It's July! (Yeah I know… "Thank you captain obvious.") But July means training camp, which I am leaving for on Friday. And training camp means squads and colors (my squad color is blue) and oh yeah, countries!!! That's right, I now officially know where God is sending me for nine months. So, I am going to tell you a few interesting facts about each country. Some are happy, others sad. Here goes.
First off, Honduras! (September through November)
-it is located in Central America (once again, captain obvious)
-it's the third most impoverished nation in the western hemisphere (the first being Haiti and the second Nicaragua)
-the official language is Spanish (yes three more months of Spanish practice, I WILL get this language down)
-the national bird is the scarlet macaw
-97% of the country is Roman Catholic
-it is home to the second largest coral reef in the world
Secondly, Thailand~ (December through February)
-it's name means "land of the free" as it is the only country in southeeast Asia that was never colonized by Europe
-it is slightly larger than Wyoming
-about 95% of the population is Buddhist
-it is one of the largest human trafficking centers in the world
-it is home to the world's largest poisonous snake, the king cobra (comforting, right?)
-feet are considered lowly and unclean, shoes are rarely ever worn in homes and never in temples
And last but definitely not least, South Africa! (March through May)
-there are about a million national languages (ok there are eleven, but that's close right?)
-it has the highest commercial bunji jump in the world at 710 feet (woah….)
-two nobel peace prize winners were produced from the same South African street
-about 22% of the population lives under the international poverty line
-it has the highest prevelence of HIV in the world (at 5.6 million people in 2011)
-it is home to Kruger National Park, one of the most famous safari destinations in Africa
I am so excited to meet the others on my sqaud at training camp this upcoming week and to see what God has in store for us as we set out on our journey to bring Jesus to the nations! Thank you to those of you who have already generously supported me, both financialy and through prayer. I still need a few thousand dollars to be fully funded so if you feel called to help me get to these countries just click the support me tab on the left.
Nikki darling this sounds both exiting and also scary for a Grandma. You need to talk to Aunt Elly about South Africa When she went in 2001 with the people to people program she came home with lots of information. She would love to share the exitement she felt in learning about this country.