I am officially off to Africa on June 26th!!!!!!!!
My heart is overwhelmed by the immense generosity from all of you. I wish I knew where to begin. To echo a previous sentiment shared, this process of fundraising has been a huge character-building experience. I've experienced emotions I never even knew existed. I've experienced TREMENDOUS kindness by those around me - from those closest to me to complete strangers, and from those I expected it from and from those that were completely unexpected.
For those of you who have contributed financially:
THANK YOU!!! I would not have reached this point without your support. Truly, from the bottom of my heart, I want you to know how much I genuinely appreciate your support in helping me reach this goal. If you have not yet received a thank you card, fear not! You will be receiving one any day now :-)
For those of you who have attended some or all of my fundraising events:
THANK YOU!!! It is such a wonderful thing to have such loving and caring people around me. Like I've said before, a big part of the fun here is just being able to share this experience with everyone. Like my grandfather always says, 3/4 of the battle is just showing up. So many of you showed up, even with conflicting schedules, without any hesitation and for that I thank you!
For those of you who have contributed in other ways:
THANK YOU!!! Your support means so much to me. Your persistence and occasional "checking in" has kept me moving on this trek, and without that, who knows where I would be at this point in time. Many of you have offered such creative ideas and have made this fundraising process, dare I say it, fun.
It's hard to describe this feeling. I feel like I just climbed a mountain and I get to experience the breathtaking view from above. I just need to take a minute here and brag on a few peeps. It is because of the generous hearts of so many that I will be on my way in less than a week!
La familia - You know who you are. Perhaps the most special moment in this whole process so far was a conversation I recently had with my grandfather. What he said to me was simple and honest. "Kathy, I finally understand why you're going to Niger." Amidst worrisome concerns for health and safety by probably every single family member, to hear those words of affirmation made the circle complete for me. There will always be concerns for health and safety. This is the world we live in. But what we don't have to worry about is the destination, so whether in a small town in South Jersey or out in the bush in the middle of West Africa the ultimate destination does not change. If anything happens, I know where I'm going, and for that I don't worry. Thank you to each of you in my family for surrounding me with love, support, advice, and prayer during this journey, even if some of you do think I'm crazy ;-). Your love and support means more than you will ever know.
Friends - You also know who you are! Your constant encouragement makes my heart so full and grateful to know each of you. I hope by now that some of you have received my subtle (but really not that subtle) hints to come visit!! Not sure how I will do life for a year without you!
My employer, colleagues, friends that are colleagues - Every time I talk about you guys and this process, I am left almost speechless. Do you know that you helped me raise almost $10,000 collectively in this process? All of you have shown just immense generosity towards me and have supported me from the moment I started talking about this opportunity. To the person who has spent hours talking with me, helping me write emails, helping me brainstorm fundraising ideas, who has advocated from day 1 for my position, and who gave such a generous contribution that it brought me to tears - I thank you and hope that one day I can possibly repay the favor. To the person who continues to give me truthful and honest advice, your trustworthiness and wisdom is more valuable to me than I can say. To the person who has worked harder and more intentionally than anyone else to help develop my skill set the past 6 years, your time, your teaching, and pure intelligence have taught me so many things. You are a big reason as to why I can feel confident walking into this new role at Galmi Hospital. To the entire work fam - all of you have been such team players with everything, showing up to fundraising events, donating, going along with crazy ideas like cooking for 100 people, and just being completely awesome. You all have been such a special part of this journey for me, and I hope you know that. And last but not least, to the partner group, I think it speaks volumes that you would hold my position for an entire year while I pursue this opportunity. I recognize that you don't have to do this, and you're doing it anyway because you want to. I thank God for your willingness to help me chase this dream of mine.
Shout out to my FCC team - You guys are seriously the best. I don't know where I would be had I not found a home at our church. There are so many of you that are part of this team with me. You are such a big part of my village, and I cannot do this without you. Thank you. Thank you for always supporting our missionaries, thank you for surrounding me with financial and prayer support, thank you for the continual encouragement in this journey, but most of all thank you for continuing to point to Jesus in all that you do.
My heart is overwhelmed with happiness and pure joy. I'm moving to Africa. Here goes the giant leap into the unknown. See you on the other side! :-)
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10)
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