I can't believe it is already here! My flight to Liberia leaves at 7:00 tonight. I am excited and nervous all at the same time. And in a hurry because I'm leaving for the airport in 20 minutes! So this will be an unedited post - totally against my nature.
I am so thankful for the opportunity to go on this trip because I know it will grow my faith in such a huge way, and hopefully change my life. Wednesday night it finally hit me where exactly this "plane trip" I have been preparing for is taking me and what exactly it is I am going to do. So much that is out of my comfort zone (not knowing anyone!) and so much that I feel totally unequipped for (manual PT!). God reminded me of the verse that I claimed for this trip...
"But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." 2 Corinthians 12:9
That verse was really ease to be excited about back in August! It is a bit harder now that I am faced with the reality of it. But deep in my heart this is truly how I want to learn to live. Totally dependent on HIM. God has already shown me this week how much this verse rings true. I have not been able to eat anything but a handful of pretzels each day for the past 9 days and have lost 8 pounds. I should be on the verge of falling over right now, but I'm not. He gave me the strength to get through a whole week of working on my feet and running errands/packing in the evenings. And today I only feel like I missed maybe 1-2 meals. So while there are a lot of tough things about going on this trip, I have great faith that He will walk with me every step of the way and do amazing work.
Some of you wanted more details, so here is what I've been told...
We will arrive in Monrovia, Liberia tomorrow at 2:30pm Liberia time. Then the dreaded 4-5 hour van ride to Gbarnga (I tend to get car sick) which is where we will be staying the whole time we are in country. There is a missionary compound about 2 miles from the clinic where we will be treating most days. A few days we will head out into "the bush" to set up mobile clinics, but those will just be days trips.
The compound is safe but not exactly luxurious:) They say it's like camping out indoors, even to the point that we are taking air mattresses to on top of the cots. Hall baths with cold but running water (a fairly new addition), 8 bunk rooms, and a central sitting area. We will have electricity by generator for 2 hours in the evening and 2 hours in the morning. The good thing is the temps are supposed to be in the mid 70s at night so hopefully it won't be too hard to sleep.
Alright, my friend should be here to pick me up any minute so gotta go! There is a slight chance I will be able to post a blog once while I am gone, but more likely it will be when I get back on October 11th.
