Bob’s Adventures in Africa!

Words cannot express the feeling in my heart after experiencing the sounds, smells, generosity, and pure joy of Africa and its people. By definition, a life changing experience. By Grace, a new view on life’s priorities!

I will no longer complain about a cold shower, or the idea of deserving 3 squares a day. I will no longer complain about not having cold water to drink, or the idea of needing a chocolate dessert after dinner. I will no longer complain about Minnesota roads or its potholes. I will no longer take for granted my faith, family and friends. I just witnessed the most joyful people I have ever met. The Tanzanian men, women and children have taught me that the core to our wealth is not measured in money or things, but measured only by our faith, family and friends!

I want to thank God for the opportunity to learn from the most generous, hardworking, and industrious people I now know. Life in Africa is a substantive existence, day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute. Their faith allows for very little stress and a ton of positive energy that allows for the impossible to happen!

The next time I see all of you I hope that you ask me about my mission trip to Tanzania. I would love to tell you a story about:
-My 40 plus hour journey there and back
-The amazing topography of Africa
-My first brush with a Lion!
-Are zebra’s white on black or black on white?
-How farmers are yielding 120 bushels an acre where 3 years ago they were yielding 30 per acre
-How ‘Micro banks’ can change a village’s lifestyle forever
-A parent’s daily decision to send their 5 year old to school or out to collect wood for the evening fire which will allow them to cook dinner
-A typical 2 mile walk to find water
-An early wake up call to serve fresh bread by 7:00am
-Being given chickens as gifts of gratitude
-Why we were called ‘witch doctors’
-Praying from the heart before dinner, during dinner and after dinner!
-The smells of Africa: fresh pineapple, elephant dung, wood burning fires, sweat, eucalyptus trees, overheated trucks, fresh tomatoes, dust, rain, and the smell of happiness and joy
– 3 hour church services
– The pastor moving out so we had a roof over our head
-Dancing in church, not once, not twice, not three times…
-Being hugged by orphans so hard I bruised
-An Italian nun teaching aid’s patients how to bake bread and cookies
-Sharing all of this with 4 amazing women and one very strong man
-An 8 hour layover in Amsterdam where we got to experience the Anne Frank house, the red light district, unbelievable chocolates, and the smell of that wacky weed

I went with many questions, I came home with more! I have been changed in ways that I will discover over time and which will reveal themselves in small ways. Your questions will help me to learn exactly how I have changed. With stories of people and their contentment grounded in faith and prayer and relationships. I look forward to telling you what I saw that broke my heart and what I was given that filled my heart with more joy than I can express.

Be blessed and be a blessing.

Bob

To read more about Bob’s experience in Africa, click here. This is the daily blog is group kept while he was in Africa. Here you will be able to see pictures of their experience and hear from other members of the group.