I’ve been waiting for this since the day I signed up for the world race.
We’ve finally arrived in KENYA! We’ll be in Africa for the next three months, and I’m so excited to see what God has in store. I’ve had some opportunities to travel abroad in my life… so I had an idea of what Central America and Eastern Europe might look like. But when it came to Africa- I had no idea what to expect…. which made it all the more exciting if you ask me.
When we first arrived to Nairobi, the capital, we pulled out our tents from the bottom of our packs and camped for a few days with the whole squad. One of those days happened to be the 4th of July. A few of us had signed up to attend a Christian Crusade on Reconciliation and Restoration about 30 minutes outside the city.
When we arrived, I had one of those “Wow… is this really my life?” moments when I realized how different this holiday was compared to last year. Last year I was partying on the beach for the Fourth, and this year I was standing in a slum outside the city, with the cutest little African children running around- most of them with no shoes, dirty hands, and holes in their clothes.
Our squad leader Kellie was invited on stage to preach. Through the loud music, dancing, and her praying over all the people- the Holy Spirit slipped into our hearts faster than the blink of an eye. The next thing I remember- I was being called over to the side of the stage, with my dear friend Emily, to pray for a group of teenage girls who wanted to accept Jesus into their lives for the first time.
There in the middle of the slum, we gathered hands.
As I began to pray for the girls- the emotions started piercing my heart from every angle. All I could think about for the next five minutes were scenarios that they might have grown up in…. abuse, alcoholism, fathers leaving, mothers addicted to drugs, murder, sickness, AIDS, deaths, the list went on and on. As I was looking into each of their eyes and fighting back the tears- I found myself screaming so they could hear me over the music.
I prayed for Jesus to wrap His loving arms around each one of those beautiful girls standing in front of me. I prayed for Jesus to take each of their hearts and heal the wounds of their pasts. That no matter what they had been through, that no matter what pain they had experienced in their lives… that Jesus would shower them with His steadfast love and mercy. I prayed that he would RESTORE hope into their lives. Hope for a future in Him. I prayed that He would reign down His glory over their lives. That they would know and believe in the deepest parts of their heart, that there is nothing that they’ve done, nothing that they can do now, or will do in the future that will keep them away from His loving arms. I prayed forgiveness over their lives… that He would completely wipe out any shame or guilt. I prayed that they would be confidant in who they were created to be, for He created each one of them with a very specific purpose. I reminded them that He knew them before they were even born- that he knows the numbers of hair on each of their heads…. And that He was smiling down, with tears of joy running down His cheeks.
That’s when Emily took over. She had them repeat after her a prayer to accept Jesus into their lives.
So at the end of the day- as I was crawling back into my tent and looking up at the beautiful Kenyan stars shining above my head… I had flashbacks of all the 4th of July holidays I’ve experienced in my past- full of awesome parties, amazing firework displays, lakes, pool parties, cookouts, etc. And even though it was weird at first to not have these things this year, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
The Holy Spirit lit my heart on fire that night…and I can without a doubt say that this is one holiday that I’ll never ever forget.
*It wasn't safe to bring cameras into the slum… so unfortunately, I don't have any pictures**
