There are some people in this world who have a love for people and want to do all they can to help others. Our art teacher, Ms. Valerie Lucius, is one of those people.

Ms. Lucius has for the last five summers been going to Africa on mission trips.

While in Africa she does various things like helping to supply the people with Bibles, clothing, books, music, and testifying her love for Jesus. She has been all over Africa, to such places like Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Malauie.

Before we can talk about Africa, we have to know something about it. Ms. Lucius paints a picture of market day in an African town. She said she usually observed the markets from a cab that she was parked in during rush hour because cars were jam packed on the road with barely inches to get by and sometimes not even that.

Hundreds of thousands of people with no freeways and no stop lights, said Lucius. They really keep traffic moving considering that.

The market place is set up outside in the open air with the sellers sitting beside their goods. She says there are vibrant colors splashed in all over the place.

Yellows of the bananas and the greens of the watermelon really pop out at you. Also the dark dingy brown of the wood, the night black of the charcoal, and the deep reds of the cloth and Coke labels all blend into a beautiful picture.

All of the different countries have different weather patterns. In countries like Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, the weather is mild and humid especially after it rains.

Instead of calling their seasons winter or summer, they go by dry and rainy seasons, said Lucius.

When the elevation is higher, the weather is cooler. Such is the case in Zambia. The land in Uganda is beautiful with its rolling hills and lush land.

The people of Africa live in small mud huts, usually with white smoke coming up from the charcoal burning, said Lucius. The smell of Africa is wonderful to me. It smells of land and fire.

The first time Ms. Lucius went to Africa she was not very excited but she felt like she was called to go. She also realized how a person of a different race can be used in the ministry.

When she goes to Africa, there are some people who have never seen a white person before.

She recalls a similar story for herself on the week she was saved at age twelve. We had a visiting evangelist, Angel Martinez, who came to lead a revival, said Lucius. I listened more carefully that week than I ever had before. I was fascinated by Dr. Martinez, having never seen a Hispanic person in the flesh before and I found him very interesting, personable, and fun to listen to.

After debating on whether or not to go Africa because of feeling it was risky and strange, Ms. Lucius decided to go.

Somehow I knew God was calling me to go to places that may be dangerous and very foreign, said Lucius.

She says that he has always provided her with wonderful people to go with.

While in Africa, they testify their love of Jesus in open air crusades, they pray for the sick, encourage the churches and work with the pastors, visit orphans and widows, and speak at schools, and even have had the chance to speak on the radio.

Lucius says that many people come to the Lord because they see the love we have for one another, and they want that for themselves.

There have been many times when, in the natural, I should have been scared, but was not, said Lucius, The peace of God is an amazing thing.

One time, while she was on a van with twenty people, they had to drive backwards up a rain slick mountain in Eastern Uganda. They just laughed and sang songs because they felt like the presence of God was protecting them.

The nations of Uganda and Tanzania have seen a decrease in the number of people infected with AIDS. They teach abstinence to the unmarried and faithfulness to the married.

To my knowledge, those are the only two nations that are having such positive results with turning the AIDS tide, said Lucius.

Even though there is a decreasing rate, death is very real to the people of the nations. Coffins are sold in the market place just like the fruit is.

So go and make followers of all the people in the world. Baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Mathew 28:19.

Ms. Lucius feels that God has called her to go and tell the good news.

She feels that full time missionaries and seminary graduates are not the only ones called by God to share, but everyone who knows Him.