Back Stateside

Hello friends,
For those who I haven't spoke with either via text, phone, or personally, I arrived back in the USA yesterday morning. Once I am not jet lagged, I do have some thoughts to post telling more details about my time in South Africa. But first, I wanted to say thank you for reading and thank you even more for your prayers as I globe traveled. It was such an amazing opportunity and I am very thankful that I was able to meet so many awesome Christians around the globe and have the chance to learn so much about evangelism and mission within different contexts.

I was greeted at the airport by not only my sister (who I expected) but also my Mom and Dad which was a complete surprise as they were in from South Carolina visiting my sister. It was so fantastic to have a welcome crew once I got off the plane in Pittsburgh. I will share with you what I shared at our family dinner last night. For the past eight weeks, no matter where I was eating, my host and those I was with stopped and gave thanks before eating a meal. For whatever reason, this had an impact on my reverse culture shock. When my family sat down to eat dinner in the resturant, no one was praying....this made me upset. I think (though this may not be academic) one of the reasons all the Christians I met this summer were so inspiring was their belief in prayer. There have been other reverse culture shocks (driving on the other side of the road, warm water, WAY too many channels of TV with nothing on, etc.) but this one sticks out the most. Christians around the world should all passionate in their prayers for the thanksgiving, praise, petition, and for Christians around the world. This is one of the many things I will take away from this experience.

I hope and pray this blog makes sense as I'm still working through jet lag. Thank you for all your prayers and for reading while I was away. I look forward to sharing more stories in person soon. Love in Christ, Amanda