tanzania

Into the Wilderness

/ alliekappe / 2 Comments

I like to think that my passion for Africa began with my childhood obsession of the Lion King. It has always topped my list of favorite Disney movies, and it became even more special after I got to drive through the Serengeti and see those beloved cartoon characters come to life. (Okay, that might be a bit of a stretch… but my 5-year-old heart likes to believe that those warthogs we saw really do think like Pumbaa and the family of lions really do have their own Pride Rock to call home).

I didn’t grow up dreaming of coming to Africa, though. Once I started developing my own independence the Lord placed within me a strong desire to travel, and that is a dream I’ve gotten to fulfill over and over again. It wasn’t until I started planning some kind of adventure for last summer that the idea of going to Africa began to sneak its way back into my mind, and before I knew it I was boarding a flight to Tanzania for the very first time. It was slightly terrifying and very exhilarating.

When my very creative imagination began to create pictures in my mind of what visiting (and now living) in Africa would be like, I first jumped to the stereotypical setting of mud huts and run-down buildings and going weeks without a proper shower. I was in for a surprise when I arrived last year to a beautiful lodge that acted as our home base for those two weeks. My fantasy of living in a rural village was quickly replaced by the reality of a bustling town with its own share of tourists coming to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. Our visits to tucked-away villages fulfilled my desire to see that kind of setting, but my longing to live there was left as just a dream.

This year has had a similar feel to last year, with much less exposure to the smaller villages around Arusha where most of the locals actually live. Our Work the World house is located in a more upscale neighborhood outside of town; it still has its own bumpy dirt road and African quirks like the occasional power cut and lots of hand-washing, but it’s still far from the village atmosphere that I’ve always wanted. It was the perfect setting for the work I was here for, and the community in the house was something I have valued and cherished so much. I traded a dream of rural living for a big city lifestyle (on African terms) and a busy government hospital, and I wouldn’t change a thing about the experience I’ve had so far.

However, my last week here is one of the main reasons I booked this trip. Tomorrow begins my most anticipated adventure and the day I have been anxiously waiting for since I first started dreaming about Africa. For the next 7 days, my friend Emily and I will be living in a Maasai village in Engaruka. No amount of words is enough to describe how incredibly excited I am!

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The Maasai are one of the tribes of East Africa. You may have come across their name in a National Geographic magazine or a book about the region; they are easily the most well known tribe here. Part of the world’s intrigue over them comes from the vast differences in culture and lifestyle that they have compared to the quickly advancing modern society that surrounds them. They are mostly native to Tanzania and Kenya and they can be easily picked out of a crowd because of the bright red and bright blue fabrics that they always wear. Their villages are as rural as they come in Africa – no electricity, no running water, no other neighboring communities and no technology to speak of. This is the kind of place I thought I’d never get the chance to live in, until now. Until tomorrow!

For the next week, I’ll be living in the wilderness. I’ll be finding out what it’s like to live like a Maasai in every way and enjoying the disconnect I’ll have from the rest of the world. As excited as I am to share my experiences there with you, it will have to wait until I get back – most likely, until I get all the way back home!

Now that I’ve put 4 weeks behind me, it is a strange feeling to be sitting here writing my last blog post in Arusha and what could very well be my last blog post in Africa before I get back to the States. I can’t wrap my mind around the fact that I have only been here for a month, and yet they have flown by so quickly. I’m not one for cheesy clichés, but I can’t deny the truth that time really does fly when you’re having the best adventures.

While I’m spending this week away from the rest of society, I would love some prayer! I’ve been warned by 2 of my Christian sisters who have been to the village already that this experience will challenge me in every way – physically, emotionally, and most of all spiritually. It will require a whole new level of being “unashamed of the Gospel” (Romans 1:16) as I live among a people who have their own organized religion and may have never heard of Jesus before. I hope to share His love in whatever ways He calls me to, whether that’s simply through my actions or the words that He provides.

I have a feeling this week is going to change my life and grow me in new and different ways than my time in Arusha. I hope that the Lord keeps my eyes open and my heart eager to learn as much as I can about these people.

