It’s month 5. currently sitting in my bed, nestled underneath a turquoise mosquito net, listening to the crickets outside, and the stillness of the Malawian night.
Rewind to month 4; Honduras. Current thoughts:
Overall, how was it?
What did the Lord teach me?
Missing Pastor, Pastora, and Roes, wondering how they are.
It was the last month Mamacitas (my first team) were together; how did we grow and what did we learn from one another?
It was hundo p. the most difficult month so far. The combination of intense spiritual warfare, my favorite holiday away from my family, choosing and walking in difficult obedience, and adjusting to living with 8 humans in a church, instead of the past two months living with 34.
It was clear the moment we arrived in Urraco that the enemy did not want us there. He used tactics to instill fear, insecurity, and demotivation. Pastor Rony spoke to us about the spiritual warfare he experiences on a constant basis. Throughout our time here I struggled with the feeling of heaviness and pressure on my chest brought on by the battle of doing the Lords work and being attacked by the enemy. Pastor spoke a ton of light and prophecy into each one of our lives, and reminded us that Jesus already won, the Kingdom is victorious, and the enemy has no hold or authority over who we are in Jesus.
It was also the first month we were completely immersed in someone’s family, their day to day life, and the community in which we were living and doing ministry in. Pastor told us we were an answered prayer for him and his church, but we always went to sleep with full hearts overflowing with the servanthood received from everyone we encountered. We ate every meal with Pastor and his family, and were often invited over for supper to different homes in the community. Every meal was hours of family time; reflecting on what Jesus had been teaching us, laughing at my attempt to speak Spanish,— 4 months in Central America and I still struggle—and lots of truth and lessons from Pastor & Pastora. I laughed my way through learning how to make tortillas and one of my favorite meals; baleadas (beans, cheese, sour cream, all wrapped in tortillas). Our team played soccer- not very good- but we at least tried to keep up with the kids. We put on drama’s at schools, told Bible stories, and did everyday life with most members of the church, our neighbors, and majority of the community.
Living in a church was also a first on my journey so far! A large part of our ministry was evangelizing/ inviting people to service (3 times a week), setting up and preparing for service, and preaching and sharing our testimonies. In my mind, this is what fame would feel like; everyone knowing who you are, where you live, being watched and sought out. All of the attention made us feel important, and incredibly loved, but it also made it difficult to have time to ourselves to reflect and sit with the Lord. Learning to adapt to our circumstances, knowing God doesn’t work within our confined boxes, but will move in your life and heart no matter our circumstance.
Our last Saturday night service we held church outside in Pastors neighborhood. Amanda and Amber lead worship, Mary preached, and we all performed the “Everything Skit”. I was a complete mix of emotions; feeling distant from the Lord, sad to leave our family, but also anxious to leave the heaviness and move on to our next country. The girls were in the middle of singing our Good Good Father and the Lord met me right where I was. Uncontrollable tears started streaming down my face as I finally let myself feel each emotion experienced over the course of the past 4 weeks. Jesus stood in front of me and wiped away each tear. My Comforter. My Friend. My Father.
Honduras revealed how much the Lord trust me, in turn softened my heart to fully trust others, and most importantly to one-hundo p. trust Him.
As I write this and process last month while currently laying in my bed in my new home, I can’t wait to share with you all my experiences in Africa so far! Another blog coming soon!
Please comment and share what the Lord has been teaching you!
