Departure:
We've just arrived at Dave's Parent's house and the place looks like a backpacking store that has just been hit by a tornado. The basement is full of each person's backpack and then extra gear for the group along with computers for friends in Kenya. Troy, Matt, Josh, Tiffany, Rob, Andrew, Collyn, Shane, and me, along with Mike and Dave makes up the group and by now we are all friends. Everyone is extremely anxious to get on the plane, to get to Kenya, and we are trying hard to keep our minds off of it. My mind keeps remembering a phrase written by James Michener in his book The Covenant, "A man cannot travel without forming ideas." I keep thinking about this and wondering what ideas I will form? How will my ideas and the way in which I view my world be challenged and changed? What is the good of forming ideas in the first place? I slowly begin to realize that these ideas will come from expanding my world and realizing my place in it. How little I still know about this world and how big it is.

Chad Wilkins