Psalms 105:12-15
India….India….India….Lord why Here, why now? I didn’t want to be there, I didn’t want to be around the people, I didn’t want to smell the funk, I didn’t want to wear the clothes, I didn’t want to use squatty potties again, eat the food or anything else that pertained to India. I didn’t want to accept the culture…. “Be submissive to a man”…That’s for married people….I’m not married yet. Looking down on the ground instead of looking the men in the eyes to make them feel more superior, that’s not me….I’m a Child of God, Ain’t nobody got time for that….I didn’t want to feel unsafe because in India the men have a thing for women of African descent. I just wanted to stay in the Philippines and continue to love on my babies that I had gotten really close too.
I had been praying not to get into India and for a while there it seemed like my prayers were being answered because we had problems getting our visas to enter the country all month. We didn’t get the Visas until literally hours before we boarded our plane to fly into India… But sure enough….lol…Here came God and he had a clear word for me, because I was starting to sound just like Jonah. He spoke to me one morning and asked me a question I couldn’t ignore. “Alex, why are you complaining? Am I not the God that has kept you this far?” As listened to him I felt the disappointment in his voice. It was as if I was the Israelites in Numbers who grumbled, cried and complained. After everything God had done for them they had no room to say anything. I was so confused when I read that about them but here I was doing the same thing.
God has taken me to Africa….Africa….Africa…..I was in Zambia the first month where there were no bathrooms at all….not even a squatty pottie, just holes in the ground. There were bugs and dirt, and for some reason I was happy to be there. God kept me from all danger.
He took me to Cape Town, South Africa where our contact had nothing to offer us but love and the word of God. That month I was really missing my family and friends back home and God met me in that place. Ma, Pa, Mirna, Zena, and the whole Haynes family and so many other people we met that month became my South African family. They took me and loved on me in ways I never knew strangers could do. That month God provided something tangible – he provided love, and family….
Month three I was in Swaziland and thought it was going to be horrible and we would be in tent again with no bathrooms on dusty roads surrounded by many people with aids dying in my arms. But God allowed me to be teamed up with my new play brother Jamal and he poured into me. Allowing me to see my worth outside my looks and my size, but that I was a beautiful woman inside and out no matter what African culture thinks I should look like. God also provided a house for us to sleep in with beds, and running water that was drinkable. Yes I did meet many people with Aids but I wasn’t there for them, it seemed they were there for me to see past my thoughts of what Aids looked like. I can’t leave out the children that were so happy just to get a CABBAGE for Christmas….yea I said it, a CABBAGE….They had food to eat and that was good enough for them…..WOW God….you have been planning things out….
Month four He sent me into China….LOL…..The place where all things are made. My teammates really didn’t want to go into mainland so God provided a way for us to stay in Hong Kong by serving at Crossroads, a non-profit organization that really gives all they have to help people all over the world. I met some pretty awesome people there – two families in particular that I will never forget. We left there and spent three whole days in mainland china and no one spoke a word of English but we were able to put packages explaining the gospel all over villages, so people could know of him. That month I was missing home a lot and was going through a lot of emotional things because of the loss of my grandmother and God sent a precious child to hug me when I needed it the most.
Month five he sent us into the Philippines to love on children and provided a roof over our heads, fans, running water, toilets, and showers. What more could we need.
And it’s time for me to go into India and I’m stressing it, but God keeps asking why. He keeps providing and honestly I’m not on this trip to be comfortable. I’m here to tell people about Jesus and if I have to be stretched to get the word to them I’m willing to do.
More to come on how India turned out!
