Ok guys, I’m going to be honest with you right now.
I am terrible at blogging. I’ve been sitting here in my tent typing and typing out blogs, about a million different things, and end up just erasing them because they’re awful and I don’t want to subject you to them. I feel so much pressure to make these great so that they’re entertaining for you all and to gain the rest of the support I need, but they’re all coming out wrong.
So, now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, bear with me while I just try to tell you honestly what I’ve been doing and going through. Sound good? Good, because it’s all I’ve got left to talk about.
After some grueling travel days of planes and sleeping in airports and very (very) crammed buses, we made it to the hostel in Malawi we stayed at for the night before coming to Zambia. We’re going back there for debrief soon and I am very excited because it has wifi and some amazing french toast. (Paid for that with my own spending money, french toast for $3 USD is not in our budget.) So we made our way to Chipata, Zambia, the next morning on an even more crowded bus ride. We spent a couple of hours or so at the border trying to get 50 people through (praise Jesus we did!) and then the teams split up. My team was actually with two other teams in Chipata and the other four teams are in totally different cities. Our three teams have actually been rotating between three different ministries around Chipata, one in the city and two in other villages, so I’ve barely seen them, which is a bummer. But we did all opt to save our days off from each week (so three total) and use them to go on a safari at the end of the month together! So I’m super excited to spend that time with them.
My team was in the most “bush” village first, we’re in the second village now, and then we go to Chipata last. I’ll probably be in Chipata when I actually get to post this because we don’t have internet here.
So we have mainly been doing door to door evangelism, which let’s face it, is not my cup of tea. Mostly because I hate tea. That sounds harsh, but it’s extremely difficult for me to simply go meet someone, present the Gospel, pray, and then leave them with no real relationship formed. I’m sincerely just begging the Lord to grant the prayers I pray over them and to stay with them despite my shortcomings in the process. He can do great things through even the tiniest bit of love shown and I’m doing my best to trust that. Other than door to door, we’ve been doing sports ministry, which is mostly just a fancy way of saying kicking a soccer ball around with a TON of kids. It. Is. Awesome. Seriously, it’s the best part of the day, besides when I find thirty minutes to take a very refreshing bucket shower.
Some more honesty, I’m really missing my friends and family. Before you leave it doesn’t feel real, like the trip doesn’t exist. Then at the airport it feels like you’re just ripping off the bandaid. At Launch it’s all adrenaline, you’re with your squad and everyone is happy and excited. But then, a couple weeks in, you’re laying in your tent trying to sleep and you realize that you literally won’t see your loved ones for almost a year. Woah. Or how about the fact that at this point I don’t even know my nephew’s birthday or what he looks like. It’s all crazy. I know it will be so worth it and I will grow so much, and I hope none of you take that statement as regret. I do not regret signing up for this for one second. And I could not be more grateful for all of your support. It’s just a hard realization and I’m truly appreciating the loved
ones I get to come home to in December.
Like I said, I’m struggling with blogging, so please I beg of you, comment below and ask me questions. That would be an unbelievable blessing, seriously, just let me know what you wanna hear and I can talk about that.
I’m praying for you all and hopefully you’re keeping me in your prayers, share this on facebook if you don’t mind, I still need God to provide about 50% of my funding and I could use any help I can get!
Love you all dearly and best wishes from Africa! (That’s crazy).
