Friday, January 30  (Pictures will be coming, hard to download on the plane)

5:30 a.m. came very early on Thursday, January 19.  We were headed for the Lion Walk and Mass afterwards at the Lion Adventures. Needless to say, some, if not all, of the new team members were  a bit nervous.  After all, who walks with Lions everyday!  And moreover, Iowa has cows, horses, pigs, etc – but not Lions!!

Needless to say, the Walk with Lions produced a lot of courage when on the other end of it. it.

For this blogger and her husband, we over slept and our chalet neighbor’s kind knock on our door whisked us up and out the door.  We almost did not go because we overslept.  We were so glad we did.

I had been on the Lion Walk before and new people had not.  The Lion Walk was a courage building experience.  And it was also a spiritual experience.  David was the name of the male lion, the female Lion’s name was Jane.  The trainers held walking sticks and instructed us as to how we were to walk and where.  It was as if the trainers represented our following Jesus.  If we veered away from their instructions for one moment, we could have been attacked.  They were kind yet firm in directing our path.  So wherever the guides went, we went.  In life I think that I try to go ahead of THE “Trainer” and do things on my own.

The Cheetah experience was very educational – some entertained the idea of bringing a cat like the Cheetah home.  I did not really remember Cheetah’s being so friendly.

Following  the Lion Walk and Cheetah experience,  we would have a chance to visit GEMCO for shopping and some of us went to a baby shelter where children were abandoned.

Needless to say the team all left GEMCO with more of our American dollars.

The team that visited the baby shelter got to hold beautiful abandoned babies. The shelter was operated so wonderfully.  They babies we held were receiving shots that morning so our appearance was welcome for holding the babies. The shelter works with children age 2 and under. (no pictures were allowed).

Sandra, the House Mother summed up the place by saying, “Love is where your story begins.” Isn’t that the truth?

Having seen a lot of crèches during the week this shelter was a relief and very well run. .  It was very well run and obviously the children were well cared for with the staff and volunteers giving the children lots of love (no pictures were allowed of the babies.)

So, my take away from the day, following Jesus is like following the guides of the Lion Walk and “Love is where your story begins.”

Team member (and my wonderful husband) Keith said about his time here:

“I have felt great about how we are impacting people.  In giving we receive. The biggest take away is that we have been IMPACTED.”

Team member Steve C. said this about his trip:

“This trip was yet another amazing example of the power of prayer.  The results of the mission group’s prayers were so impressive throughout the trip – especially in lifting back to health several team members who were ill during the trip.”