CROWNED

Back from Africa... and thankful.

There is much to write... much to share- but for now, I just wanted to let everyone know I'm home safe. There are no words to explain all I saw, felt, experienced-- but I will say this- I know the power of prayer more than ever!

Every prayer was answered. EVERY PRAYER. We were all concerned with my health on this trip, so let me start by saying I was completely healthy the whole trip- never got sick, never got hurt. *(there will be more to share about my health later-- God is SO good!) We were extremely well taken care of by AIM (if you ever get the opportunity to take part in missions, Adventures in Missions is definitely the way to go-- I can't say enough about this organization- the people are just incredible!)

I slept well every night-- only one night of an uneasy dream that went away when I woke up and prayed, and then one nightmare the very last night that I woke up from (I usually don't wake up) and prayed away-- other than that though, NO nightmares or even dreams through the whole trip-I slept soundly every night- such an answered prayer since many of you know I normally have terrible nightmares on mission trips (and was even on Malaria medicine that is supposed to give you extremely vivid dreams).

There's another answered prayer- no medicine side effects! None. I normally have every side effect possible for every medicine I take. Not this time! Another answered prayer.

As for our group- it was incredible-- no drama, no discord... shared hearts, unity, compassion, community, friendship, and love. Never have I been a part of such an incredible group of people. It was obvious we were all being prayed for- I asked that you pray unity for our group and to bind Satan from our group and that's exactly what we had... even those in leadership for AIM were amazed by it!

So thank you- that is really the purpose of this post- to say THANK YOU for your prayers. I know that I have so many amazing prayer warriors, and I can't begin to explain how evident your prayers were on this trip!

There is so much more to share, and I am continuing to process it all... it's overwhelming to be back. I can't seem to quiet my mind-- I wake up at night thinking and praying, and I wake up in the morning the same way. I've been wrecked and broken. I keep saying it's good to be home, but the truth is, my heart aches to be back... I ache to hold those children again...

Please pray for my heart as I continue to process, and try to figure out what life looks like for me now. Please pray I'll be able to share effectively the stories God has given me from these incredible people... from these beautiful children...

Thank you- to all of you- for all you've done to help me get to Africa. Thank you for letting me go, thank you for praying for me while I was there...

And thank you God for breaking my heart and for leaving a part of it in the hands and hearts of those beautiful children...

posted by ericka b @ 3:06 PM