It started many years ago; the thought was the RVA kids would do good to be able to spend time in other parts of Africa. So, for one week a year, juniors and seniors have the choice of about a dozen interim trips they can take. Some choose to climb Mount Kilimanjaro; some go to the coast and study the reefs and some do what I did.

I was a last minute sub for a staff member who was injured, so I didn’t take part in the planning of the trip. The couple that did were thorough and they were young; probably my age group wouldn’t have planned what we did. The sixteen juniors were pretty thrilled.

We started by going to a camel ranch about three hours away. When we arrived, we had the opportunity to make camel sausage, something I could honestly say I never had an ambition to create. African cleanliness is a notch below America’s; there were four dogs lying on the ground in the room where we made the sausage. After we made it, we discovered that it was what we were going to eat that night, but it was very tasty.

The next day we got to milk camels. Again, this was something that I never had any ambition to do. I could further say that once you milk a camel, you will probably exhaust any interest in doing it ever again.

After that, we traveled across a desert area for two hours on camels. This was fun for the first thirty minutes, especially when we saw a herd of elephants.

However, after an hour on a camel, the only way I can think to suggest what was happening was that the boys were sagging. I received sores where I didn’t know they could go.

We were way out in the bush, and the interesting people who owned the camels had a pet cheetah. It had been left at their doorstep, and they had raised it. We were invited to pet it, something else I must confess I had never wanted to do. They told us to put our hand out so it could lick it; it worked with the first several kids, and then it was my turn.

I so charmed the cheetah that it playfully rolled on its back and more playfully put its mouth over my entire leg.

Some people would have been charmed by a 150 pound cheetah covering their legs with their large mouths. I am not one of them. Some people might have fainted. I was not one of them. Some people would have tried to fight off the cheetah, which I was told was the worst thing you could have done.

I bravely fertilized and irrigated my legs.

The cat, repulsed, ran off.

I was thrilled to be a great example.

We had car problems the next day which delayed us by hours, but after a good night sleep in an open air bunkhouse, we split the group into two; those who wanted to kayak and those who wanted to rock climb. I was chosen for kayaking, and I wondered what my role would be.

Many of the kids were nervous about kayaking, and it quickly occurred to me if I fell in the water MANY times, and was the FIRST to fall in, they would gain confidence and be full of joy. And so, against all my natural abilities, I forced myself to turn over many, many times.

In the afternoon, we all went white water rafting. It was fun, although the same sensitivity to others caused me to OFTEN flip out of the raft. At one point, I was pulled into the raft, and not all of me made it all the way, if you know what I mean. I will leave it to you why Moon River became the theme song for the day.

At one point, they made us paddle next to a waterfall, and then told us to climb to the top of the rocks next to it. It was about 15 feet high, and the guide told us that if we jumped where he was pointing, we would hit the current come up about five seconds and twenty yards down river. If we missed, the rocks would really hurt.

I did not want to do this in the worst way, but I had exhausted my irrigating and fertilizing powers. I had this wild thought that maybe people my age SHOULDN’T jump into a waterfall.

But I did it.

And as I was shooting down the rapids, I had dual thoughts: This is the most fun thing I’ve ever done, and maybe there are some tricks left in this old boy.

The rest of the trip was a blast, although the horse back riding further sagged the boys, but it was so much fun to be with the kids and have this opportunity.

On the college front, we have some mixed news to report. The greatest fear of many missionaries is that they have betrayed their children by going to the mission field, because the poverty level wages make it impossible to save enough to go to college. JT received his first financial package from a school he was accepted to, and it required that he borrow 24k a year in order to go. We hope for better news from other schools.

But we did get more good news from other students. We had our first student ever accepted to the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League college. I don’t think Ivies are better than other schools as much as it is important to find the best fit for a student. But many of the Ivies give enough financial aid that Chris can graduate without debt. We also had our first student ever accepted at MIT, and the excitement on campus was huge for Joel.

Then there was Ethan. His parents came to campus when he was in 7th grade for a short term mission trip. When he returned to America, he was diagnosed with acute leukemia, and it was so bad that Make A Wish offered him a wish.

And he chose to come back to RVA. He was able to make a trip in 8th grade. It says something about the pull of this place that he would make his wish to come back here.

He has recovered and is a senior, and he was just accepted to his first choice school, the US Naval Academy. The odds were so impossible, but he kept pushing and pushing, and he will start in June.

Aren’t happy endings the greatest thing?

Your pal