let's be social!
I have been shamefully neglegent about blogging things as they progress this year, so I am going to do a quick catch up.
Our first Tonj team training was on March 1st and it was so fantastic to “meet” everyone via conference call. I don’t know how other missions organizations do their team preparations, but I feel spoiled that Aid Sudan gets everyone “together” to get to know one another and talk about the mission trip objectives, etc. Last year, since it was my first trip to Sudan, I could not have done it without those conferences and I’m sure others feel the same way!
Our team this year is composed of 6 women (including Kerrie Snow, Aid Sudan’s health director) and 2 men (Andrew and Bob, both Aid Sudan’s staff). The Sister to Sister program is the brainchild of one of the women on the team, and I am VERY excited to meet her and talk about her work with refugees. Well, I am excited to meet all of the women, because they all seem so strong and so eager to serve the Sudanese. Even from the first phone call, it was amazing to see how God has pulled together and burdened each of us with a need to travel so far to spread His message and love on the least of these.
The trip to Tonj is going to be really unique in that it is a women’s ministry trip, and our goals are to look into how the Sister to Sister program would work and to love on the women in Tonj. Aid Sudan will also be talking with our host organization, In Deed and Truth, about a potential partnership. It will be a trip packed full of important “to dos”, and it will be so neat to see where God leads us and Aid Sudan’s ministries.
Our second team training was on March 28th, and that time I was the only one on the phone since the other women are from Houston and were able to meet in person. The second team training was mostly about specific trip goals, packing and traveling, and what to expect while in Tonj. I have to say, I am SO excited about this trip and I LOVED the goals that Andrew shared with us…
1. Healing past hurts
2. Meeting present needs
3. Providing future hope
Are those not the most beautiful three goals you have ever heard? It should be the motto for every ministry that exists! I cannot wait to go love the women of Tonj, Sudan and to see God work in His amazing, mysterious ways!
On another note, the travel itinerary is set and is quite different from last year. We will be traveling on Lufthansa Airlines through Germany, Ethiopia, and then on to Entebbe. Since we will be arriving at 1:30 am in Entebbe, and then heading to the airstrip at around 5:00 that same morning, we will be staying in a guest house near Kajjansi. I learned last year that my body does not handle jet lag well, so I am really anticipating the exhaustion, but it will be SO worth it! I am planning on taking a neck pillow and an eye mask this year in hopes of actually sleeping on the plane. We’ll see.
Oh, and Andrew informed us that in Tonj in May we should expect temperatures to be around 110 degrees. The good news about that is that I can save weight in my Sudan bag by not bringing my blanket!
