I should probably do this on my web site, but I'll start it here. If you don't know, I'm not alone on this trip to Sudan. I'm going to be with 13 other people. I've "met" a lot of them through email, but there are three I don't know anything about. In fact, I didn't know they existed as part of my team until the last few days. Anyway... here ya go... about my team.
Cath. She's 29, from Cape Town, South Africa. She rocks my face off so far with her emails. You can tell she's all about our team, all about getting to know one another. She's been a fulltime missionary through her church for the last five years, first on the Anastasis Mercy Ship and now (for the past three years) planting and pioneering a Christian primary school in Khayelitsha, a township in Cape Town. So, that makes her... awesome. The school just got it's creds from the gov't, too, so praise God for that.
Kim. She's from the States. I don't know how old she is. Probably around my age? She's go energy. And questions. I feel we'll get a long really well. ;) She grew up in a Christian home and has known the Lord since she was 7, so that's also cool. She recently spent 9 months in Kenya teaching at a primary school, and the culture/people/life there stole her heart. She can't wait to get back to Africa.
Jen. I've actually MET Jen. Like, in the flesh. She's the only one. She's from the East Coast and has an intense love for all things Red Sox. She's a nurse. (BONUS!) She's way on top of things and has a testimony that left our entire Candidate Week crew teary eyed. She knew when she was 14 she wanted to be a missionary. She's done the whole missions thing before, but not long trips like TIMO. She's a baby -- just turned 21.
(Do you love how I'm giving the most random details? Sorry.)
Pattie. She's from Texas, which I hope means she has an awesome southern accent I can adopt. She's 33 and teaches junior high math. God called her overseas while she was doing a missions trip in Mexico, and she ended up spending three years at AIM's Rift Valley Academy (really sweet missionary school I'll have to tell you about sometime) as a dorm mom and teacher. She's got a heart for teenagers and plays guitar and sings.
(The end there sort of sounded like a personal ad. Whoops.)
Daniel. He's one of our single guys from Germany. He's in Pakistan right now, though, workin' hard for Jesus. He's 26. He's gone to Bible college and all that but is also a carpenter, from what I gather. It sounds like he likes to work in practical ways for Jesus -- supportive missions, you might say -- so TIMO (a church planting mission) is a change for him. He served with DIGUNA (the organization we're partnering with on this TIMO trip) in Kenya for 18 months, where he met our team leaders, who eventually asked him to join our TIMO team.
Martin. He's our other single guy from Germany... of which I know nothing about. He's stationed next door to Heinrich and Doris right now in Kenya, though, so Doris gave me his address and I sent him a letter. We'll see if I hear back.
Craig. He's our Aussie. From Adelaide, if that means anything to anyone. (Any Australia experts out there?) He'll be turning 21 any day now. He's only been a Christian for three years but is like me in that he's been put on this intense fast track. His parents are really against the trip. He loves to pray (good man!) and leads prayer services at his church along with being a youth leader in charge of 50 teenagers. I guess he's like some superstar runner in South Australia and loves sports. So that's cool. What's not cool is that he once told me he liked the Yankees. I hope he's just kidding. (Can the evil empire really stretch that far?)
Heinrich and Doris. I've already got them pegged as an uber-cute couple. They're from Germany, also coming through DIGUNA. They're 28 and 29, have been married for two years and have a 6-month-old named Salome. They're in Kenya right now with DIGUNA. I've emailed back and forth with Doris and I'm convinced she's the sweetest woman ever. She's also a nurse (bonus again!) and he's a mechanic (woohoo!) and both have Bible college training. They admit they're uber organized people. I'm glad we share this trait, but it's something that can be a thorn in Africa, where nothing runs on schedules. They say they've adapted well, which gives me hope.
The mysterious Sudan couple. I honestly just found out yesterday that we had a Sudanese couple coming with us, so I don't know these people at all. But I know their knowledge and upbringing will prove invaluable for us, a bunch of outsiders.
Stephan and Iris. Our team leaders. They've got four kids -- Sharon, Michie, Racheland Christian. Like I said in my last post, I have no idea how old they are. Stephan is Swiss. He was born and grew up in South Africa and trained with the military there. He spent six years in Sudan as a missionary before he met Iris there in 1999. She's from Germany. They've been with DIGUNA for quite a while now. They've been going nonstop for the past few months, between preparing for our team and dealing with a cholera outbreak, so they're trying to enjoy some down time now to reenergize. Please pray for them!
Alright, that's it. That's my team. Random details and all. I can't wait to meet them!
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