Africa- how an idea became a trip

Africa! The very name sounds exotic, doesn't it? As a child, it reminded me of Tarzan. In High School, I worried about starving children in Ethiopia. In college, as a new believer, I was afraid that God would send me to eat bugs in Africa. So when I found out that people also visit Africa for fun, it took years for me to get used to the idea.

More recently, as an adult, I gradually became aware of the AIDS crisis, which finally led me to sponsor a child in Uganda. Halfway around the world, there is a little girl who is now very important to me. And I'm humbled to say that I am now important to her, too. Suddenly, my vague interest in going on safari someday, merged with a new focus. I felt a need to visit Africa, so see the land, to meet the people, and to understand a little bit about the challenges facing the region. Uganda is not really a good tourist option right now, so I started looking at nearby options, and found a trip to Kenya and Tanzania. It was purely a pleasure trip, and yet it changed me, as travel so often does. Seeing people who live such different lives, reminds me that God created more than the suburbs! Visiting a land where the very climate is different, reminds me that even things I think are eternal and inevitable, like the march of the seasons, are different elsewhere. Gazing at the immense variety of wildlife reminds me of the magnificent creativity of God, although I have to admit that when I look at a wildebeest, I wonder what God was really thinking. It sort of looks as if he was only practicing.

My next several blogs will simply share my journal from my trip.
p.s. The photo is of a baobab tree in Tarangire.