I have completed my time in East Africa!!
I had 3 crazy, amazing, and eventful months in Rwanda, Kenya, and Tanzania. Months I will never forget, people that will always be in my heart, and bus rides I pray to never repeat!!J
It has been a wild ride living 3 months in East Africa, from preaching 2 times a day in Rwanda to kissing giraffes in Kenya to sitting through the longest church services ever in Tanzania! God has been so faithful! Keeping us from harm as well as bringing healing and salvation to many we encountered. I am so thankful for the pastors and people I met in the last 3 months. Although Tanzania was the toughest month for me out of the three, the Lord ended it with a bang! Blessing me with the incredible opportunity to go visit my Compassion child named Eliza. I have sponsored Eliza since she was 5 years old, she is now 12.
Another answer to prayer was to have one of my best friends, Michael who is on my squad, come with me. We got to visit my compassion child on March 21st, then his on the 22nd! It was such a joyJ
The day that I went to visit Eliza was so fun because I got to see the Compassion project center. It is where all the sponsored kids come for a Saturday program. They educate them on health, spiritual, and emotional issues. Many of the children come from un-churched families so this is the only place where they learn about Jesus. They also had a big church at the project where they encourage the kids and their families to come.
After visiting the project I got to surprise Eliza at her home! She lived in a common low income Tanzanian house with her Mom, Dad, and 2 sisters. She thought I was coming the next day so she was super shocked and nervous when I showed up! I love surprised so it brought me joy and laughter to see her face and watch all her friends running from their homes to see what was happening!
I went shopping for her and the family that morning, so she got to open a huge bag of gifts! She had quite the audience; there was about 30-40 kids crammed in the doorway, and she was opening all the gifts and her smile was beaming!! I think her smile grew by the secondJ After gifts we visited with her family, met her sweet grandma then took them all out to dinner.
It was a day that I know I will never forget and I’m sure she won’t either! I found out I was only the 7th sponsor to ever come visit a child at that center. There are over 200 kids sponsored. I felt extremely blessed and honored to be one of the sponsors to visit! The Lord opened the doors and has provided each month for me to sponsor her.
I encourage you, if you have a sponsor child, to do whatever you can to visit them! It was so incredible to meet her, look into her eyes, and hug this precious child of God. She and her family have not yet accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, so I pray that by my visit and life she will come to know the Living God who created her so perfectly!
God continues to show me His love and I will continue to use my life to share the love He so graciously shows me!
My new team is now in Nepal and leaving for 2 weeks to travel and minister in East Nepal. We will be in the the rural plains and mountains with little to no internet. Can’t wait to share the stories when I return! Pray for Nepal, they are a country lost in idol worship and needing an encounter with the Living God!
