To prepare for my next trip to Burkina Faso, I opened my journal that I took on my first trip and found I had only one entry. This is what I wrote (unedited):
July 30, 2009
"The heat was unbearable last night as we went to bed. Fortunately, exhaustion took over and put us to sleep. Without electricity there wasn't much to do but lay in bed and ask for strength from God to help us get through our first full day of work. As the day was ending, I couldn't help but notice the look of total exhaustion in everyone's face. Sweaty faces with red blotches, sweat soaked clothes, all fighting back the complaints that you just knew were running through their minds. I looked down at my feet and noticed how swollen my own ankles were, something I had never seen before.
I will never forget the moon setting over the African horizon last night. The clouds broke and the sky was full of stars and there the moon shown bright as the sun. It was like a gift from God for only the few to enjoy that awoke that time of night.
Just after breakfast and devotion it began to rain. Although this has shut down our work for the morning it is looked upon by the villagers as a blessing from God, a sort of approval of us being here.
I see it as a way to heal us from our torturous first day of being in Africa. It's restoring all of our spirits. You can actually watch faces of our team being restored."
I truly wish I had the strength to have written more but maybe this was all I needed to say. My wife Holly always refers to this trip as "my best vacation I've ever had".
Somehow, reading this makes me miss Africa.
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