Trusting the Spirit

I have heard it is the hardest month of the Race. I am not exactly sure if it matters what part of the world you are in when you realize you have been away from home for 5 months doing nonstop ministry in conditions your body is not quite used to with a community of people who are from every end of the spectrum in diversity and your Thanksgiving meal was killed that morning and cooked over an open flame in Africa.

Over the course of the month in Tanzania I have had many highs and lows; literally. After spending the first week with Ashley and Georgia's teams in Moshi I was still hoping that Tanzania would be a continuation of the feeling of home I had in Kenya. My expectations were HIGH and I looked forward to hut to hut ministry and elaborate church services. We had some great moments of sharing the Gospel and spreading hope while we prayed over families and homes and by the end of the week I had made the decision to go even HIGHER by climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro at the end of the month with 12 other squad mates as crazy as me! I had not, however, made any real connections or deep relationships with the people of Tanzania yet and it was very difficult finding a place here without relationships.

The second week Caleb and I traveled to Mwanza on a hot and smelly 14 hour bus ride. Little did we know, this would be the shortest bus ride we would have for the rest of the month. After arriving in Mwanza and being greeted by Lo's team I immediately felt a different vibe in this city. I wasn't sure what it was but I was excited to see what God had prepared for me there. I stayed on the other side of town with Katy's team in a small village outside of the city. We did hut to hut ministry every morning and enjoyed the fellowship and community of the village surrounding the church. One day, Kelly and I went for a walk and stopped to buy a soda at one of the stands. A young boy about 10 years old named Michael greeted us behind the steel bars and quickly took our orders. After our walk Kelly and I returned to bring the glass bottles back to Michael (yes, you have to return the soda bottles or they will hunt you down!) and he asked us to come inside the gate and meet his mother. We walked inside and there sat his mother, Modesta, over a hot pan of homemade bread. She offered us both a piece of bread and asked if we could stay awhile. We had a church service to go to but promised to return afterwards if it was not too dark. By the time we came back she had fresh fruit and sodas waiting for us in the house. She introduced us to her oldest son Atinus, her daughter Agetha, and her neighbor Joyce. We all bonded quickly and we talked with them about our journeys with the Lord and their life stories, dreams, and aspirations. Before we left that night we asked if we could pray for them. Modesta shared that she could not move her left arm and was suffering from consistent chest pains. We gathered the family and prayed over them and asked the Lord specifically to heal Modesta. While we were hugging and saying our goodbyes Modesta raised her arm for the first time in months and started to rejoice and sing praises to God. She was overwhelmed with joy as she explained to us that she did not have any chest pains anymore. We all sang together in the house that night and I knew that I had found my connection in Tanzania.

(Kelly and I with Modesta, Joyce, and Agetha)

(Atinus and Agetha! My sweet friends!)

After that the month just kept getting better and better. We went on a Safari to the Serengeti and made great relationships with our guides and hosts. We were blessed to spend a couple of days with them discussing the Bible and talking about what God has done in our lives and how He loves us and why He does things the way He does. We went to a football (soccer) game to support our new friends that weekend and were also able to share at their college what God is doing through our journey on the Race.
We became honorary members of an African football team!

(Me, Lo, Diane, and Ashley getting ready to enter the Serengeti!!)

(Zebras!! My most favorite Safari animal!!!)

(An elephant family…this was just too cute!)

(Our Safari guides were on a football team and Lo and i became honorary members for a day!)

When I returned to the village I went straight to Modesta's house and met her husband Joseph. We talked for hours about God and the Bible. Their whole family is hungry for Truth and they just want to KNOW God. Their son Atinus walked over to me and told me he had made the decision to accept Christ as his Savior. He said he would never forget the scripture I shared with him the first day we met that God has a plan for his life. He asked if he could join us on the Race and I encouraged him that God has a race set out just for him. Just as God has done for all of us. The World Race was not the first to call this life a race. Paul himself encouraged all believers to run this race with endurance! That means we are ALL on a race. A race of endurance and steadfastness. A race that calls us ALL to something. Wherever you are at any moment. THIS IS YOUR RACE. I don't have to be in Africa to run the race that God has set me on. I just have to trust in His Word. His Truth. His Promises. I have to trust in the Spirit. The Spirit that speaks to my heart and leads me. The Spirit that tells me where to go and who to talk to and what to say and when to pray and how to live my life. Sound too controlling? Good. That's what I want. I want to live a life that is controlled by the Spirit of God and not by my own desires. I want to live a life that trusts the Spirit so much that the things I do look CRAZY and don't make sense. Like climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. Did that make sense? NO! Did God know I needed to go to the Mountain Top?? YES!!!

(13 brave souls about to hike the tallest free standing mountain in the world!! YIKES!!)

(This was the view of the mountain from our ministry site in Moshi!)