A number of you have asked me why I disappeared from the blogoshere the last few weeks. Honestly, I needed to step away from things for a bit and let the last 30 days of life settle in my soul. On the third day home from South Africa, I woke up with the strangest sensation that I had dreamed the whole trip. As I laid in bed pondering the last 30 days of life, the events I recall happening were so surrealistic it all felt like a dream to me. I actually had to get up and read my own blog to reassure myself that it was in fact all true. At that point I had a sense of the "fear of God" come over me. I had left for Africa on a mission to open doors for the book and get my medical supplies into Zimbabwe. Once I got over there, I suddenly realized that God had gone before me and had already prepared the way. I was greatly humbled by the whole experience and yet found it profoundly reassuring.

As a twenty year old I was told by a wise old man "you can't drive a 10 ton truck over a 1 ton bridge." He was addressing my youthful enthusiasm in attempting to accomplish significant things for God without the developing the necessary strong relationships. It took me another 20 years to figure out how wise his words were. Along life's highway I have a number of regrettably collapsed bridges! In going to South Africa my focus was not on "what" I was doing there but "who" would God bring across my path. As I look back, I'm astounded at the quality relationships that developed during my time there. I feel a sense of deep gratitude to the people of South Africa for their not only embracing my story but me as well. I look forward to returning in 2010 to continue on this amazing journey...with my friends!

While I was in a state of dreaminess for a few days, the reality that we had boxes full of medical supplies in a warehouse that needed to be unpacked, sorted and repacked woke me up fast. Elizabeth did a great job of communicating with people and on Saturday Oct. 24th we had over 20 people show up to help us. The task in front us is daunting only because of the large generosity of others. We have enough medical supplies to fill two 40 ft shipping containers! Our warehouse space suddenly looks very small. As boxes were opened to see what was inside, our team of nurses determined if what was in there was usable in Zimbabwe. Hospitals and supply companies will sometimes pack unusable things in boxes just to get rid of them. One doesn't know until a box is opened what if anything is usable. Our experts were thrilled to see that most everything we had been given could be used. We still end up with about 20 trash bags of stuff to toss out though. This is probably as good a time as any to mention we are in desperate need of a pick-up truck. My car just doesn't function well as a trash removal, supply pickup vehicle. If you are looking for a way to contribute, funds for a truck would be so helpful.

Next week I will be in the warehouse everyday preparing for our second sorting day on Nov. 7th. I also learned this week that a group of nurse trainees would like to come in Weds-Fri to do their "community service" requirements by helping us out. That should be interesting and we sure have a lot of work for them to do. We are so grateful for all your help in this endeavor. These supplies will make a huge impact on thousands of peoples lives.