Until next weekend, kwa heri! See you on the other side of the wilderness 🙂

 

– Allie

The art of storytelling

/ alliekappe / 1 Comment

I’m going to be honest, I feel pretty cheesy right now. As much as I love writing and stories, I’ve never been one to really enjoy sharing my own. In my head, it sounds like a great idea. But then I give it a little more of a realistic thought and realize that I actually hate that idea. Starting a blog means having to sit down and try to discern what’s going through my mind – and then hitting a little button that shares it with the world. Not just one person, anyone who cares to take a few seconds to read it (although right now, I’m pretty sure I’m closer to the ‘one person’ mark).

That thought is already starting to give me butterflies – the anxious, sick-to-your-stomach kind, not the cute fluttery kind. My approval-craving mind is creeping towards how to best compose each post, how to balance serious and poignant thoughts with witty comedic relief, and how I will ever convince myself to actually hit the ‘publish’ button. Already I’ve spent way too much time re-reading my own words and wondering if this whole ‘sharing my story’ thing is really going to be worth it.

Unfortunately, God has other plans. This past semester, He has taught me so much about the power of stories. During one short week in Belize, our mission trip’s most frequent conversation starter became ‘so, what’s your story?’ and that simple phrase pushed me farther out of my comfortable little shell than I’ve ever been pushed before. It may not seem like that big of a deal to some people, but sharing my own story brought back memories of past experiences that I wasn’t very excited to remember, much less share with others. God used that week to show me His incredible sovereignty in every single moment of my life and His ability to use my brokenness for His glory. But more importantly, He revealed so much of Himself through other people’s stories – my small group leaders, my closest friends, a random girl I found myself sitting next to on the bus on the way back to the hotel. That week He began to cultivate in me a desire to hear the stories of others and learn how to share my own.

Sounds like a perfect “mission trip lesson”, right? Pretty and nice and all tied up with a bow? Not quite. This idea of sharing stories is a lot easier to talk about than it is to actually put into practice. The conviction that God placed on my heart was brutally attacked by the world & my own sinful heart, both of which quickly pulled out the big guns like ‘desire for approval’, ‘fear of vulnerability’, ‘waste of time’ and countless other lies about the consequences of storytelling. In just a couple short months, I went from revealing the darkest parts of me to complete strangers on a dock floating in the Caribbean Sea to barely being able to honestly answer the simple question of ‘how are you?’ to some of my closest friends. I had allowed those lies to seep into my mind and convince me that not even a sentence about how I was doing that day was worth sharing.

I wish I could say that the Lord has fully revealed His truth amidst these lies and convicted me of my sin and I can now comfortably share my story with the Trader Joe’s clerk as she rings up my groceries, but that’s not true. He has slowly started to work on that walled-in part of me, but sometimes it takes time for the Lord to chisel away deeply rooted fears and mold my heart to resemble His just a little bit more. So yes, I’m still working on answering ‘how are you?’ with a little more depth than ‘I’m good! How are you?’. But where God begins a good work, He promises to bring it to completion (Ephesians 1:6). Not on my own timeline, and not to full completion until I’m standing face-to-face with Him, but in His own perfect timing.

God has given me this past month to rest, spend more time with Him, and start to get used to this idea of sharing more of myself with others. The days have been slow and the rest has been sweet, but in 8 short days He will be throwing me into an adventure that will require more trust and vulnerability than I’m used to. I’ll be spending 5 weeks across the Atlantic learning more about the country I fell in love with last summer, meeting new people, working in new environments, and hopefully going on a lot of adventures. As incredible as that sounds, I know that He has not given me this opportunity just to have a good time and check “travel back to Tanzania” off my summer bucket list. This trip will give me a chance to hear so many new stories, share my own, and most importantly tell people about His. As comfortable as the inside of my leetle shell is, He’s going to be pushing me very far out of it and I hope to fully embrace the challenge. Just the thought of what’s to come fills me with just about every emotion you can imagine.

I hope to use this blog as a way to share my adventures and stories with whoever cares to read about them. Prepare to read about the good days, the bad days, and everything in between. They will definitely not be formal, organized, and have a perfect balance of insight and wit, I can promise you that. Maybe they’ll make you laugh/smile/cry (doubtful – I’m not one for tears), maybe you’ll enjoy them, maybe they will simply serve as a great way to procrastinate from whatever else you should be doing. Regardless of what leads you to them, I hope that each one reveals a little more about me and a lot more about Jesus. I can’t wait to see what God does with this blog (even if it just acts as my own memory keepsake) and the next 5 weeks!

– Allie