HABARI YAKO!! (How are you?! in Swahili)
So today marks exactly two weeks since we’ve been in Africa…
crazy! I feel like I’ve been here forever!
I wish I had more time to write about everything that’s been happening but alas… I do not. So here are just some quick updates!
I’ve been listening to a Song of Songs sermon series with one of my teammates, B.Cox, and God has been teaching me a lot about INTIMACY and His infinite LOVE for me. It’s been super sweet. God’s also been showing me a lot about where I have looked for love and affection in the past, and where I need to be looking for it – in HIM alone. So yea, He gave me a word about LOVE to speak at a few different schools but I wasn’t able to give it because we ran out of time… so by the time I actually gave it I felt like I was on FIRE! I had so much Holy Spirit juice in me that I thought I was going to explode each time! When I finally gave the message at church this past Sunday (yup, I got to preach again… YAY!) I was pretty passionate; I was kinda yelling… but in a good way. I felt like a real African preacher, haha. 🙂
We’ve also been doing a lot of school ministry where we go to different schools each day and simply speak to the students there; we often give our testimonies, some scriptures, a message, and some encouragement from the Lord. Then we generally stay after for as long as they want and talk, counsel, and pray with them about whatever they need. I’ve met some amazing kids and staff here and have been blessed by the interactions and prayer sessions… God is doing awesome things! It’s amazing that we can just come and preach the gospel freely and they’re so welcoming and thankful… they always want us to come back so we’ll be doing some repeat visits at the schools this coming week; I can’t wait!
There was a Youth Rally at Deliverance Church, Isibania this past Saturday and it was AMAZING to see the passion people had for the Lord! We danced and worshiped for hours, gave testimonies and messages, had small group discussions, and prayed together. I was SO encouraged by what the Lord is doing in Kenya and I truly feel united with these people in CHRIST! I LOVE IT!
Bwana asifiwe! (Praise the Lord!)
So, this leads in nicely to what I’m gonna give you a preview of next. Brace yourself, haha. Sometimes (like after the Youth Rally), the Spirit comes on me and I just get so excited I
feel like I could sprint up a mountain… literally! I don’t know what to do with
myself so I kinda pace around, talk to people about how amazing God is and
how pumped I am about it, and then I try to sit down and record what God is
doing/ what I’m feeling cause I don’t want to forget it. We were talking about it
the other night and my teammates were like… “What if you just unleashed the beast when you get that
excited? I wonder what would happen!� Practically speaking, I don’t know what
this looks like… but I know that God is moving in mighty ways and speaking to
the depths of my heart. Passion and zeal are just seeping out of me at these
moments and I feel like I’m on Holy Spirit speed or something! It’s crazy! But
I love it. 🙂
In order to explain this a bit more, I thought I would give you a preview of one of my journal entries. This is what I wrote after the YOUTH RALLY:
Jesus, (9/18/10)
I AM SO EXCITED about what you’re doing! WOW. PRAISE YOU,
LORD! I cannot even contain myself! There is a WELLSPRING of inexhaustible JOY
and LIFE and EXCITEMENT bubbling in and out of me. Jesus, you are SO good! We
just had the youth event at Deliverance Church, Isibania and the youth are ON
FIRE for you! WOW. You truly are building up an ARMY of your people to carry
the gospel to the ENDS OF THE EARTH. Jesus, I am SO excited about the work
you’re doing in this world… and in ME! God, my heart is on FIRE! There is
passion and zeal that cannot be contained. I want to sprint up a mountain right
now! LORD! Filter this passion! Show me your plans for my LIFE! I want nothing
more than to serve you with ALL that I have. Lord, you are so good. You are
FAITHFUL. You see your plans to completion. YOU ARE BRINGING ME TO NEW LEVELS
and DEPTHS of YOU. You are ANSWERING my prayers! YES, JESUS!!!! I LOVE YOU! We
were praying for healing for one of my squadmates today and I was so FULL of you, it
was RIDICULOUS! I was dancing, screaming at the devil, declaring FREEDOM,
chains being broken, lives being healed, eyes being opened, CHRIST being
revealed! You are literally bringing me to NEW PLACES in your SPIRIT daily!
WOW. I will never get tired of this. You are an ever-flowing WELL of MORE for
your CHILDREN. An endless ocean; a bottomless sea. Let me SINK into you, Lord.
Let me bask in your intimacy, your goodness, just YOU. All I want is YOU. At
church I had a message, a WORD from you about LOVE and where we find our worth.
Our pursuit. Our affection. YOU, Lord. Only in YOU will our hearts and souls be
fully satisfied. I didn’t get to share because we ran out of time but we had
small group discussions and you gave me WORDS to speak to your people! YES! I
felt the SPIRIT on me so STRONGLY. Geez! Every time I opened my mouth I felt
like I could speak for years about YOU. It was hard to not keep going and
PROCLAIMING you! The words simply flowed out of my mouth like rapid FIRE! I
PRAYED to end the night and I was SO encouraged by the PASSION, vigor, and LOVE
of the Lord these people had! I prayed as if I was PREACHING! JESUS, YOU ARE EXPLODING OUT OF ME. I
CANNOT CONTAIN IT!! I don’t think you want me to! It’s OVERWHELMING! Sometimes
I don’t know what to do with myself in these situations! Gosh! I feel like I’m
on the CLOUDS soaring with you! THIS IS THE KINGDOM. This is the Spirit of the
Lord. It is on me. Anointing me. To PREACH the GOOD NEWS. To set the CAPTIVES
FREE. To BIND up the brokenhearted. To proclaim the YEAR of the LORD’S FAVOR.
Yes, Isaiah 61! You are INSIDE of ME. I FEEL you welling up
inside of me. Making my heart beat faster. Placing your very heart and PASSION
inside of your daughter. WOW. What an HONOR. EXCITEMENT doesn’t even scratch the surface of the
emotion I’m feeling at this moment. JOY. UPWELLING. ZEAL. PASSION. FIRE.
ANOINTING. UPROARIOUS VIGOR. LIFE. FULLNESS. MOMENTUM. Again, FIRE. YOUR FIRE.
Inside of me. Sweet, Dad! Thank you
for SPEAKING THROUGH ME. Yes. I am your mouthpiece. Your tool. Your hands and your
feet. Use me as you will, Jesus. I am yours, and you are mine. You move me. You
change me. You LOVE me. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, LORD.
You are SO GOOD. I am so totally, completely, helplessly IN LOVE WITH YOU!
Love, Jenny
P.s. Thank you for the beautiful sunset tonight. 🙂
Yup, so that’s a TASTE of what God is doing in me! I LOVE IT!
We don’t have any more internet time so I have to go… but NAKUPENDA SANA!! (I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH!!) Please keep my squad in your prayers as some of them have already gotten malaria… asanti sana! (Thank you!) Kwa heri! (Goodbye!)
p.s. I’m 25 today! YAY for African birthdays!! 🙂
