Almost there!

I have been at Charlotte, NC for the past couples of days going through the SIM orientation and It has been an awesome experience! The staff here have been so great and I have met some great people in the orientation that are doing the same type of thing I am doing. We sat through several classes such as spiritual warfare, oral communication, Muslim Culture, health and safety, and multi-cultural that were super beneficial. I am still hanging out on the campus today but will be leaving for Senegal tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon and arriving monday morning around 6 am.
I am only getting more excited to get over there and serve these people! I know this is what God wants me to do right now even though I am noticing this will be a very challenging time. I do not expect this to be easy or to walk away without any suffering because I will be faced with things that I have never faced before in my life. There will most likely be sicknesses and there will be spiritual battles, but I know that the Lord is good and He will guide me through this.
The people will not have much respect for me when I first get there because they will view me as the typical "American Christian". Because most everyone in these third world countries cannot afford to leave their country, they are only able to watch the crap on TV shows and movies to see what America is like. This makes them believe that all Americans are rich and exactly like what they see on TV which creates them to have this certain idea about Christianity. It is so frustrating that our culture has turned so many people off to Christianity because there are so many "American Christians" that claim they are Christians but they still do what they want and do not faithfully follow Christ. I will have trust among some of the people because of the relationships the missionaries there have already built, but I am still going to have to gain a lot of peoples trust in this city and village. I will have to show them that I am not this "American Christian" that they think I am, but that I am a follower of Christ and I am here to love on them and serve them in any way I can.
Thank you for all of your prayers and support thus far! But As I go into Senegal I am asking that you please pray for Boldness, patience, understanding the language quickly, health, the energy to consistently serve, and for these people to have an open mind! Thank you and I will be updating all of you again after I am settled into Senegal!

Scott