Apple iPhone's incredibly annoying Piano Riff blasts into the early morning stillness of our bedroom, rousing me from a ridiculous dream about riding trains and staying in hostels with my Squad-mates. Well, actually that’s not all that ridiculous, come to think about it. I digress.
It’s 7:00 AM and I feel like I’ve slept for a century! First things first, I need to do what we all need to do when we wake up, so I crawl out of bed (a mattress on the floor), stumble to the door of our two bedroom apartment and step out onto the cold concrete of our front porch. Crisp morning air fills my lungs as I shake on my flip-flops and grab the nearest toilet paper roll. Off to the squatty potty – always an adventure and a workout in one – and then it’s on with my morning.
Over steaming hot tea, Elizabeth and I discuss what God has been teaching us through The Word over the past few days. She’s been learning about gaining power from the Holy Spirit through reading Colossians and Ephesians; God’s been teaching me about standing confidently in my authority as His Child through reading Galatians. The Bible is pretty amazing… I highly recommend it.
All seems normal and according to our Sunday morning plan – leading the four-hour Church service for our ministry contact – until I return to our apartment for 7:30 worship time and find one of my teammates still in bed, clearly uncomfortable and plagued with a nasty stomach ailment. Yikes! I craw into bed next to her and begin praying comfort and rest over her ailing body, peace over her mind and healing over whatever has taken control of her stomach. Leaving her to try and sleep, the remaining six of us amble into our contact’s tiny living room for breakfast – leftover fruit and chapatti slices. YUM. Out of the corner of my eye, I watch as my sick teammate emerges from our apartment and stumbles her way to the squatty potties, clearly frantic with the urge for relief.
The morning continues, deciding that we will let the sick rest through church services and have another team member stay back for moral support. Five of us commence a rotation of prayer for our teammate with practicing praise and worship songs for the service, until I hear, “Ash… she’s really bad.”
As a team leader, there are just certain things that you hope to never hear. I’ve told my parents, if team leading on The World Race has taught me nothing else, it has definitely clued me in – to some degree – on what it’s like to love someone (i.e. a child) with a passion you didn’t know you had. Throughout the course of the Race, even before answering the call to team lead, God began growing in me intense care and concern for my teammates, to the point that I was honestly angry if one of them was sick and I couldn’t do anything to fix it. Luckily, He’s still working on that, and now I’m aware enough of His Power vs. My Power to recognize the extreme difference. There are times when I am utterly powerless and can only depend on Him to fix whatever is hurting, upsetting or ailing someone I care about. That said, there are also plenty of times – like this instance – where He will strengthen me to do whatever needs doing.
Cue full on team leader mode. Alright Satan, your games are done and we are serious about thwarting whatever you’re trying to do here. Within half an hour, myself, my sick teammate and one more Just Love lady had loaded into a Ford Bronco-like vehicle and bumped along Tanzania’s version of a road series, landing us at a local clinic. Over the course of several hours, numerous IV sticks, my second teammate also getting sick with similar symptoms, opting to go to a hospital 30 minutes away for further examination and potential treatment, feeling super queasy myself and fighting it with every fiber of my being, we eventually prevailed.
Diagnosis: Food Poisoning.
Treatment: Stay hydrated and let it run its course.
It’s the “let it run its course” that I tend to struggle with. I wasn’t born with an intense amount of patience, but I was born with an intense desire to keep those that I love healthy and happy. When I’m completely out of control, it’s not easy, but through this, God is growing in me a dependence on Him that strengthens me to levels I never knew existed. Lesson still in progress.
Status report: Both girls are doing fine. We’re approaching meals with a bit more caution and dousing them in heavier doses of prayer, but all in all, we’re back to normal and ready to keep learning the lessons God has in store for each of us, though with less mess this time, if He pleases!
Be Blessed,
Ashlee
