Arrival: Korean hospitality

After long hours in flight passed by reading, writing and wondering what this mission trip would show me about myself, my friends and the world we finally arrived. Customs was quick and painless and border patrol was very straight forward ,making our arrival smooth and quick. We were met by a team of African hosts who would become our translators, guides and friends over time.

The car ride to the missionary camp was colored by upbeat african music which accompanied my first impression of Burkina Faso. The first thing that I noticed was this red dirt everywhere that covered buildings and roads. It was the same dirt that we have in my neighborhood in North Carolina yet not as moist. I immediately thought of the words of my godmother after she visited Kenya for the first time. She remembered getting off the plane and feeling at home. The familiar warm air tinged with a hint of smoke and dust overwhelmed as I looked forward to an active week.

As we turned our back on cold city winds and embraced the warm breeze of Burkina Faso, I felt a peace about our trip. We were one of the first missionary teams to arrive to the camp but the country appeared to welcome us as the first to arrive in history. While I knew it wasn't true, I simply took in the assurance of a successful trip as we bumped around the dark dirt roads.

Our missionary team was predominantly Korean making this a three dimensional cultural immersion for a few of us Americans. We were met by a generous table of soup, papaya, watermelon, tea and filtered water. These communal meals would become the treasure of the trip as we worked side by side with fellow christians to show love to Burkina Faso and enjoy each others' company. Serving each other was another theme that made long days turn into soft nights of laughter, beef jerky and tales of chasing wal- mart carts down the freeway. I knew I was in good company as we sang hymns after serving the country in french, english and korean. The words of Ephesians 1:5 rang true as we bonded as a unit and learned how to appreciate the difference that made us interesting and the faith in Jesus that gave us power to love all. No matter what our first day had in store, we were ready to face it together.