Greetings from Zambia! It’s crazy to think that Christmas is right around the corner— I am used to cold weather and Christmas music playing in the malls as people bustle around trying to get their last minute shopping done. Over here in Africa, Christmas time looks quite different.
The obvious being that it’s hot, sunny, and always in the in 80s or the 90s, other than that Christmas is a bit different around the world. Depending where you are, it is not as commercialized as it is in the states, but one of the most beautiful things to see is how excited people are about the Christmas story. And by Christmas story, I don’t mean the movie, I mean the story of Jesus’ birth. A story of a King being born, perhaps the greatest story ever told, and we get to be a witness to that being told.
This month in Zambia, I have the beautiful opportunity to be a teacher in a school teaching 1st through 3rd graders. (For those who don’t know, I got a new team of all women! We call ourselves Parresia, which is a Greek word meaning ‘confidence, boldness, and empowerment’. I love them so much!) I never thought that I would be a teacher, but here I am, and I am not complaining about it.
Since my last blog, God has been teaching me a lot, and I think the best way to summarize this past season is a phrase I like to call ‘radical dependence.’
Radical dependence.
What a phrase. It’s full of power, humility, and so much faith, but that is exactly what I have been learning.
The other day while I was teaching my class, I found myself becoming extremely frustrated. I wanted these kids to just get what I was teaching, but for some of them it was very hard. My teammate, Alexa, and I we’re teaching the kids how to read (which is such an odd concept to grasp, learning how to read I mean, because we take it for granted every day.)
I mean think of it, you are reading this blog I wrote right now because you were taught how to read. But for most of the kids in the surrounding villages, education and reading is a privilege and a blessing. Talk about humbling.
Anyway, back to my story. So I was teaching these small children how to read a sentence on the board, when it hit me. These small children are depending on me to teach them how to read.
It hit me like a ton of bricks, but in that moment, I knew that I couldn’t teach these kids on my own. I couldn’t rely on myself or my own understanding to educate these small people— I had to rely on God and his ability to teach these kids.
It’s God’s teaching, not mine.
When I realized this about halfway through the lesson, I was reminded of a verse I read in my quiet time that morning about David. It was from 1 Samuel 30:
“David strengthened himself with trust in his God.” (Verse 6).
In this Scripture, David had just come back with his men to find that the Amalekites had raided the towns of Negev and Ziklag and burned them to the ground, and not a soul remained; David and his men had lost their wives, children, and all their belongings— not a thing was left.
His men ripped their clothes off and fell down to the ground weeping and wailing; they were mourning for their families. At that moment, David knew he had to do something, so he consulted God and relied on Him for strength to defeat the Amalekites. Story short, David and his men were successful and retrieved their families safely.
It was at that moment that I knew that I had to:
1. Trust in the Lord like David did.
2. Have a child-like faith like the young kids in my class who depended on me to teach them.
Having a child-like faith means that you depend on the Lord no matter what, and put all of your faith and trust into Him. Like the little children, I want to come running to the Lord with arms open, trusting and love Him that he knows what is best for me.
In moments when I am discouraged and need to be inspired, I am reminded of the meaning of my own name: Julia. Julia is derived from the Latin name Julius meaning youthful.
My name that God spoke over me reminds me every day to be youthful and to trust in Him with a childlike faith.
What a true blessing that is.
PS: follow along on my Facebook to see pictures of my race AND check out the website called VSCO and type in my name ‘Julia Piecka’ to see photos I have edited and uploaded for people to view. Xoxo
