This is Africa. On any given day at any given moment someone will utter three letters and everyone in earshot will have a deep understanding of the emotions rushing through their veins. T.I.A. or this is Africa. These three letters are often spoken in the most ostentatious of moments. Here are a few T.I.A. moments that I hope you enjoy!
–Tiffany and I are sharing a room this month when I awoke to a mouse like sound. As I am from the country, but carry many city girl tendencies, I freaked out. Once the creature that was making the noise was known I really freaked out. It was huge. In my freak out I jumped out of my mosquito net and landed on the other side of the bed, further breaking the already broken bed. At 3:00 a.m. Tiffany killed the creature by jumping on it. I have a video of the crunch it made upon its death. Tiffany made me throw it away the next day since I was too big of a baby to kill it. T.I.A.
— Upon arriving in Uganda we were working with a school. After trying to play with over a hundred kids it was time to take the younger kiddos home. We were super excited to drive around and see the beauty that Uganda boasts while taking the kids to their homes. It took several minutes to pile in as there ended up being 34 children and 8 adults. The van seats 14. T.I.A.
–I am sitting outside during a prayer meeting enjoying nature and simply basking in the presence of the Lord when the pastor discretely walks up to me. He is a fabulous man so his presence does not intimidate or frustrate me, until he requests that I share with the church a lesson on prayer. For 20 minutes. I have not prepared one second. But no problem because God is great and I just happened to listen to a sermon on prayer the night before. I opened my journal and taught from the notes of the sermon. Thank you Graham Cooke. T.I.A.
— We are walking down an African road. Enjoying life. When to our left we see a mound of clay/dirt with people looking for something in the mound. One would assume there was a fantastic treasure at the rate in which they are searching. What are they looking for? A midday snack of termites of course. Yumm. T.I.A.
— We are doing door-to-door ministry, encouraging the church we are working with and sharing the Gospel to those who are not born again (this month there is a distinction between the name Christian and born again). Before we walk into this beautiful yellow home we are discreetly told that we are about to preach to a Catholic witch doctor. Of course, that is the normal thing to do, let me just pull out the notes from the past hundreds of witch doctors I have shared the gospel with, not. It was incredible and awesome and tough and scary (possible blog to follow on this nugget). T.I.A.
–Last month in Kenya we are enjoying a meal with our squadmates and I ordered chips (fries). After waiting for over an hour, my order comes. I get excited as I personally love the fries here. I eat a few and then I see it. A little cockroach stuck to the chip via fried oil. Fantastic. T.I.A.
–We have been in Africa for about six weeks and have sat in 40 hours of church services and had two services interrupted by a chicken worshiping the Lord in the church with us. T.I.A.
–We choose to take the hour and a half, stuck in traffic, trip to the capital so that we may eat real ketchup and use Western toilets. T.I.A.
–During a time of prayer, a little girl comes up to me with her prayer request. Her request is simply, “That my Father will return home.” My heart breaks. He left seven years ago to find work in the villages and has not returned yet. I ask her if there is anything else, her response, “Knowledge.” I have so much to learn. T.I.A.
