adventure//week30

Well I’ve returned from the wilds of Africa yesterday. After driving about 3,700 miles up the middle of southern Africa, I know understand why South Africans say Africa starts beyond their borders. It’s a completely different world out there.

To recount all that I experienced in my short 10 day road trip would take pages so I’ll share just glimpses of this crazy adventure. On day four, while driving through Botswana we had several elephant citings on the side of the road. They are such beautiful creatures, even while flapping their ears and threatening to charge you.

On the way to the Zambian border, we passed kilometers of semi trucks, which wait for days, often weeks, to get clearance to cross from Botswana to Zambia. Because of the long days of boredom, abundant prostitution takes place here and along most African borders, which only aids in the rapid spread of HIV across the continent of Africa. It was a sad reality to see first hand.

Just past the Botswana border, we crossed the famous, hippo and crocodile infested Zambezi River on a “ferry.” As I shared my wooden raft with a semi truck, there were many prayers said. Once we reached the Zambian border, it was chaos. All at moments you had to be aware of everyone around you for fear of theft. After our cars were cleared to pass through the border, we had to go through on foot. I was quite blown away by their immigration system, which consisted of writing our own information on a piece of paper once we got our passport stamped. Yes, we had arrived in Africa.

On day five, after visiting the beautiful Victoria Falls, we finally made it to the Dykstra home in Lusaka. They are a family from Minnesota working with World Vision for 2 years (check out their blog). They graciously turned their backyard into our campsite for the week.

The following morning was a day I’ve unknowingly waited years for. When we pulled up to the school, about 10 minutes out in the bush, I was overcome by emotion. As we drove down the red clay road, we were greeted by neat rows of singing children. Never before have I seen so much joy. As children immediately mobbed me, I realized a vision I’ve had for the last 4 years was finally coming to fruition.

For the following three days, I had two children on my lap and at least four hanging on my limbs at every moment. It was precious. It's amazing the power of touch. These children just wanted to be touched. And they wanted to touch me. At one point at small boy was pinching the fat on my arm and not much later a little girl began to examine my fat as well. At first, I thought, "I know, I know, I've got some extra fat on me. I've been trying to shed it, okay?" I was annoyed. And then it hit me. These kids are not used to fat. As I looked around the place, I couldn't find one child or teacher that seemed to have any excess fat on their bodies. As the 10th poorest country in the world, their diets consist of mangoes and millie pap (a sort of more substantial and bland cream of wheat). Meat is an occasional treat seen on their plates maybe- just maybe- once a month. The children have one meal a day, which the school provides. There isn't an opportunity for fat. Yes, opportunity- it's a privilege, a luxury, that I have some extra chub. Later on, as I trudged thru the red clay mud to the truck, for the first time, I found myself thanking God for the extra fat that has frustrated me often. Now there's a lesson to be learned.

It’s been a whirlwind adventure and I’m still processing through a lot. But one thing I am sure of is my heart continues to wrap itself around the people of Africa. Seeing these two beautiful countries has only confirmed that. I’m overwhelmed with gratefulness for the opportunity to see God’s people across the world. I’m reminded that my life has little do with me. God’s driving the car. And it’s been, yet again, another crazy adventure.