I don’t really know how to write this, so I am just going to say it the way it comes into my head. I have been in Jefferys Bay, South Africa for exactly a week today. I want to be posting about how things have gotten so much better and I am loving life, but that isn’t the truth. Though life here has gotten distinctly better, I am still not in a good place. I am already homesick. I want my dog, I want the love seat at my house, and I want to be listening to ESPN when I am getting ready in the morning, but I can’t. It is the little stuff that I miss and I want.
I will also say that things have gotten better. I love the ministry we are doing. It is great. This week my team and I are working with the Global Leadership Academy. This is the only high school in the Township of Jefferys Bay. Before it was founded two years ago there weren’t any high schools in the area. Not only is this school educating students but it is also hard reaching the youth for Christ. The school uses government curriculum, but it was started by a Christian organization and has only Christian teachers. The teachers are able to lean into the lives of the students and they are being saved. This is absolutely amazing.
We are helping them build their school and the dormitories (AKA Log homes/ Log cabins). This is ministry that I love and am comfortable doing. In fact, I was so comfortable doing it that I asked God to put me out of my comfort zone and I ended up on top of ladders in questionable positions. It was great.
However, it still isn’t easy being away from home. Living in close quarters with people is hard. My team and I all share a small space and we share the main quarters with another team of 7, and our squad leader Alysa, and the four other people who live in this house. This is a huge struggle for me. Finding my own time and space isn’t easy. Falling asleep with people talking or watching a movie or laughing for hours is not easy. I feel drained most of the time and am constantly seeking God to sustain me. He has, He will continue to, and I will make it through this.
My squad leader tells me it will get easier. Other alumni racers tell me it will get easier. I have to believe them. God has promised me and my family that he will give me what I need to finish this. He will. I trust Him for that, but the race it not easy.
I wanted to post this blog telling you just how worth it doing the hard things God asks you to do is. I wanted it to be because everything is great! I want you to know that even though it is still hard, it is so worth it. God is showing me more and more of him. My family is being changed because I took this step of faith. My team is growing and my squad is moving for God. It is not easy. It is still hard, but I wouldn’t undo it. I will keep pushing on. I encourage you to do the same.
Do what God calls you to do even when it’s hard. I can’t promise that it will get easier anytime soon, but I promise that it is worth it and it will continue to be worth it.
