Africa Here I Come!!

So it's official! I will be on my way to Africa in about 50 days! Thanks to all of my friends and family and even people I didn't know, I was able to pay in full for my trip! My flight was booked two nights ago and I couldn't be happier! The rest of the proceeds brought in now will go towards my trip to Haiti in August! Words can not describe how amazing God is! There have been so many signs from Him that this is exactly where I need to go and I cannot wait to see what He has planned for me there! Some of you have asked exactly when the trip is and what I will be doing there, now that it's getting closer I will explain the trip in as much detail as I can! I'm still not even sure what some of the plans are! Haha! Just trying to relax and go with the flow, so I'm not too worried about it! My trip is scheduled from April 5th-27th. I will fly out of Cleveland by myself and meet one of the U.S. families, there are two U.S families who are also traveling there, at a layover. We will all then proceed to fly to Brussels and from there to Burundi. When we arrive in Burundi I assume we will meet up with the other family as well as the missionary families (McCropders is the group name) we are all going to visit and stay with while there. Arrangements for housing have not been set in stone since one of the homes is going through some renovations. I do know that I will be rotating among the families. When we arrive there my job will mainly be with childcare, in all there will be 18 kids all 10 and under. My job will be to work with 12 of the kids with multiple things (a VBS, schoolwork, piano lessons..etc.) anything needed really. I'm planning for 10 days of a VBS and it's definitely been fun coming up with my own lessons! I have also been told that if one of the mothers is not helping when I have the whole group I will have some of the village girls helping me as well, they don't speak any English but they know the kids and can help with crowd control! There will be one of the girls there that speaks French so I will be able to communicate with her the best I can. I've only been taking french for about a month but I'm moving along quickly and hopefully will be able to have a good conversation with her now and then! I'm assuming the Mccropders will also show me around as well as show me some of the work they do at the hospital so that I kind of get a taste for what missionaries do out on the field! This is all the information I have about the trip, more will probably come in the future as I hear it. This blog will keep you all updated on everything that goes on but do not be dismayed if I do not post every single day. The wifi in Burundi is not the greatest and I will be a busy girl! Thank you everyone for your continued support! God Bless! -Nina

A Little Bit About Burundi

Some of you probably have no idea where Burundi, Africa is....besides in Africa of course! That's ok, I didn't know either until my mom pointed it out to me! So let me give you some information about where I'm going. As you can see on the map above Burundi is surrounded by Rwanda, Tanzania and Dem. Rep. of the Congo. It is located by Lake Tanganyika. The official language there is Kirundi which is based off of French. Burundi is very poor and is known for the many diseases it carries. I do not feel informed enough to give you much information but this wiki page will definintely teach you more about Burundi! While I'm there I will be staying with the wonderful McCropder families! (to check out there blog and learn about their mission work in Burundi visit this link here) I cannot wait for this trip and to meet the people of Africa! Thank you all so much for your support! I'm still sending out support letters so if you would like me to send you one please comment below! God Bless!!