Here’s how God romanced me this month…
As I mentioned in my last blog, our planned ministry for Botswana fell through less than a week into our stay when the University of Botswana closed its campus due to a strike. The University is expected to re-open on March 6th (1 week after my team leaves for South Africa). Because of this, my teammates and I have had the task of creating our own ministry, such as market and mall evangelism. It has been pretty hard for me. To be honest, this has been the most difficult month of the race so far. I’ve been feeling confined and unproductive.
But here’s the great thing about making your own ministry: it can happen anywhere. So when you’re less than a day’s journey from one of the largest waterfalls in the world, you go on an adventure. We took a 12 hour bus ride, crossed the border into Zimbabwe, got a cool new visa in our passports, spent 2 nights in a hostel, and explored Victoria Falls!
Day 1 agenda: See Victoria Falls. Check.
Getting to see (and feel) the beauty of the falls from so close was truly amazing. Also Rachel forgot to bring her rain jacket for a day of getting drenched by a waterfall, naturally. Then we went to lunch at a restaurant overlooking the river and got a free ride home from a random safari-truck driver.
I know.. I make the same face in every picture. It just happens.
However, that was only the beginning of what made our first day so great. When we got back to our hostel, we crawled into bed for a nap almost immediately (4 of us in one king-sized bed). But though I wanted to nap, I knew what I needed more was to spend time with the Lord. So I grabbed my bible and went outside to be alone. Before I had even found a place to sit, I met Sfe—a minister, artist, and hostel worker. For the next hour we sat together as I absorbed the immense wisdom she shared with me along with instruction to pray for God to open doors that I had closed off in my heart.
A few hours later I met Rodney—a manager at the hostel who joked with me that he was probably going to hell, then allowed me to pray for him in the name of Jesus. The two of us formed an unlikely friendship over the next two nights. It’s crazy to me that you can meet someone for such a small amount of time halfway across the world who you will likely remember for the rest of your life.
The night ended with food, music, laughter, and fellowship with my sweet squad-mates.
Day 2 agenda: Get coffee, cross the bridge to Zambia, check out the elephant market, and see the boabab tree, or “The Big Tree” as they call it. Check. Check. Check. Check.
While walking to the tree I asked my teammate, Audrey if she thought we’d be able to climb it. (We’ve realized the question: “Hey, do you think we can climb this?” is the theme of our friendship). Unfortunately, it was surrounded by a fence. Classic. Also, in case you’re wondering, “The Big Tree” is as underwhelming as it looks. Rodney told me that’s because I was looking at it wrong. He said the tree was big in age, and it’s not necessarily special because of its size. I replied: “It’s not called ‘The Old Tree.'”
Sometimes I don’t get it. I don’t get why I’m fortunate enough to live the incredible life I live. Then I remember that we serve a God who loves us—a God who wants to give us good things—and this is just the beginning.
