and meet the children (and grown-ups!) that she has already impressed upon my heart. This organization also has a widow ministry. Due to AIDS, there are many widows in Africa. This ministry provides them with knitting needles, yarn, and the skills necessary to create things like clothes or table linens that they can then sell for money. This provides the widows with a much-needed income that they would not have had previously.

I will depart from Lilongwe on June 7 and return to the States on June 8, 2007. I have no doubt that I will have seen many incredible things and know that my heart will be changed. It will be an interesting and introspective drive from the airport on San Francisco back to my home in Folsom...

Be sure to check-in with this blogspot on a regular basis! I don't think I will have much time to write individual emails to everyone when I am there, so this will be my one depository of information. While I would love to update it daily, I don't know that my schedule will allow me to do so. I will certainly update it as often as possible.

Thank you so much for your support during this trip. What a blessing to have you go along with me on this amazing, life-changing journey. I cannot WAIT for it to begin!