Here is a small glimpse of what life in West Africa has looked like over the past three months. Life up close and personal, from the wow moments to the raw truth of living in other countries.
-Language barrier. Not knowing French or any of the other sixty native languages that are spoken. Hand gestures for days….
-Sickness all around you. Parasites three times, three infections, and malaria twice. Through sickness learning what true rest looks like through the Father
-Walking down the road and seeing women carry their babies on their backs with a piece of material wrapped around them
-Watching revival happen right before my eyes
-Goats, chickens, and dogs wandering the streets
-Meeting people who have never heard the Gospel and sharing Christ’s love with them for the first time
-Walking down the road and seeing women carrying everything on their heads…thinking maybe I should try that but also maybe not
-Going into a squatty potty in the middle of the night and having crickets crawl across my feet
-Walking red dirt roads through the middle of no where wondering how you got there
-Taking a shower and after completely covering your body with suds, the water goes out…do I just get out or wait and see if the water will come back on
-Scrubbing your feet each day but still coming out of the shower with dirt stains that are inevitably going to be there forever
-Watching miracles and healings take place right in front of you
-City wide black outs on a regular basis
-Cramming as many people as you can into a fourteen passenger van…twenty eight was the record
-Public bathrooms…don’t exist in Africa
-Worshiping freely in peoples homes, in peoples stores, and on the side of the road
-Public transportation…results in having one but cheek on the seat for a ten hour drive
-Loving orphans and sharing the hope of Jesus with them
-Getting to share the Gospel with over one thousand Muslim men in the ports
Life looks different on the Race but I wouldn’t trade these past three months for anything! The Lord is so good and has provided exactly what we needed at the right time and we have seen Him at work in so many different ways, it has been amazing.
