Goodbye, Mali

Our last day in Mali consisted of last-minute packing, early check-in at Air France with Nafi, and hanging out at Nafi's house for a pre-flight shower and prayer time.  I know it sounds cliche, but gosh, I don't know that I've ever had a more bittersweet moment.  We were so excited to go to America and see friends and family that we hadn't seen in 2 years!  The last few weeks had been one giant miracle and we were so in awe of God's work.  We had already said our goodbyes to our Malian friends, but we hadn't said goodbye to Bryan, Nick, or our co-workers.  Throughout those last couple of months our family of co-workers had been sooooo encouraging and supportive.  We'd have dinner with them or stop by every so often when we had a little time and they wanted to know everything that was going on.  They let us know we were being prayed for and they spurred us on to our work.  We felt so rallied around.  It was an achy feeling to leave them.

Bryan & Nick were our teammates.  We had completed the project together and could not have done it without them.  They were our best friends.  We worked together, ate together, laughed together, sang together, walked together, picked mangoes together, celebrated birthdays together, sang some more together, and did God's work together.  Nick wasn't able to see us that day, but Bryan came to the airport with us.

And then there was Nafi.  She had taught us how to live and had cared for us like a mother.  She was, and still is, our family and the thought of saying goodbye to her made my stomach hurt and my throat swell.  The closer we got to airport time the quieter we were.  It was finally time to load up and make the 5 minute drive to the airport.  We pulled in, parked, and walked up to the front, where we stood for a while before going in.  We were early and it's a tiny airport, so we had some time to stand around.  Abby and I were kind of stalling, to be honest.  At one point, I could tell that Nafi was getting ready to tell us to go (we've seen her send lots of folks off) so I caught her eye and slightly shook my head no.  I don't know what difference I thought 2 minutes would make, but I just wasn't ready.  Bryan kept telling us not to be sad, that it would be okay!  Geeeez, I'm crying right now just remembering it.  Finally we hugged our last hugs and walked inside, got on a plane, and said goodbye to Mali.