It’s a cool thing to be able to say I lived in Africa for three months. September through November I lived in Uganda, Rwanda, and Ethiopia each for a month with six other 20-somethings who have now become some of my best friends. It’s hard to sum it all up in one blog post. My time in Africa was better than I could have ever imagined it to be, which I suppose isn’t surprising considering I expected the worst at times. Things ended up being different than I thought they would be, so after a certain point I had to get rid of my expectations. I can’t tell you how many World Race blog posts give the advice to let go of expectations. I almost hate to admit that they are right. Within a couple weeks of arriving in Uganda, our first country, I saw that God’s plan for my time in Africa was bigger, better, and more challenging than I anticipated. That was one of many things I learned in Africa.
Before I left home, I was convinced that 24/7 community living would get old fast. I foresaw arguments, pettiness, and friction. Of course, those things are inevitable, but I was pleasantly surprised by how well the seven of us got along and how seldom we had major problems. The six people I have been living, traveling, and doing ministry with are fun, patient, generous, honest, and good at communicating. They love God and love people. They pray for me, encourage me, tell me hard truths, and support me. We laugh really hard and we love spending time together. We genuinely like each other. I was worried I would get tired of being around them all the time because I didn’t know it was possible for seven very different people to live together in such harmony. If it had been up to me to put my team together, I probably wouldn’t have picked them, but I am incredibly thankful the seven of us ended up together. They have taught me a lot about God. They have sanded down some of my jagged edges. They’ve been good friends to me. Having a good team made going through the tough stuff in each country much more manageable.
Each country had its own challenges, and many of my challenges have involved ministry. I was not excited to be doing door-to-door evangelism in Uganda. In fact, I think it’s safe to say that that is my least favorite type of ministry, but that experience taught me a lot about Ugandan culture and hospitality. The way the Ugandans visited welcomed us into their homes and talked with us was refreshing. It made me realize how important hospitality is to Christianity and how much the western world desperately needs hospitality and community. That ministry also pushed me to trust that the Holy Spirit is able to do an immeasurable amount with the little I have to offer. With the language barrier and the short amount of time we spent at each house in Uganda, it was hard to feel like I accomplished anything during ministry. But sharing the gospel really isn’t about accomplishing anything. It shouldn’t be a task. It’s about loving people like Jesus would love them. Sharing the gospel isn’t always going to look the same and won’t always end with the other person praying the sinner’s prayer. Honestly, it’s about more than just making sure the other person has heard the bullet points of salvation. It sucks that we turn evangelism into a sales pitch sometimes. It’s the Holy Spirit’s job to bring someone to a sincere faith in Christ. I can’t talk anyone into becoming a Christian, and thank goodness for that.
In Rwanda, I struggled with the church culture and how everything felt more like contrived spirituality than earnest faith. I didn’t want to go to church on Sundays because the sermons and the worship felt so forced. It was easy for me to check out when someone was praying or sharing their testimony because I didn’t feel it was sincere. But through that, I learned that it’s so important to be intentional to love people despite my opinion of them. One of the easiest way to ruin an opportunity to love someone is to judge them. I’ve definitely been guilty of that. Another thing God began digging up in me in Rwanda was the insecurities I tend to have in friendships. I began to realize how jealous I can get. I started to see how I tend to go to people for comfort and security before I go to God and I saw how I was left dissatisfied when I didn’t get the sympathy I was looking for. I wish I could say that I’ve learned what I need to learn and everything has been sorted out, but this lesson is a hard one to make stick and it’s something I’m still working through. I still have a tendency to get jealous or feel like people are letting me down when they’re really not. But I know freedom is coming. I’m learning more and more to rely on the Lord to sustain me.
In Ethiopia, I was not very excited to be working with the kids on Mt. Entoto because they didn’t have much regard for personal space, but God started teaching me a pretty good lesson there—to be okay with discomfort. That’s another lesson I’m still learning and I’m thankful God is teaching me that one. It’s not something I’m thrilled to learn because it means I have to continue pushing through uncomfortable situations, but I know God will grow my patience and give me a desire to be fully engaged in any situation. I’ve already seen Him work through me and begin to change my heart in that regard.
I’m not sure if this is gonna end up being just another blog post about how all the hard stuff we go through is actually a blessing, but I do know that that cliché has turned out to be pretty true for me during this mission trip. This journey certainly hasn’t been easy, but it has been good and so worth it. I’ve embarrassed myself and stuck my foot in my mouth. I’ve been unbelievably frustrated with ministry, circumstances, and myself. I’ve been corrected and had my pride challenged, which is not easy at all. I’ve had to deal with stuff in front of my teammates that I didn’t want to deal with. I’ve learned some hard lessons. But God is shaping me through everything I’m experiencing. And it’s really cool to see that He is trusting someone as flawed and weak as me to be a vessel of His love. He is strong through my weakness.
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2 Corinthians 12:9
