We've made it to London!

We are in London after two flights and many, many long lines. We arrived at 6am and it took us nearly 4 hours just to leave the airport and get on the Tube for Picadilly Circus, which took nearly an hour to arrive at, but was worth the excursion. We ate lunch at a little Irish pub and then walked down to see Buckingham Palace and Big Ben. Coming from Phoenix, everything looks gloriously green here. While napping in St. James park, we met two girls from CA who were heading to Uganda to work in an orphanage and it was encouraging to hear how God has brought them this far. We are all exhausted and getting ready to board the next flight to Nairobi, Kenya in about 2 hours. Hopefully, we will all get a good sleep on the plane, and when we arrive tomorrow morning, we will only have a short layover before boarding for Monrovia. We are all looking forward to just getting there. Everyone has remained in good spirits with a sense of humor despite the lack of sleep. We are thanking God for safe travels and anticipating great things to come! More to come once we get to Monrovia! Please continue to pray for us, that God would give us some rest so we can refocus on the work to come. Love to all, Ginger

Countdown to Africa: 2 Days!!

Well, Excitement is mounting! My suitcase is packed, and surprisingly, I didn't have to sit on it to make it close. My family is getting in on the excitement, too. The kids offered to each pick out a toy of theirs to send with me to give to a child in Africa. Although, my eyes tear up each time I think about how difficult it's going to be to leave my family, I feel God's peace over all of us. I still get a wave of nausea (I know - I haven't even left the country yet - Yikes!) every time I think the worst of what could happen, but I know that I will come out of this experience stronger, and I'm doing my best to not worry about what hasn't even happened yet.

Prayer requests: I have been very concerned about being the only woman on the team that's traveling to different cities to do the outreach events. It's especially awkward in Liberia, because male-female conversations are highly discouraged. Thankfully, there will be two ladies from African Bible College traveling with us to sing. I am so excited to meet them! Please pray that I bond easily with them.

I am so thankful for all the support of friends and family! Thank you, Thank you! Next post - I will be living this story out!

Countdown to Africa: 7 Days

In 7 days, I will leave my husband, children, home, and comfortable life in Chandler, AZ to embark on a 16 day journey to Liberia, West Africa with about 30 other brave souls from the Grove, my home church. There are six of us in the band "In Between" that will be performing concerts in four different cities. I have very mixed emotions over the whole thing. I'm both excited and terrified. My dreams lately are about forgetting my passport and getting lost in busy airports. But, I am also hoping and even expecting to see God's power and love in ways that I can't even imagine. I'm praying that God will move in mighty ways in the hearts of the Liberian people to give them hope, and I'm also praying that God will change me. That he will wake up something deep inside my heart that has been asleep for a long time. I'm not even sure what that is yet, but I know that He knows just what I need. Just like most everything else in life, I'm approaching this with eyes wide open, not wanting to miss out on one thing that God wants me to see. Will I be able to keep my mind right? Will I be able to put aside the physical uncomfortableness that I'm sure I will experience, (sweat, bugs, new foods, new everything) and focus on the spiritual, eternal things that God wants to accomplish both in me and through me? I know that apart from massive amounts of prayer the answer is "no." So, I'm going to go out on a limb and document this journey on my website so that I will be held accountable, and so that hopefully someone, somewhere will also have something deep inside them awakened by God's transforming power. Friends, Thanks for allowing me to share with you, and I cherish your prayers!

Expectantly,

Ginger