Thoughts from Amir

I'm not able to sleep, so I figured if I write out what's keeping me up I'll be able to slip away to dreamland! For the last couple of months we have been getting ready for our trip by doing a variety of team building activities and going through the process of getting to know each other better. I wasn't able to make all of the meetings and I apologize for not holding my end of the bargain. Ok, that’s out and I'm feeling better already....this is a great form of therapy!!
Another thing that is keeping me up is not so much the trip, but the conditions we will face and deal with. I was watching a special on AIDS in Africa earlier today. And as I was watching it, the light bulb came on.....I'll be seeing people, an entire country, afflicted by this disease by the end of the week. I'll be in an area where people are waiting to die. That shook me to my core. We are going to see and experience things on a daily basis that is going to challenge the way we view the world. I know there will be times when it will be difficult for us to keep our composure; we're going to laugh, we're going to cry, and there will be times when we feel completely helpless because we wont be able to help everybody. But one thing I want us all to try and do, is that when we are out in the community (at the home, with the teenagers, out in the shanty towns, etc.) Try and be strong. Put on your best smile and be the beacon of hope and light that people will need to see. We will be strong for them when we are ministering and when we need to let go of all our emotions and process what we're going through we will be there for each other.
I'm not sure if anything I wrote just made sense but I'm looking forward to this trip, spending time with all of you, and making a difference.............................and I'm out

-Amir