“This is it.”, I thought to myself on the bus ride to the airport in Dar Es Salaam. I had spent 5 months in Asia, 1 in Australia, and 3 in Africa. All that's left is Europe! I was down to just 1 continent separating me from home.
Tears streamed down my face as I thought about how much I missed Asia. Now, I have to mourn the loss of Africa too. Which, to be honest, Africa and I had some hard times and I was ready to leave. The fact that I got malaria, typhoid, bed bugs, parasites, and a third degree sunburn probably contributed to my rough patch a little bit. But even with all the hard stuff, I am still going to miss it. There's just something about Africa. Personally, I think it's the children 🙂
So there I was, sobbing on the bus! I was thinking about how I don't want to return to mzungu land and trying to process my emotions about Asia, Australia, Africa, Europe, and America. It's a lot to take in.
To be honest, I don't want to go home. Send my family and friends to visit me and I'll be good. I'm not ready to go home and hear, “Morgan, How was your trip?…That's great!”. See, this hasn't been a trip for me, this has become my life. A crazy, tragic, sometimes almost magic, awful, beautiful life 😉
The thought of going home scares me. Who's going to understand me? How am I going to understand people?!
I don't want to go home and see the western church expanding their parking lots, buying million dollar sound systems, and installing stainless steal appliances in their kitchens. Why is it not more of a burden that there are children starving to death, children being forced into sex trafficking, children that have never heard the gospel?! It breaks my heart.
However, I don't want to go home and condemn the church. In fact, the church gave me over $15,000 to serve overseas. I know people care, I have seen it. We (myself included) just get so caught up in our world that we forget how blessed we are. When the mortgage, car payment, and electricity bill show up, sometimes it's all we can do to put our 10% in the offering plate. We hear about all these starving children in TV commercials, but we don't really know how to make a difference. The problems overseas almost seem surreal to us.
Like I said, I am speaking to myself here!
Before the race, I remembered always reading that God would provide for the needs of his children.
During the race, I have seen how He does that.
HE USES US!
He supplies the needs of His children through His children! We are called to treat everything God has given us like it belongs to Him, because it does! If someone has a need and we can meet it, we need to do just that!
“Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, 'Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” -James 2:15-17
The things I have seen have marked me.
Every month I have at least 100 different encounters with people.
Every encounter is different, but they tug on my heart in the same way. Whether it be holding a dying child in my arms, hearing a woman's testimony of being forced into sex trafficking, or praying with a family that can't afford to purchase food.
If you multiply those 100 people by the 10 months that I have been on the race,
You get 1,000 stories!
That's 1,000 lives that have forever altered mine.
Daily, there lives remind me not to take mine for granted!
I am so incredibly blessed to have been born into a family that loves me, to have never gone without food, to live in a nation where I have access to the gospel, to have a home, to have clothes on my back, to be respected as a woman, and so much more.
“…And from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” – Luke 12:48
The other day, I was showering in our shower in Ukraine. I looked around and noticed that I was standing in a tub, in an actual bathroom, under a shower head, using hot water, and that everything in there was powered by electricity. I couldn't help but think back to showering in Kenya. I was instantly plagued with guilt!
We used buckets filled with rain water to bathe. We would take them out to the beaten up shack in the yard and pour the water over our heads. No matter how many times we bathed (which wasn't a lot), we could never get truly clean. The kids in Kenya shower as a treat, not as a necessity and now look at me!
Then, God had to shift my thoughts for me from guilt to thankfulness. I am so blessed to have the things I do and to see what I have seen. I shouldn't feel bad for having the ability to shower, but I should not abuse what I do have. I need to remember that everything I have belongs to the Lord and treat it as such
. 
So, please don't take this as a guilt trip or me condemning you. It's not a sin to have nice things! Just be thankful today for what you have, don't sweat the small stuff, and help the body of Christ however you can.
In September… just a month after I return to the States… I will be moving to Gainesville, GA to attend something called The Center for Global Action. I will be living in community with other alumni racers, working as an apprentice in a department of Adventures in Missions, attending discipleship classes in the evenings, and doing mission work overseas.
And I need your help.
I need just $7,200 for the entire year!!!
So again, would you prayerfully consider supporting me as I continue in the call God has placed on my life?
You can make a tax deductible donation two different ways;
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By clicking the “Support Me” tab on the left side of this page and donating with a card.
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You can mail a check made out to ADVENTURES IN MISSIONS with my name (MORGAN WILLETT) in the memo line.
Mail the check to:
Adventures in Missions
P.O. BOX 53447
Atlanta, GA 30353-4470
I could not be doing this without your support and I am so thankful for you!
I am so excited about what God has done and is going to do!
Thank you for taking this journey with me!
Be blessed and know that you are a blessing!
