I’m a slow processor.
All I know is that as I sit here in South Africa, I wonder, “what in
the world just happened”? Half of March
and all of April just flew by. And I
think to myself, “I still feel called to Nicaragua”. I told myself that I would not make
comparisons of each country but human nature takes over and I find myself
challenged.
Up until now, I keep thinking that
I was not as productive in Peru
as I was in Nicaragua. I was sick more than 50% of the time while in
Peru. However, as I ponder more, I realized that
God allowed me to develop a lifelong friendship there. The friendship is not with a person whom I
ministered to but rather a person whom I ministered with. Ericka, a Peruvian who spoke fluent English,
was one of our interpreters. She lived
with us for the month we were in the Andes
Mountains. She became a part of our family and
eventually, my soul sister.
When we first arrived to Musho,
the village that was our home base for the month, Ericka and I connected on a
surface level. A couple of days later,
team ZEO was assigned to minister in Mancos, another village that was 30
minutes away by car. ZEO was also
assigned two interpreters for this week-long trip – Eduardo and Ericka. It was there in Mancos that our friendship
began to flourish.
Friendships tend to develop very
quickly when we are put in close quarters.
ZEO girls and Ericka shared a room together and Ericka and I shared a
mattress. We would talk, share pictures of friends and family and God even gave
us the same dream. I woke up one morning
and immediately shared with her a dream that I had.
I was on a boat in the ocean and
all of a sudden, I dove into the water and caught a ride on the back of a big fish,
a Blue Marlin. I hung on to its hind fin
while it took me on a great ride. As I
was telling Ericka this, she told me she had the same dream two nights ago and
she had told Eduardo about it. The only
difference was that her fish was a dolphin.
We went on to explain our emotions in the dream and they were mirror
images of one another. At first joy and
excitement as we let this fish maneuver us through the waters, dodging other
fish and sunken ships but then as we realized that this fish was in control of
our lives and not we ourselves, the emotions quickly turned into fear and
anxiety, so much so that we awoke from the dream. “What does this dream
mean?” we asked each other. We
didn’t have an answer then but as I sit here processing now, I think I have an
interpretation.
Perhaps as we journey through
life and on our mission trips around the world, we just need to remember to
cast our cares upon God. Let Him take
control of our lives and we will live in peace with joy, no matter our
situation. As soon as we try to control
our lives, our fear of the unknown will paralyze us.
Why did we both have the same
dream? God has a sense of humor. He wants us to enjoy Him and each other. All I know is that that experience alone
connected us even more.
I miss you Ecka… u know!
