Day Zero - To Africa

July 10, 2012 (Sam)

     Our names are Sam & Christina Carlson and the most important thing about us is that we are children of Yahweh.

     Christina and I both grew up in Wisconsin and after 21 years of life happening, we met in Northern Japan. We’ve been married now for 922 days.

     A few months ago, I had the opportunity to participate in an internship at the Lewes Church of Christ in southern Delaware. From there, we began looking at options for our next step. All doors seemed to lead to where we are right now: mere hours from flying to Nairobi, Kenya where we will be living for the next six months. While in Kenya, we will be working with an organization called Beacon of Hope. Established just over ten years ago, Beacon of Hope’s primary focus is to bring hope to women who are living with and affected by HIV/AIDS within poor communities by empowering and equipping them to meet their spiritual, physical, emotional, economic and family needs in a sustainable way. You can read more about their mission at www.beaconafrica.org.

     Over the last month, since packing up all our belongings and uprooting from Delaware where we’ve lived for the last three years, we’ve been enjoying spending time with our families back in Wisconsin. Besides landing a parking ticket in downtown Madison, we’ve been having a pretty good time being home. Christina’s sister got married, my brother flew out from California, and we got to spend a lot of time seeing the beauty of Wisconsin from bikes, boats and our feet. Seeing friends and family has been refreshing and encouraging.

     Our flight leaves in a 12 hours. It’s 3 o’clock in the morning and we are making final preparations for our flight that will take us over 10,000 miles from Chicago, IL to Nairobi, Kenya. From what I have heard, much has changed at Beacon and in Nairobi in the last six years since I was able to make my first visit to Kenya. We are excited to see how God’s work is being advanced and even more excited to be able to participate in it once again alongside the natives of East Africa.

     Thank you to everyone who has been encouraging us, praying for us, and supporting us up to this point. Please continue to do so. We will keep you updated on what is happening here on our end! Feel free to e-mail us anytime at sam.christina.carlson@gmail.com.