Out of Africa, or rather into it Part, 2

If you didn't get a chance to read our first post, you can read it here: Out of Africa, or rather into it, Part 1

Picking up our lives and moving to the other side of the planet, we have hundreds of questions. Questions about culture, people, transportation, food, health, raising children, etc. We are thankful that our trip this summer will enable us to better prepare as best we can for life there. Knowing what to expect can avert some of the frustration, disillusionment, culture shock, culture blunders, etc. that we are bound to experience in some ways regardless of how well we try to prepare ourselves.

So many questions...

• Which of my clothes should I give away, and which would be appropriate for living in Africa?
• Should we bring any of our keepsakes or should they be packed away and stored with family?
• What does the Church in Africa look like? How can we join God in the ways He is already working there?
  
• Should we bring our bikes to get around? Will it be safe to ride our bikes around the city? Should we buy bikes there?
  
• In what ways will Clarissa serve (we already know there are dozens of possibilities)? Should she bring all of her teaching materials?
  
• What tools will John need that he cannot get there? To what extent should we try to purchase some of those tools now?

This summer we will get to see first hand and bring back stories of what God is doing in East Africa. We anticipate that we will be stretched and blessed by our African brothers and sisters. We will have the honor of worshiping God in a different language and learning from the Kenyans what it means to live life in community.

Please pray that through this trip we will catch a vision for what it will look like to live life in Nairobi, to pour ourselves out in relationships to our neighbors, through working in aviation, and through serving "the least of these." God has blessed us to be a blessing, and we want to know, "What does it look like to be a blessing in Africa?" We want to go as learners. Learning from Africans about their own culture, learning from other westerners about how to best fit into society and learning from God what it means to humbly serve those who are different than we are.