Preparing for the Unprepared

Today I am leaving for Entebbe, Uganda. Whoa. It has felt like a journey so far away, and now it’s finally here. I know that it’s going to bring difficulties different than what I expect, and also excitements different than I expect. That is why I am choosing to commit in my heart and in my mind to the following things:

·        - Being adaptable

·         -Continually engaging the culture even when it’s hard

·      -   Asking for humility

·        - Being myself

·        - Being intentional with relationships

·         -Never giving up

I will be living in a gated city called Mukono (northeast of the capital Kampala) and doing my senior internship as a social worker. As far as what I will be doing exactly is to be determined when I arrive in the country. This uncertainty would put most people in anx about not knowing what they’re doing, but it quite oppositely excites me—because even if I knew what I was doing, I still wouldn’t really know what I was doing. Flying across the country by myself, not knowing anyone, and entering in to a radically different environment is what I live for. There isn’t much in the world that excites me more than uncertain, wild and adventurous opportunities. All that to say, I’m ecstatic about going to Africa.

I realize it would be easy, and common, for me to have a mindset proud of my education and believing Uganda needs my skill set , but I would be foolish to think that Africa needs me. The truth is that I need Africa more than ever. To teach and mold me into someone who values people first, and that “stuff” is not what defines us. To get me out of my ethnocentric thinking that America knows best and to get me out of my comfort zone. And to allow me to learn about a completely different culture and values, but at the same time realize Africans are human, and they are just like me.

I am thankful for the default prayers of safety and good health while I’m overseas, but I would challenge people to be paralleling those prayers with prayers of adaptability, humility, and adversity—because this is where true growth happens.

“Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders

Let me walk upon the waters

Wherever you would call me

Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander

And my faith will be made stronger”

-Hillsong's Oceans

Ali