It's Time!!

First of all, I would just like to say an enormous THANK YOU!!! to everyone who has prayed/is praying, donated, and shared words of wisdom to my team and me. It has meant the world to us and we would not be able to move the lives that we are going to without all of your kindness, thoughtfulness, and love of the Lord and His people. Secondly, I would like to do a disclaimer that I'm not really sure what this whole blog thing is about, but I am going to try my best to use it to the best of my ability on this trip to keep everyone updated on the beautiful people of this country (and also to keep my mother sane...I love you!). There is WiFi in the medical center where we are staying and we will have time at night, but I cannot promise an update every night as there might be issues with the WiFi or I might just be passed out from the day.. I do love my sleep. But with that being said, this is my blog for the trip! And I hope it is a good way to keep everyone updated on the work we are doing and the people who are changing our lives each and every day on this trip (not to mention some awesome pictures that I plan on taking).

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It's the night before the big trip! I have packed and re-packed things about 100 times over and I'm still 110% positive I'm going to forget something, but that comes with traveling, so it's okay. The team is ready to rumble, and I don't think I have seen one team member without a nervous/excited smile on their face for the past week. Tomorrow we travel all day and stay the night in Amsterdam, so we won't even see Uganda yet, but that just means we are one step closer! I'll be sure to share some great pictures of many of my teammates passed out in the airports or on the airplane. It's everyone's most flattering look! In case you have no idea how far Uganda is from the United States (like pretty much all of us), I would just like to share that it is approximately 7,440 miles from Charleston, SC to Uganda. And there is a 7 hour time difference. SO NOT BAD, AMIRIGHT? Jet lag, shmet lag. Also, if you cannot even come up with a picture in your head of where we are going, I have included an awesome picture!! And if you need emergency numbers for any of the places I will be, ask my mom because she has all of them!!! Okay, anyways, that's a wrap up of what's going to be going on for the

next for days for my team and I! Just lots of travel, airport food, and trying to decipher which currency is for what country. We have packed tons of medical supplies, walkers, canes, all the works, and we have also packed tons of SHOES! We will be giving these away to the people of Uganda as we serve them and love on them. Talking about shoes, big shoutout to Sarah Morris and her kiddos of Horse Creek Academy for collecting bags on bags on bags of shoes for the people of Uganda! Not sure if the plane can handle all the shoes, but Jesus wasn't worried when he only had two fish and five loaves of bread to feed 5,000 people, so it's all good. All I know is that if these shoes could talk, they would have an incredible story to tell.

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So that's it for the night before! We arrive at the airport tomorrow at 9:30AM and then the beautiful madness of airports occurs. I'm super excited for this opportunity, and again, am SO grateful for the people God has put into my life to make this happen and encourage me to be a disciple of God. Y'all are awesome. People are awesome. God is awesome. Can't wait to meet the people of Uganda who are going to change my life!

“People who really want to make a difference in the world usually do it, in one way or another. And I’ve noticed something about people who make a difference in the world: they hold the unshakable conviction that individuals are extremely important, that every life matters. They get excited over one smile. They are willing to feed one stomach, educate one mind, and treat one wound. They aren’t determined to revolutionize the world all at once; they’re satisfied with small changes. Over time, though, the small changes add up. Sometimes they even transform cities and nations, and yes, the world.” Beth Clark, Kisses from Katie

All My Best,

Emily