Anywhere But Here

Today we hiked a mountain with beautiful views and I find myself wishing that I have more days just like this one.

I am surrounded by people who love to laugh and carry the joy of the Lord inside of them. 

 

Here, every day is a good day. 

 

Here, opportunities of healing come easy and a Bible is something everyone wishes to own. 

 

Here, the Word of God is accepted in every home and Nsima is served at every meal. 

 

Here, they sing praises randomly in the middle of a teaching and little hands naturally find their way to yours. 

 

Here, you can feel the Holy Spirit in the winds and he whispers “Grace, I am with you.” 

 

Here, we walk dirt roads, endlessly trying to figure out how to tie the wraps around our legs so it is secure. 

 

Here, the mountains are special. It is as if they say “I was made to house these people and ring with the continuous sound of their joy.” 

 

Here, we spend our mornings with Joshua and Kennedy as we do house visits. We wait to be accepted in to the home and they offer us a seat out of the beating sun. We begin each meeting with a word of prayer asking the Lord to show us what He wanted to bring to this home. Sometimes we pray healing over pain and sickness and other times for freedom from the bondage of sin. 

 

Here, so many people know the Lord. When they don’t, we share the ways that we have found Him and ask if they would like to meet Him too. 

 

Here, life is simple. The smiles come easy and the welcoming never ceases. 

 

Here, we spend the afternoon in the church with slanted benches and beautiful voices. 

 

Here, we teach with a translator who makes the crowd laugh when you didn’t say anything funny and is our only source of communication to the people around us. 

 

Here, we have to rely on the Lord for the words we speak because we never know what could be coming next.

 

Here, the photos never end and the awe is consistent as each sight takes away the breath trying to reach our lungs. 

 

Here, I am thankful for the teammates who, in a situation that could have been hard, chose in. They chose to be present. 

 

Here, we have continued to draw even closer to the Father and to each other. 

 

You see, 

here, we don’t have much time left. About 25 days. 

 

Here, something that started 11 months ago will come to an end. 

 

Here, I will mourn the ending of a season and cry through the goodbyes of the strangers who are now family. 

 

Here, hard things happen and I am launched outside my comfort zone.

 

Here, my faith is tested and grown in ways I never thought possible.

 

Here, I laugh everyday and am inspired by the culture around me.

 

Here, I have thoughts of home and fear creeps in of how different it will be from before.

 

Here, we are too busy to be distracted and too content to be wishing for something else.

 

Here, I have absolute peace that in all of these moments I am exactly where I am supposed to be. 

 

Here, I honestly wouldn’t want to be anywhere but HERE.