My “day job” involves a lot of number crunching, and my brain loves that kind of stuff. I say to explain what happened during one of my last flights. I was calculating how much time I had been in Africa and some of things that happened. I was gone for 23 days. In those 3+ weeks, I took 9 flights, 2 ferry rides, 1 boat ride, 5 or so airport shuttles, 1 train ride, a few wheelchairs, a lot of walking, and a dozen or so cars. About 7 of the 23 days were spent traveling. Of the 9 flights, the first 3 were basically on time, the rest were delayed by some degree or another. The train ride at the end was delayed as well. $4,800 was spent. Planes, train, automobiles, and boats… I should have ridden an elephant to round it all out!!

As I was dwelling on all that, God asked me how many people did I interact with?

Short answer: well over 300! 300 lives were touched by God through my 23 days. Let’s break that down. A couple of dozen financial supporters, 9 foreign missionaries, 35 national/local ministry workers, children’s services, preaching, and teaching groups; adding up to about 150 adults and 150 children. In addition, multitudes of social media/blog followers and prayer partners. Oh, then the innumerable in the ripples. That is my “why?” Why do I go to the other side of the world? Why do I ask for thousands of dollars? Why do I use my paid time off work to visit people I hardly know in not-so-great environments? Because God uses me as a vessel to touch lives with His love in unique ways. In the ripples are people who will see the photos and videos or read the stories. The ripples are where the friends and families are touched by someone who I showed how to make a bracelet or heard me talk about God creating them with love and care.

In a world that focuses on money, these trips can seem unwise. I get that from a temporal viewpoint. But I’m trusting the God who created everything, including money. His provisions are unlimited. The only limits are what we put on them and on Him. Another thought is to just send the money. I think that’s a very savior-complex, American way of thinking; to just throw money at a problem. Not only is that impersonal, but there are also so many corrupt systems between the giver and the needy. I want that relationship. I want to look someone in the eye and tell them Jesus loves them and sees them, even if they don’t understand my language and their skin and eyes are a different color. Other people have the money to send or support a project, great! Others can go, great! Others can’t go but want to support those who do, great! Do what He calls you to, support those He puts on your heart, and trust Him with rest (especially what you do not understand)!

If you follow me on social media, you may have run across my low moment during my adventure back home. It’s unfortunate that the stressful time occurred when I had decent connection. While it has certainly open doors for me to talk about the trip as whole, I am sorry if it put a sour note on the trip for anyone following along. Here’s the story: I was on my way home and the flights were delayed. Due to some economic turmoil, a lot of travel in Africa was a disaster. I even needed to cancel my entire trip home while I was in the middle of Uganda! The 1^st flight home was delayed 2 hours, the next stopover was late departing, then security was really backed up and the power kept going out between the next 2 flights (why is there security checks between flights anyway?!?!). There were 100s of stressed-out people standing in the security lines for flights that were boarding, and we all thought we were going to be stranded. At this point I was exhausted, in addition to being an empath and surrounded by chaos. I was ready to sit in a corner and cry. However, because of all the delays, the next flight waited an hour to take off and I was the last one on the plane. I spent 21.5 days rolling with the punches and trusting God had it all figured out. I was back in that mindset in a short period of time and was laughing to myself by time I made it home.

Why do I share all of that? Not only does social media give us everyone’s highlights, occasionally we only see the lowlights. My adventure was amazing, life-changing, and God ordained, but a few posts could have made it seem the opposite. Be mindful that what you see out there isn’t the whole story. Rejoice with those who rejoice, pray for those who suffer, and don’t compare your life to anyone else. Thanks for reading my TED Talk.

Here are some random pics from my travels that didn’t make it to the other posts.