Doesn’t a perfect picture come to mind when you think of walking along the beach in July? Bare feet hardly having time to sink deep in the sand before the next step is taken as the water washes away your past steps. Or, taking an even more romantic step, let’s say it’s horseback riding. It’s pretty much a movie moment right there when you imagine horseback riding on the beach, right? Sitting tall, slight breeze with the sun shining down, and your big strong horse trailing horseshoes in the sand.
These dreams may or may not be on the brink of materialization.
For our final month, my team and I are serving and living RIGHT on the beach in Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa. Our hearts pretty much stopped when we saw where we were living. The first thing we did, after dropping our packs at the door, was run right out to the beach all giddy and frolicking as we praised God loudly with how grateful and blessed we felt for having this place as our final month. Despite it being winter here, we couldn’t believe how perfect the weather was! We were already planning our nightly worship jams, team times, one-on-ones, and morning devos on the beach. We were ready to get our Jesus and our tan on!
As far as ministry goes, we found out that our team would be doing HORSE ministry! Whaaaaattt!!!? So cool. Not exactly your typical missions work when you think of missionaries in Africa. But we were game and ready to go!
The first few days of ministry were pretty tough. We are basically a set of 6 extra hands for a lady who owns a horse farm in town and needs a lot of help. We spend much of our day scooping poop, watering, feeding, and helping with lessons and riders in various ways. It’s a lot of work! One of the sweeter options during our day though, is leading the horses on a trail ride down on the beach. Yup, this is where our visions of horseback riding on the beach come true.
Or so we thought.
Our delicious 75-degree perfect weather lasted about 4 days and suddenly the Bay turned frigid with lots of chilling wind and rain. But our outdoor work still needed to be done. So we put on every last layer of warm clothing we had with us and continued on serving with joy on our little horse farm.
The other day, a family of 5 came to the farm as they had a beachfront ride booked. Unfortunately for everyone involved, it turned cold and rainy and the horses were acting TERRIBLY, yet Vallory and I volunteered to go out and help lead the horses, about a half-mile away.
Every inch of us was soaked. Yet, I laughed all the walk home because I didn’t know what else to do and I was so miserable. This was the most un-ideal beach circumstance ever. In that moment I turned to Val and said, “Vallory! All my dreams of horseback riding and walks on the beach every day are not coming true!!!!!!”
It’s moments like these that are just so typical per The World Race. Going into a country, a ministry, or a host home and naturally expecting one thing and then having it turn out nothing like you expected at all. Hence, AIM’s infamous World Race motto of, “Have no expectations”. Thanks, got it. Month 11.
No month has turned out the way I expected it. If I anticipate a hot shower, I get cold. I expect to be hand washing my laundry, I get a washing machine. I expect to be on my sleeping pad all month, I get a bed. I expect to be buying and making my food everyday, I have someone else do it for me.
Our romanticized picture of living and working on the beach has turned dreary. But that doesn’t mean that we love or serve the Lord any less! If anything, it’s teaching me to choose joy in these moments and find gratefulness in the small things. Even something as simple as saying, “Well at least it’s only 50 degrees and not 48!!!!!”
There is no rulebook for missionary life and there’s certainly no cookie cutter picture. Jesus told us to love God and love others and that comes in a plethora of ways. Serving orphans, door to door evangelism, giving food to the hungry, teaching English, hanging out with locals at a coffee shop, or helping a struggling business owner with her farm- it’s all same same but different.
‘Cuz Jesus.
“Whatever you do work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for men”.
Colossians 3:23
