one.

I've got a busy summer. And busy times call for extreme measures.

Well, that's not how the saying goes. But whatever.

What I'm trying to say is that instead of writing spiffy things about my recent trip to Tanzania and Kenya, I'm just going to post the few email updates I sent out to friends, family, and sponsors.

So here's numero uno:

Dear friends,

Just sending you all a little update about things from the other side
of the world!

My team and I have made it safely to Arusha, Tanzania! Our journey
here was certainly a lengthy one. We departed from LA on Sunday, May
30 and flew to Zurich, Switzerland for a layover. Our 17-hour layover
in Zurich, however, was much, much more enjoyable than the fiasco of a
layover we had in Dakar, Senegal last year. We got to spend a bit of
time exploring the city, which is absolutely beautiful - I'm
definitely planning to go back there someday! From Zurich, we flew
down to Nairobi, Kenya where we stayed for a night in a little retreat
center run by a group of Franciscan nuns. They are some of the
sweetest women I have ever met! Not to mention that they make the best
milk tea in the entire world! After a night at the retreat center, we
got on a shuttle that took us on a long (and quite bumpy) 6-hour
journey from Nairobi to Arusha. Last night, we finally made it to
Arusha after about 30 hours of travel. While part of the fun is the
journey, I'm certainly glad to be staying in one place for a few days!

All that's to say that today was our first "real" day, in a sense. We
spent the majority of it in one of the slum neighborhoods of Arusha
called Unga, which has apparently been nicknamed "the den of thieves".
Nyota Football Academy, one of the ministries Wild Hope (the non-
profit organization we're partnering with) sponsors and works with, is
in Unga. This small soccer club is run by two Tanzanian brothers who
have a heart for helping the young people of their city. (Agu, one of the

brothers is in the picture with me) They build relationships

with street kids in this pretty corrupt neighborhood
whom they invite into their soccer club and begin investing in. It's
awesome! Not only are young kids learning soccer and staying off the
streets, but they're also learning life skills and improving their
English. I was so excited to come back and work with Nyota again! We
connected so well with them last year, and I was looking forward to
interacting with them again.

Part of the work we'll be doing with Nyota is life skill training. We
as a team are presenting a lesson/module on relationships during our
time here. And today, we began our first part of that. I think we were
all a but nervous about beginning these lessons because of the
difficulty of translating our pints across cultural and language
barriers. But, fortunately, our first lesson went really well and was
very well received!

One of my highlights so far has to be simply coming back to the same
places we visited last year and reuniting with the friends we made
last year! It's been fun (and surprising) to find that lots of people
remember us! It's so cool! I can't explain how special it is to be
able to return to and revisit a place that had such a profound impact
on my life.

I hope to be able to send you more updates soon, but in the meantime,
I'd love for you to lift up the following things in prayer:

1. Team unity
2. Clarity in communication for the relationship modules with Nyota
3. Life-changing growth in the hearts of the students on our team

Thank you so much for your support! I'm looking forward to the great
things God still has in store for us!

Grace & peace.