Wow. Hey guys!
It’s been quite a long time since the last time I blogged. And so many things have happened since then, that I don’t even know where to really begin with this one. But I woke up this morning, and the Lord really put it on my heart to update you guys!
Lets see.
I will be home in 14 days. Back in the greatest country in the world. America.
Can you believe it?
It feels like I was literally just in the airport in Atlanta awaiting my flight to India back in January.
Now I have been in Africa for 3 months, and I can’t begin to tell you where my head is at.
But I will sure try.
(Be forewarned that this will be a longer blog. It’s been awhile!)
The beginning of the Race was so fresh and new. I loved it and knew that it was exactly where I was supposed to be. I was growing in ways that I had never grown before. And also in ways that I know I wouldn’t have if it weren’t for leaving home and being on the Race. Seeing the world, experiencing new cultures, living in community, and really seeing what it means to live every day with and for Christ, is something that spurs on huge amounts of growth. As well as the fact that AIM (Adventures in Missions) does an incredible job of monitoring our growth and really helping us to process and reflect on things that are happening weekly. I remember in Nepal telling my Squad Mentor Beka, “I have literally bought into everything that the World Race is, and the lengths that AIM leadership and staff goes to raise up leaders and disciples for Christ’s Kingdom.” I was sold. Because this organization is amazing. The day I started ministry in India the Lord started to refine, reroot, and change my heart. I kept journaling, “I can’t imagine what I will be like come month 11.”
The middle of the Race was really interesting. The end of Cambodia, Thailand and a bit of Albania I really really struggled. As I have written in past blogs, I struggled with homesickness. Toward the end of Cambodia, my team really started struggling in community. Community is HARD. My first team as a whole struggled quite a bit, but in Cambodia the combination of not being home for Easter and missing my family, and then a hard team dynamic just made things really difficult. That was the first time I felt like being home wouldn’t be so bad. Then Thailand started off with a new team, that I was team leading. And it started off really great. I had amazing girls on my team. But the sting of homesickness carried into that month and I really struggled. I missed my brother so much, and just missed being with my family and seeing my grandparents. Ministry was great. I will say that spiritually I grew incredible amounts. I can definitely thank my host for that. My quiet time with the Lord was amazing every single morning. Toward the end of that month I was really starting to feel a lot better about being away, and reminded about why I was on the Race. Then as we were just about to leave for Eastern Europe I got the call that my uncle Mark had passed away. Then things got harder again. In Albania a dealt with a lot of anger. Something I hadn’t experienced to that extent before. But the Lord was so good to me in it. And ministry was amazing, and it ended up being one of my favorite months. The rest of Eastern Europe had its challenges for sure. But it was great.
Now, I haven’t written a blog since I was in Bulgaria. (Crazy, I know)
So you’re probably wondering what is going on now.
IN AFRICA!
I will say, we had a debrief in Bulgaria, and I was talking to a friend who has been to Africa before and I was telling her that Africa was the reason I chose the route I did, but that I was starting to actually get anxiety about going. I was afraid of how hard I thought it was going to be. Afraid of the unknown. But let me tell you, my heart will forever be in Africa.
Zimbabwe
Swaziland
&
South Africa
Zimbabwe was amazing. It was the start of a new team. A co-ed team. Which I will say has been the most life-giving team I have been on this year. When we got into Africa initially we had done a lot of traveling to get to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. When we had arrived our host Michael welcomed us, and I cannot explain the sense of family that came from the beginning that month. We were told we were staying in town, but ended up staying out at a camp site where they have kids camp every year. We stayed in Chalets, my teammate Jordan and I put up my tent on top of our bed and it was officially named the “Bouj-Mahal”.
In case you don’t know, the word Boujie is World Race lingo for having to have things nicer than they need to be. If that makes sense. For example, because we were afraid of the massive bugs in Zimbabwe, we couldn’t just sleep on the bed. So we had to put up our tent to stay clear of the bugs. Boujie. It’s one of my favorite words now. In Zim we lived 24/7 with freaking monkeys. Which, if you follow me on Facebook or Instagram I’m sure you saw pictures or videos or at least read something about them. Wifi was awful in Zim. So it was really hard to post a lot. But we would be in our dining hall, and monkeys would come in and try to steal our food, or just reek havoc. They’re really good at that. We went to Victoria Falls for a weekend off, and they got into our house and DESTROYED it. They’re evil. If you know me at all, you know that I hate monkeys. These things were straight crazy.
Zimbabwe was amazing. The people we met, and the family it became is something I will never forget. Part of my heart will remain there. And I truly hope to go back one day.
