[box type=”note” style=”rounded”]I wrote this post last night on my flight back to San Francisco from SXSW. [/box]Just a couple of days before I headed to SXSW in Austin, TX I was blessed with an online gift that put me over my fundraising goal of $2,600. I decided to raise money with WePay which was super easy to setup and a simple way to collect online payments if you ever need to raise some money.

I was also mailed a few checks the old-fashioned way and with those my total is actually over $3,000, which means that my church won’t have to pay as much toward my trip as they had originally thought. This means they’ll have more money for the next person like me who’s planning on going somewhere on a mission trip and needs some support.

Over 20 people threw some money my way and I appreciate every single penny of it. I’m now going to be able to fly all the way across the world, love on some people who need it and I’ll be doing it all in the name of Jesus Christ. If that’s not awesome I don’t know what is.

As I’m writing this I’m on a Southwest flight back to San Francisco (through LA) and I’m feeling a little worn down from all of the action I’ve had over the past few days. Thanks to a small amount of self-restraint at open bars and the morning runs that I intentionally scheduled in the mornings while I was there I don’t feel too bad. Tired? Yes. Hungover? Heeeeecks nah.

It feels good to be able to sit down for a while and type on my laptop without having to ask someone who they are, where they’re from and what company they work for. I love meeting new people as much as anyone, but talking to strangers (and some friends) from 8am-midnight tends to wear me down. Not to mention my feet were killing me from just walking and standing all day. I know, it’s a rough life but somehow I found a way to manage.

Enough about SXSW, I’ll talk about that some other time — it’s time to get ready for Congo and I’m really getting excited about going. It usually takes me a while to get excited about things, but with only 12 hours until my first flight it’s too close not to.

I’ll get back to San Francisco at 9pm tonight, pack and get all my stuff ready tomorrow and then head back to the SFO for the first leg of the 30+ hour trip. I can’t wait to start the adventure and I guess this would be a good time to learn some Lingala.

That’s all I have for now, but there will be much more coming soon. Thanks again to all of your who gave me some of your hard-earned cash so I can make this trip to Congo happen and please keep me in your prayers for both betting ready and while I’m over there.