Kilimanjaro

While on the KIVU Gap Year, we had the chance to climb the tallest freestanding mountain in the world, Mt Kilimanjaro. Looking back now, the 7 day trek up this
Mountain was the biggest test of my faith thus far. I was born with severe asthma, induced by allergen and exercise induced. We came to Tanzania from Rwanda, which is basically sea level and I was completely unprepared and untrained. As the days of our hike went up, the number of my fellow KIVU students continuing to the summit went down. But I had faith that The Lord would take me where I was meant to go, even if that meant 19,000 feet up, without the help of an oxygen tank and WAY out of my comfort zone. I prayed through psalm 23, speaking "The Lord is my shepherd" every. single. step. of every single day and was forced to put my entire life in his hands, literally, because with little oxygen and lots of hiking, an asthma attack could have been deadly. I know it sounds dramatic but this is the truth!! But boy did God remain faithful to me. I only had to use my inhaler at the start of our 5-10 hour hikes ( for reference I can barely run on the treadmill for a solid 5 minutes or walk up multiple floors without using my inhaler a second time ) fast-forward through the toughest, most beautiful, humbling 7 days of my life + there I am standing at the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro, solely on the strength of my savior and the encouragement and prayers of my team, leaders, family and friends. It was to this day one of the most surreal moments of my life. I could have never had this, or any of the other life changing experiences I had abroad if it wasn't for the KIVU Gap year & for that I am forever grateful!