When I was 18 years old, I felt the LORD move my heart towards Africa. Always being terrified that the LORD would force me to sell everything I owned, be single for the rest of my life, and move to a remote hut in Rwanda, I felt the stirrings and ignored them. But the God we serve is a powerful God and used the next six years to confirm the calling in my heart. I'm now 24 and in a very different place than I was six years ago – emotionally, spiritually, and physically. When I was asked to join the team my heart leapt at the opportunity to finally see the place that I had started to love many years ago.
When you look at me you probably rightly assume that I'm not really the type of girl who jumps at the chance to rough it. Living in Colorado has slowly transformed a few of my prissier ways but still, my first time camping, ever, was last Labor Day. I only made it one night and then realized how dirty I was and was ready for running water and a hot shower. Africa will be a stretch for me in more ways then one. I've been practical in my planning knowing that I won't have basic comforts and have tried to embrace the "fun" of roughing it. When we found out a few weeks ago that we needed to bring a sleeping bag and pillow I thought about the big roll up one that I've used for sleepovers and camps throughout the years. I started thinking about how I was going to pack it in my suitcase but figured I would just unroll it and stuff things around it. The other night I off-handedly made a comment about the sleeping bag and my plan on packing it. Both my mom and brother stopped talking, looked at me, and started laughing. My brother bluntly told me that I was ridiculous and there was no way I was going to be able to take one of our sleeping bags to Africa. Here's what I assumed would be fine to take overseas with me:
My brother immediately started a quest to help me find an appropriate sleeping bag. Lucky for me REI is having a sale this week. He knew what I would need and basically sent me color and price choices. Once again proving that going on a mission trip requires many more people than just those actually going. This trip would not be possible for me or anyone else without the generosity of our donors, the prayers of those around us, and the helpful advice of people that know the right sleeping bags to buy and immunization shots to get. Thank you thank you thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
- Rachel Mueller
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