I’m on a blog roll y’all! I decided that tonight I should share that heartfelt blog post that accidentally got deleted. I’ll have other posts coming soon about my time in Botswana and of course all those picture blogs I’ve been promising. However, those will have to wait for me to be able to have a phone again to access all my photos.
So on that note, I’ll begin by saying that alot has happened since we left Botswana. The first night in Nelspruit, South Africa we were robbed! If you follow me on social media, you likely know that already. A man came into our little apartment while we were sleeping and made off with my cell and my friend Emily’s. It was definitely a pretty scary and wild experience as I literally woke up to him taking my phone from the night stand next to me, I yelled and startled him and he ran! My friend Cari says she’s pretty sure I yelled the “F” word! Haha Luckily all he took were phones and nothing else. I’m just grateful that none of us were harmed because things definitely could have been worse. Phones can be replaced, lives can’t. That actually ended up causing me some anxiety as it brought up old feelings of my assault at gunpoint a year ago on the 29th of this month. Sneaky how the enemy tries to keep us bound to old feelings and such. Thankfully however, as stated in my previous blog, I’m currently in a place of peace. I’ve now had time to process and just rejoice in knowing that regardless of the situation, God was actually there and He protected us.
Now, we find ourselves in Jeffreys Bay. We are at the Indian Ocean! It’s beautiful. A surfers paradise…
Currently we are partnered up with an organization called Global Leadership Academy (GLA). They are much like the Adventures (AIM) in that they both offer ministry opportunities. The also have an African version of The World Race called Global Challenge. Ministry has looked a lot different this month than usual, as it has been more structured and GLA has done a wonderful job of directing us in our day to day mission work. Some days we are sanding and painting, picking up the yard and preparing for other construction projects. Some of us are on kitchen duty to feed our entire squad and kinda keeping up with the beautiful home they’ve provided for us. Others are building a soup kitchen in one of the townships (villages). & one of the things I’ve recently been able to do is work with a nonprofit in town that is dedicated to helping community children in the way of an after-school program that focuses on music and literature called Beats & Books! It’s been such a treat!
Our time here has also been a really emotional time as well. The home we are staying in is a beautiful log cabin called The Missions House that was built in honor of a young couple, Austin and Rebekah, who were former Global Challenge and World Race Alumni. They met as missionaries out on the field, fell in love and shortly after decided to date and then marry. They both passed away in an unfortunate truck accident the day after their wedding. Austin’s mother Wendy now manages the Missions House and through the sharing of her son and daughter in law’s story and testimonies, lives are still being touched today. As the 2 year anniversary of their passing approached, both families decided to come together and have a memorial service for the young couple and they invited us to be a part of it. It was such an honor and privilege to be able to join both families as they relived one of the most painful moments of their lives.
It reminded me that we are never promised tomorrow and just how quickly everything in our lives can change. But also a testament of how God carries and strengthens us even in the most difficult seasons of our lives. Our hearts all hurt for them. Shortly after arriving here, and learning all about how this home was built to honor the young couple, we received news that my dear friend Travis’ dad passed away unexpectedly. So again our hearts were wrecked! I don’t think any of us could really even believe it. We were still trying to process everything we had just learned about the couple. It became a very emotional and sad time very quickly. We’ve all been grieving with him and his family since. He left us immediately to be with his family and of course attend his father’s funeral. It was definitely sad to see him go but he does have the ability to join us again when he is ready.
Losing a loved one is never easy. Whether it is expected or unexpected, the pain is the same. Grief is a process and although our hearts are in mourning with our sweet friend and even both families of this young couple, one thing we know for sure is that God strengthens us in our weakness. We never know when our time on Earth is coming to an end but we can make sure to live every day as a loving and living example of our Savior. We also couldn’t have been in a more perfect place to walk through this time of grief than in this home. Mrs. Wendy and her family have done a beautiful job of creating such a safe space, filled with so much love, peace and compassion for us to walk into. God’s timing is always perfect. He knew we would need a space to process everything and even gifted us a family that could truly empathize with what Travis is walking through and even us as a squad as we grieve with our brother.
So tonight or whenever you find yourself reading this blog, I just ask that you would please take a moment to lift my friends up in prayer. Please also be praying for a childhood friend of mine named Stephanie, who also just lost her brother to cancer.
Lastly, I’ll say this:
Don’t leave for tomorrow what you could do today. Appreciate your loved ones. Love them well while you have them and never forget that in the midst of everything God is our strong tower. He is close to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
Hugs, ANA
