Malawhat?

in a crazy whirl of the last few months, i have basically been preparing for a trip to malawi, africa. 

to preface, i went to colombia, south america in the fall and saw poverty in the truest sense of the word for the first time in my life. it really hit me seeing the raw emotion of the people there and seeing their circumstances in person. i had always seen videos of people in that situation, but the background music and captions, although meant to appeal to my emotions, masked the deepest feelings i had when i experienced it first hand.

when i got back to the united states, God revealed to me that i love people, and i love to travel. should i become a full-time missionary? i know i plan on living in another country for a couple of years at some point in my life. well, i figured a short-term mission trip would be a good experience for me, so i decided that is what i was going to do - i wanted to go to africa (another story for another time why africa specifically) on a mission trip.

i met with my pastor on wednesday, december 3. i told him my story and my plans of doing a trip. i told him i would help plan one for church (which, being in a new state had never had a church-supported trip before) if one was not in the works already. he told me that that previous sunday a couple approached him wanting to lead a medical mission trip - how can anyone deny that God had His hand in that? well argue with me all you want, but i know it was God. 

fast forward two months. that other couple, bert and lidie, and i have been talking to different organizations as to what would be the best trip. we decided to go with mercy and truth  which was leading a trip to malawi, africa. malawi is one of the most dichotomistic countries in the world. the landscape is breathtakingly beautiful, but the people are inhumanely poor. malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world. we will be working at an AIDS orphanage for 2 weeks administering whatever medical attention possible. i myself have not medical experience and hardly got through biology in both high school and college, but i will be helping with logistics and background support. we had about 10 people total sign up from the trip, but 5 dropped out right away for personal reasons and 2 are on the edge. it may very well be the 3 of us going, but that would not deter me from going in any way. i know God has led me to go on this trip, and for that reason i plan on going no matter what. 

with any trip like this, i will be needing a lot of prayer and support. i have a pretty steep curve of support i have to raise in the next couple of months, but i know God is faithful and will provide. He has never let me down in the past, and i trust that He won't let me down this time either. if anyone comes across this, please pray for the fundraising (which by the way, my church is in full support of our trip and i believe a separate group of people who want to take part but can't physically are setting up a fundraising team which is a blessing in itself), pray for the logistics, pray for us going, and pray for the people of malawi we will be helping. i will keep you updated on the trip. for now, take a look at a few pictures of malawi. God bless you all.