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| The Atlantic Ocean in Libreville. My story definitely does not start there. |
Or rather, where it doesn't start. My story doesn't start the day I flew out of Nashville. Not by a long shot.
Growing up, the idea of mission work was not, if you will, foreign to me. My paternal grandparents were missionaries in Argentina (my grandmother was a nurse), my mom frequently told us of the month she spent in Nigeria, my dad and eldest brother went on a mission trip to Guatemala when I was five, and for years my family sponsored underprivileged children in South America and India.
Despite all this, I never had the "active desire" to do mission work until I was about thirteen or fourteen years old. There was a day when the thought simply came to me (one could add, I suppose, "from nowhere", except that it was probably my guardian angel suggesting it), "I want to be a missionary." While the idea waned a little as I continued to consider what I wanted to do with my life, by the end of high school, I had searched a good deal for mission work opportunities.
The problem was, none of the opportunities I found were quite right. It wasn't until after high school, a gap year and deciding to go to nursing school that what I was looking for presented itself with no effort on my part.
In mid-August, 2019, I went on a weekend retreat with the Institute of Christ the King, the "Sursum Corda National Weekend" (Sursum Corda is the Institute's young adult group; the retreat is organized annually for young adults from across the country). The first evening at dinner, I found myself seated next to one of our priests. During the course of the meal, while I was talking with the person on my other side, I overheard our priest mention to someone else at the table about volunteering with the Institute in Gabon, saying, "Just write to Canon Fragelli" (the superior of the mission).
Finally! The opportunity I had been looking for presented itself! However, it wasn't until late that fall, in November, that I wrote to Canon Fragelli. I had, in the meantime, started nursing school for my LPN and discovered a video from a former volunteer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8pFCRrRbO0), which prompted me to contact Canon Fragelli.
It took two or three emails before I got a response. I did, finally, hear back, in early December. Canon Fragelli said volunteering was "quite simple: you just come, and... there are a million things for you to do, especially if you're a nurse. 😊" We wrote back and forth a couple more times and settled on my coming from January to June of 2021 (13 months away!). I chose to go for six months, since Canon said it was up to me, but "Up to six months is one thing, more than that is another." He said he would need several things, such as my full name and passport number, to write me a letter of invitation (I would need it for the visa application), but that it was "too early to ask the visa now. We should do it in August or September."
Well... I guess I'd just have to wait for now. That was fine; I had nursing school to concentrate on (and it took a lot of concentration!), so I'd write to Canon after graduation (August 2020), get everything worked out, and leave in January. It wasn't as though there were travel restrictions I had to worry about.
Until there were.
When covid started to mess with our lives in the spring of 2020, things became entirely unpredictable. There was simply no telling if it would be possible for me to go on this trip as I was planning. So, I carried on through the second half of nursing school, always fostering the hope that I would be able to make my trip -- God's Will be done!
In early July of 2020, I again wrote to Canon Fragelli. I don't remember exactly what I asked, something to the effect of if he anticipated my having trouble getting the visa. When he replied, he first asked me to remind him a little of what I was wanting to do; "You wanted to come in January? Write to me in November to work on the visa. I am quite sure they will not give it now."
November. More months of waiting. There was plenty to do in the meantime, like finish my course work, pass exit exams, graduate, and study for, take and pass NCLEX. After that was all over, I got a job, working PRN in a nursing home. I could have worked full time, but I was doing everything in view of making my trip. The only day shift (7 a.m. to 3 p.m.) openings were on Saturdays, so I picked up those and kept working on my trip in the meantime. After November I stopped working; my previous nursing instructor had mentioned that if I were to catch covid, it would mess up my plans. While I was thinking on that, our facility had an outbreak of covid, so that pretty much settled it.
There were a lot of details to work out. Between my job, selling my crocheted animals online, and some very generous donations, I raised enough money to pay for everything: visa, yellow fever vaccine, malaria prophylaxis, covid test, plane ticket, hotel room in the terminal at the Paris airport (I layed over 12 hours on my way to Libreville), clothes and supplies (some of which were Christmas presents!). Aside from paying for all of it, I had to figure out what I needed, what was best, where and how to get it... Somehow, it all happened, but it wasn't easy! (The shortage of yellow fever vaccines made things a little difficult).
I finally started the visa process in early December. It required me to apply online, then later send an email with the invitation letter I had received from Canon Fragelli. It all went smoothly and by mid-December I had my visa. Everything was lining up.
Three days before I was supposed to leave, I went for a covid test (required to get in to Gabon). It had to be taken within 72 hours of departure (to the hour). My flight left around 2:40 on Monday, January 18th, so I went on Friday at 3:00 p.m. I remember that it was snowing that afternoon.
There was nothing I could do about the fact that PCR tests (what I was required to have) take approximately 72 hours to come back...
Everything else was in order. I now just had to wait out the final weekend. Then my story would really begin.
In Christ the King,
Sarah
Please feel free to leave comments or ask questions -- I will do my best to respond to everything.
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