This is a post from March 29, 2006...shortly before I left for Zimbabwe the first time.

"Tonight I wondered if the stars I'll see in Africa are completely different stars than the ones here. I wonder if African stars are brighter. I guess I'll find out soon. <3"

African stars, I've decided, are brighter. They may not technically be all that different but when you're riding in the back of a pickup truck, smushed in between your new friend from Texas and your new friend from Zimbabwe, all 20 people in the back of that truck bed singing praise and worship songs without holding back and the tears are streaming down your face because you realize that there's no where else in the world you'd rather be...and you look up at the stars above you with no lights on earth to distract from the glorious heavens...the stars really are brighter.
Those moments in the truck in Africa are moments I will never, ever forget. That's where I made my closest friends. I remember sitting next to Willie on the first trip and he just starts singing to me that song, "Friends are Friends Forever." The truck is where I met Mike and we had hour long conversations about life, God, church, evangelism, relationships...Some of my favorite moments were when Dani and I would stand up in the back of the truck while we're flying down the bumpy, dusty, incredibly beautiful African roads heading to a school to show the Jesus Film at night. We would pass the Zimbabwe people on the way to the school and the children would scream and chase after us calling out the Shona words for "crazy white people". The wind would hit our faces and at times it would be so cold...tears would fall out of our eyes because the wind was burning them. But we didn't care in the least. My soul felt energized and my entire being knew that I was receiving a little piece of heaven on earth. I hadn't washed my hair in a week, I was dusty and dirty, I knew the wind in my hair was definitely not helping my condition any...but nothing mattered except living in that moment. Because it was a me and God moment. It was like he put me on that truck in Africa and said, "My precious girl...in this moment I want to adore you and pour myself into you. And I want you to do the same to me. Bask in my love. Don't question it, don't try to figure anything out. Just bask in Me...your first love." I will treasure those moments forever. I was so nervous about that first trip. I almost backed out several times. But I knew that if I did back out, I would always wonder, "What if I had listened?"
The first trip over there was defintely the most impactful trip for me. I remember on the plane ride over I did nothing but read my Bible and pray. I would stop at times and just wonder...'what am I doing? Is this real? I'm a crazy girl.' From London to Zimbabwe I had the window seat and the aisle seat to myself...the only two seats put together. I remember lying across the seats with my Bible opened on my lap just looking outside the airplane window. I remember it because we were directly over Paris at the time. I felt the most incredible peace that I've ever felt in my entire existance. My God, you've blessed me so much! I am so glad that you rescued me from the mundane life I had put myself into...the boring, routine life I found so much comfort in. But the day my parents told me, "Alecia...Lisa Williams from church wants to know if yo'ud like to go to Zimbabwe with her. You won't have showers or toilets and you'll have to sleep on the ground. We know you probably aren't interested but we would feel bad if we just told her no and didn't ask you first,"...that day you grabbed my heart, Jesus. The moment they told me about it, I knew I would be going. Oh, how I dreaded that knowledge. How I hated it. But I knew...and I knew that I could not say no if everything within me knew I had to go. My parents regretting telling me about it for the longest time and when they found out I was considering it...I think I scared them to death. But God brought them to a point where they were good with it...and he brought me to a point where I knew I was doing what I had to do..regardless of my fears. The night before I left for Zimbabwe, I was throwing up I was so nervous. I cried for hours and hours. At the church the next morning...I didnt' cry but I wanted to run away so badly. But then God moved and used every single moment there to teach me something new...something about Himself. The people...so beautiful. Africa has this way of luring one in until it reaches inside your soul and grabs on to your heart...never to let go. How my heart yearns...breaks....I don't have the words to describe how badly I wish I was there at this very moment. Jesus how beautiful you are. I am so glad that you are the same God...my God and my African brothers' and sisters' God. I can't help but look at the stars without thinking of Africa and my calling. Because the stars almost seem to whisper to me...I believe it's God whispering to his children on earth. And if we'll stop for just a moment, he will speak.