Swaziland. Wow. Where do I begin? My parents came to visit in Swaziland! Parent Vision Trip or PVT as we call it. What an incredible experience. It was interesting and also a little nerve wracking initially seeing your parents for the first time in 10 months. But it was good. It was also so cool for them to see me in a ministry setting, but the best part was seeing them interact with the kids and see them trying to figure out how to do what I have been doing all year. Dad loved on the kids a bit, but mostly helped to put a roof on the cooking building with the other dads. And my mom just dove right in with the kiddos, taking pictures of them and then showing them how amazing they look. We all split off to different Care Points where AIM builds different schools at each and the kids go to every day to be fed. They partner with Compassion International. So for PVT we were able to go to the Care Point called Ngungwane, and play with the kids and be a part of them being fed for the day. After the parents had gone home, my team stayed near Ngungwane, and I was on the manual labor team with the married couple on my team so by the grace of God we were able to go back to Ngungwane every day and paint the building that had just been built for that Care Point.
During PVT I fell in love with a little girl at Ngungwane named Kwazi, but I call her Wazi. She and I just connected right away, and I love her like I would love my own child. So it was so sweet that the Lord ordained me to be able to spend the rest of the month back at Ngungwane because I was able to see her every day and squeeze her and play with her for a bit while doing manual labor. Gosh. The Lord continues to remind me of His sweetness last month.
I fell so in love with that Care Point that I went to AIM and asked if there was any way I could help support that Care Point specifically and the children there, and they gave me info on a woman whose church sponsors Ngungwane and how I could get in contact with her to possibly help her with support. Then one night I received a message from a girl I went to high school with who had been to that exact Care Point last year, and she went with the woman who sponsors Ngungwane. So I’m currently in the process of getting in contact with her. But the Lord continues to place it on my heart to help support, and I truly want to take a trip out to Swaziland yearly if possible to see the kids. Its amazing the ways that the Lord is moving in a place that needs Him so desperately.
And now I am in South Africa. Cape Town to be exact. Its incredible, it’s beautiful, and the Lord is using this month to remind me of what home is like. Our host has a couch and Apple TV and wifi. We are able to go to their apartment and actually sit on a couch and watch Netflix and use their wifi and it is a glimpse into what it will be like at home again. He is asking me tough questions like, “When you are able to have unlimited wifi, are you still going to make time for me?” “Are you still going to be spiritually disciplined and wake up every morning and spend that time with me. Are you going to make me a priority?” And the enemy likes to tell me that I’m going to fall right back into the world and the way I used to live my life, and the person I used to be. But I’m rebuking that lie in Jesus’ name.
The thought of home is a scary one for me at times. Africa has become a little piece of home for me. But also, the thought of not living in 24/7 community with people that know you well, and have seen you in places no one else has, the good and the ugly, is scary. Community is hard. Like, really hard. And sometimes I hate it. But lately the thought of not having this community around me always is scary. It’s also scary to think about the expectations that people have for you when you don’t necessarily have them for yourself. Like the thought of what I’m going to do with the rest of my life. I know there will come the day when someone asks, “so what’s next”? And I’m not going to have an answer for them. Because I don’t know. And in our society today, it’s looked down upon to not have a plan. The enemy loves to lie to me and tell me that I’m a failure, because I don’t have a 4-year Bachelors degree, and I don’t feel called into the field that I went to school for. I have believed the lie that I won’t find a job that I love when I get home, and that I’m unqualified for anything great.
When I started the Race I had this expectation that the Lord was going to reveal the next season of my life to me in a really radical way. That He was going to show me everything I needed to know for home, and that He would call me into this incredible new career and I would be set. But a lot of times, the expectations that we have for Him are a little ridiculous. And lately He has been asking me if I trust Him, and if I trust Him with the unknown. If I’ll walk there with Him blindly and trust that He will provide exactly what I need. And there are days that I’m super on board and do trust Him, and other days that I’m stressing out and panicking about it. Especially when I see my Squamates that know what they’re doing when they get home. But what I do know is that He is good. And that He has never let me down. So why would He choose to do that now?
14 days until I am back on American soil. I can’t explain to you how excited I am to see my brother. And how excited I am to spend the holidays with my family. To be able to sit in the living room with my parents and my brother with Christmas decorations all around, on a comfortable couch with our pup. To be able to see my grandparents again, and my cousins and uncles and aunts. I’m so excited for those things. To be reunited with my friends back home. Wow. It’s going to be sweet.
?I go back and forth every day. One day I’m excited to go home, and one day I am holding on for dear life to the year that I have spent around the world with some of the most incredible people I have ever met. It’s hard. But all seasons come to an end, and new beautiful ones begin. I know the Lord has absolutely incredible things ahead for me. It’s an exciting life with Him thats for sure.
14 days.
I’ll see you soon!
Love and Peace,
Keeley
