I just want to take some time to
share my journey with you…
Two years ago, I stepped onto soil
of a country that I never thought I would ever visit. The Lord allowed me to
graduate college early and head to the fore
ign land of Kenya to be with His
people. That three months changed my life and before the end of the trip the
Lord made it very clear to me that I would be returning to Kenya to do
something more for His Kingdom. At that time, I had no idea what that would be,
but that I was called to be a voice for the forgotten and to not stand still
but do something for a group of people that lost everything in a violent
election in 2007, the Internally Displaced People (IDP).
God put a vision on my heart, to
see the lives of these IDP’s transformed by Him and His love, for them to have
jobs and ways of feeding their family, and for them to be self-sustaining. Fortunately,
I had three other people who felt called to do the same thing (it’s always
better to do things together).
The next 8 months the four of us
partnered with Adventures In Missions to come up with a plan on how to help
these people. During this time the Lord made this vision His own. Our team grew
and our plans changed. We had come to the conclusion that if God doesn’t step
in and take it, that there would be no way that this would happen. We were much
too small to be doing something so big. But that’s exactly where He wanted us:
completely dependent on Him. It was His! During this time the Lord gave us
ideas on how to raise the money we needed to accomplish the things that He laid
on our hearts. We traveled the US talking about the IDP’s and what God wanted
to do in this area. We hosted five 5K races and one auction and raised over
$40,000 toward our project. And that was completely t
he Lord because none of us
had ever hosted a 5K or auction before! It’s crazy how when the Lord wants
something done, He will get it done! And the crazy things is He chooses to use
us to do it!
Finally after a year and a half I
got to return to the country that I love. The IDP’s were finally getting help
and God was in the midst of it all. I got to be a part of starting a fellowship
with the people of Camp Vision and in bringing them together. I got to see what
unity in the camp looks like and how the Lord truly was worshiped. The vision
was actually happening. And the dream
that the Lord put on my heart was playing out right in front of my eyes. When I
look at me and the team, I often can’t believe that God would choose to use six
twenty-something’s who have NO IDEA what they are doing; but that’s the cool
part, we did nothing, God did it all.
I remember one afternoon it began
to rain so hard that I ran into Sarah’s tent, an older woman in the camp. Her
whole family was squished inside this tiny space to keep from the downpour
outside. She had a small fire going to keep us warm. There were chickens
roaming the tent and pecking at my feet. The rain was dripping through the
sheets of plastic that made up her home, and yet when I looked at her she was
just smiling and so content. And as I’m sitting there having no way to
communicate with her, I just smiled because as dirty and uncomfortable and
crazy as this situation was, it seemed so normal. I was sitting in her shoes
for just one moment and was able to experience a part of her life. And I just took
in a deep breath and thanked the Lord.
Throughout this entire process the
Lord has been teaching me and showing me that 
Kenya is not my identity, that
what I do for the Kingdom doesn’t define me. He is the one that defines me and
I am called not to be a missionary, but I am called to be a daughter of Christ.
At the end of the day, helping the people in Kenya is a good thing but it’s not
THEE thing. The Lord has been continually taking me into a deeper, more
intimate place with Himself, and the things that I do for Him are just an
outpour of the love that He has for me.
After coming home from Kenya for
Christmas, there were a lot of changes at AIM, with leadership, with the team,
and with the project itself. The Lord had shown me the hard realities in living
in community and what living in a foreign country entails. And it is definitely
not easy. In preparing to return to Kenya, the team met in Georgia for further
debrief before we headed out. Leadership decided that we needed to stay longer
than expected to process what life in Kenya was like and to deal with and
discuss how to move forward in a healthier manner. During this time of
processing, I was able to process some of my experiences in Kenya and decided
that I was not going to return to Kenya with the team. The Lord spoke very clearly that it was
time for me to step away from AIM. As hard as it was to make this decision,
because Kenya is where my heart is, I knew that this was the healthiest
decision for me. As I let go of something the Lord put on my heart two years
ago I was again reminded to hold loosely to the things God gives you, because
they are ALL His. This vision wasn’t mine, it was His, and even though I would
have loved to see the end of it He gently reminded me that maybe it was my role
to be obedient and get it started.
It’s always scary to me to not know what’s next, but I think that’s
where God likes to keep me! I know that this next season of my life will be a
time of rest and healing and a time to dream again for the Kingdom… and that
makes me really excited!
But right now I want to take time
to thank YOU. You have been such a blessing to me and not just because you
donated to me financially and prayerfully, but because you see that God is
working and you believe that He can change lives, and you took action. Without
you, the Kenya Initiative would not exist. Without you, the people of Camp
Vision would still be forgotten. Without you there would be no water, and
businesses would have never been started. You have not only changed my life,
but also the lives of 50 families in the camp. You have made a difference in
this world! So, thank you for supporting me both financially and prayerfully.
Thanks for investing your time and money in the things that God is doing.
Thanks for being a change in this world and especially Kenya.
I know that I will be back in Kenya
someday, because my heart is there. And I know that God has called me to go
wherever He wants me. I hope that whatever is next that you would be a part of!
Please be praying for me in my transition. That God would unleash His love
unlike ever before. Pray that God would reveal what’s next and that I would be
patient in the time being.
Thank you for your continued prayer
and
I appreciate your generosity so much throughout these two years. The team is
still heading back to Kenya to continue the projects that
we started. Please keep them in your prayers also, and check out their blog: www.kenyainitiative.org. I will keep
you posted on what God is doing in my life and what He has for me next. But in
the meantime, I really want you to know how much I love you. Please keep in
touch!
My new blog that I will be posting on is: http://jennaghizas.tumblr.com/. Please subscribe here to get updates on what’s to come!
