God is moving here. He’s moving in the schools, in the church, in my host family, in my team and in me. What a crazy experience to be on the front-line of it all and I can’t wait to share it with y’all!! (my southern teammates are rubbing off on me)
God’s moving in the school.
Two Fridays ago, was the last day at the school we had been teaching at and I honestly couldn’t put into words how sad I was to leave. The students and staff at this school were so incredibly thoughtful and showed us so much love and appreciation. For our last day they crammed about 60 students, 10 teachers and 9 members of my team in a small room to have a good-bye ceremony for us. We played games with students, laughed a lot, shared testimonies, taught bible stories with skits, told them about the love God had for each of them and did so much loving. At the very end, we got to tell everyone what we were thankful for and then some of the students volunteered to come up to tell us what they were thankful for. Some girls came up and told us they were thankful that we taught them about Jesus and that they loved hearing The Gospel. Even cooler, the principal told us what she was thankful for in front of everyone and said “I’m thankful that you told us about your religion and I want you guys to come back and teach the student’s more.” My face smiled along with my heart. I prayed that whole week for God to open their hearts up to what we were teaching them and oh how He did.
God’s moving in the church.
This last Sunday after pastor (our host dad) was finished preaching he called us up and had the whole church come and lay their hands on us while they prayed for strength and blessing over our team. Although we had no idea what they were praying, the Holy Spirit was so present and I could feel Him moving in the midst of us. After church, two women brought us a HUGE meal that they had prepared for us. Even though these people have barely enough food to feed their family, they prepared us a meal so they could bless us. If that wasn’t enough, another member of the church brought us close to 50 little bananas to bless us too. It’s just so crazy how we came here to serve the people in this village and in return they want to serve us too! It’s been such an amazing 3 weeks at the church and building these relationships with the members has really showed me God’s purpose of community.
God’s moving in our host family.
This past week was spent doing manual labor for the families home they are building. We mixed cement with our bare hands, laid down the cement with buckets, stained wooden doors and painted the outside of their house lime green. I honestly don’t think I have ever sweated so much in my entire life. It’s been a hard, tiring, hot week but also so rewarding. It’s so cool to be working alongside of this family and being able to bless them. This family has blessed us more than I could ever put into words. Their thoughtful acts and eagerness to always ask us how we are doing just shows Christ’s love so tremendously. This family is incredible and I feel so lucky to live with them for the next 3 months.
God’s moving in my team.
God hand-picked each of these girls who I’m living with, doing ministry with, and just with 24/7. It’s been so amazing getting to know each and every one of them and their servant hearts for our Creator. Just 3 short weeks ago, I barely knew anything about them. Now I can say, I feel like I have known them for quite some time. It’s crazy how when you are put in a situation where vulnerably and openness are unavoidable, Christ gets put in the center. We have had nights where we cry together, where we laugh together and where we are just raw with one another. It’s so cool to see God breaking down walls that we had up in the beginning and forming life-long relationships with one another. These are my sisters in Christ and I’m so excited to see how God unites our differences and gifts for His Kingdom.
Last but not least, He’s moving in me.
He’s shown me that living my life for Him is always going to be some kind of an adventure. Whether it be hopping the back of pastor’s truck not knowing where we are going, preaching at a bible study in a village or finding yourself in a sketchy hospital due to stomach pains; everyday is going to be abundant. Being thrown in a place of abandonment and putting all your trust in The Lord has been nothing short of rewarding. Although, I’ve realized it’s not always going to be rainbows and butterflies, there will be tough times too. But in these tough times is where I see my Lord the most and His hand in the whole process.
He has shown me that life to the fullest is out there and going wherever He has called me is more fruitful than anything I could’ve ever planned for myself. Giving my life up to my Creature is a life with no regrets, and that is a life I want. The God I serve, it not a boring God.
-Bethany
