Oh Africa! Church here is great! Its been fun to lead worship in church and learn Swahili songs. We dance and clap and just have a riot. No wonder people in African church are so joyful and smiley! They sing sweet songs and have a ton of fun! My favorite song is this one that talks about searching for God and then we all run around looking under books, benches, behind us and all over. Its just really fun to act it out and be silly. Its fun to get creative and find a new place to “search”.
I also preached last Sunday about thoughtlife and discipline. Drawing alot from Hebrews 12 about how no discipline seems good at the time, but in the end it pays off. I also talked about how to renew your mind and not believe lies. You need to fight them with truth and who God says you are. But it starts with having a right view of God too. How do you see him? A punisher? A friend? Someone who is distant? Disappointed in you? Alot of times a person’s view of God can be determined alot by their view of their earthly dad or parents. Not always, but sometimes. I also talked about outlook and perspective. Is the glass half full or half empty? Because God wants it overflowing! But when its overflowing do you see blessing or do you see the mess and how you’ve got to clean up the water spilling out off the glass?
I’ve never preached in church before and I think it went alright. I wasn’t nervous and just went up there and spoke. Afterwards I didn’t feel like it was super impacting or anything, but my teammates reminded me that I was obedient to what God had given me. Its interesting though because I’ve had it prophesied over me that I’ll have some kind of speaking gift, but I was always told that I wasn’t ready yet and it would happen at the right time. Am I walking into a new season? Am I ready now? I guess so. I just think its always neat when something God tells you about the future comes to pass. I love it.
After the service, a girl named Rose (name changed) came up to me and said she wanted to talk to me about something. We arranged for a meeting the next day. She came over and told me how the sermon really impacted her and thats why she wanted to talk to me. She’s 20 years old and lives at home with her mother, but the problem is that her mother beats her. She has no job and no family that she could go live with to get away. I’ve worked with lots of high school age girls in my cell group back home, but I’ve never had to deal with domestic abuse before. I’m just barely two years older than her! What comfort or help can I offer her? This is way out of my league! I know that things are culturally different here too, so what do I say? I prayed and asked God to give me wisdom and tell me what to say.
We began to talk about forgiveness and I asked her if she could forgive her mother. She said yes and then I asked her to pray a prayer of blessing over her as well, which she did. I told her to keep praying for her mother and keep showing her the love of Jesus because that is what causes change. Also that she needs to hold onto her dreams and stand up for herself as well, but to do so in love. I prayed over her and we talked some more.
After awhile I went to get Emmy, Patrick’s wife because even after I leave, Emmy will still be here and be able to help Rose. So we heard more of the story and Emmy has alot of wisdom, so I figured she’d have some great things to say. The cool thing was that alot of the things she said were what I had already been talking to Rose about! With Emmy there I heard more of her story and found out that there’s more to it than meets the eye and that its definitely taking two to tango. We prayed some more and Rose left. Hopefully she will come and visit us again.
I learned that God can always give you the words to say when you ask him and never doubt what he’s given you to speak about. When you’re obedient and open your mouth to speak, God will definitely use you.
