Lessons that Africa taught me . . . or rather, God taught me
in Africa.
1. Safety is Relative: Security
is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of
men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than
out right exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all. -Helen
Keller.
In Africa
I have:
– ducked for cover in a restaurant
thrown into chaos due to gun shots right outside the door.
– on the advice of a homeless man,
been led by my taxi driver down a dark secluded street at night, asked to
come with him down an even darker alley- I refused- so Keet and I stayed in the
car with doors locked as he ran down the alley in search of a house owned by
the manager of the restaurant
where I left my hipsack on the back of the chair. (Luckily, he found the house
and the manager who unlocked the restaurant and I got my hipsack back with
nothing stolen out of it! And then the taxi driver returned Keet and I home!
MIRACLE!)
– gone white water rafting in the
largest class 5 rapids I have ever seen, and fell out of the raft twice.
– ridden on the back of a
motorcycle three people deep with no helmet, down the crowded and chaotic
streets of Kampala at night, a city that does not have street lights. TIA.
– ridden in multiple cars,
matatus, vehicles that you would find in a junk yard in the States with no hope
of ever passing an e-check.
– seen Mamas carrying multiple
months-old babies and small children on the back of motorcycles through crazy
traffic at varying speeds.
– ridden in a van whose fuse to
the headlights had just burnt out moments before pulling onto a busy street at
night in the pouring rain.
– ridden in multiple public busses
that drive and take corners at insanely fast speeds and give the realistic
allusion that it could topple over any moment.
– on my first official day of ministry, found myself and one other girl riding in the back of a van with four guys who we really didn’t know and whose language we don’t speak, to seemingly the middle of no where with no phone or way to contact anyone, realizing, “Oh gosh, if they wanted to kill us they could, and the only reason I am here is because I put trust in God that AIM has put trust in our African contact, who has put trust in Pastor Elisha, who has put trust in these boys to take care of us.” That is a lot of trust down the line! But those boys turned out to be our brothers, ready to look after us and defend us against anyone!
I say this not to freak my mother out, though I am sure she
is thoroughly freaked, but to make the point that our only security in life is
that God knows where we are and God is in control. When Keet and I
were sitting in the back of that taxi in the dark alley in Tanzania, I turned to her and said,
“Do you have your running shoes on?!” and she simply replied, “God knows where
we are.” And it is truth. Security is an allusion. Go hard or go home. God’s
got you. You can trust him with your life. He knows the number of your days.
2. I do not like
pop; especially warm pop!: In Africa
you drink more than your fair share of pop because it is seen as the equivalent
of a fine wine for a prestigious guest, or a glass of sweet tea for the visitor
of a southerner; you simply cannot be a guest and go without it.
3. Perfect Love: I got a glimpse of how Jesus feels when people reject him and he continues to love them. I had to learn how to love even when I was not loved in return. I had to learn how to “pray for your enemies and bless those who persecute you.” This is probably one of the hardest and most humbling lessons I have learned thus far on the World Race.
4. Poverty is not
the enemy and wealth is not the solution: There are many ways that the
African people are richer than many in the U.S.A. Their lives are simple;
their joy, real; their faith tangible; their love and generosity, immense.
Their lives are uncomplicated by greed and want. They rely on God for their
very basic needs. They call on him and he answers. He cares for them. They see
God move in their lives with visible answers to their prayers. Something we lack
in the self-sufficient USA.
Giving the people in these 3rd world countries more “stuff” or
trying to “westernize” them is not the answer. When you give them Christ, not
only does he give them a hope for the future, but he provides all their basic
needs as well. I have seen him provide hope, love, peace, food, money, healing
etc. My faith has increased and my life become richer from the time I have
spent with my African family.
5. God changed the
whole trajectory of my life: I came on the World Race thinking I would
spend my life living in voluntary poverty as a foreign missionary nurse, I just
didn’t know in which country. I was expecting God to tell me where on the World
Race. But God has been speaking something different to my heart recently. In
relation to the preceding point, God has broken my heart for people in the 1st
world; people who are materially rich, but spiritually poor and eternally
dying. God has given me a new vision and completely changed my desires. I
desire to awaken and revive the church of the 1st world and to start
a business that will fund mission projects carried out by missionaries in the 3rd
world. Foreign missions will always be a part of my life and heart, but I do
not see God leading me there full time as of now. THAT IS A HUGE REVELATION FOR
ME, those that know me, know this. And it is not a desire I could have ever
conjured up on my own. It is truly God given.
6. Solitude: Loneliness is inner emptiness. Solitude is inner fulfillment. Solitude is not just about being silent all the time but knowing when to speak, what to speak and what not to speak. Do not offer the sacrifice of fools (ref. Eccl 5:1-3 and Matt 17:1-13) The sacrifice of fools is: humanly initiated religious talk. In other words, draw near to God and listen! God has been convicting me this year that sometimes I speak and use the phrase: “God said . . .” or “God told me . . .” before I have heard all God has to say on a particular issue. He is teaching me to be silent and listen and not speak until he has told me the full picture. I need not be hasty, but rather need to slow myself down and listen.
7. Simplicity: God does not call everyone to a life of complete self abasement and asceticism. Rather I have learned that God is calling us to live in Simplicity. Simplicity is based on three truths:
1. Everything you have is a gift from God.
2. Everything you have is cared for by God.
3. Everything you have is available to be used by the community of believers for God’s glory.
As I begin to build my life on these principles, I am freed to give of whatever I have, knowing it is not mine, but was entrusted to me to steward it, and knowing that God will care for all my needs. I need not hoard. I need not be selfish. Other principles: Cut out all things in your life that breed addiction. Live as not to oppress anyone.
8. Submission:
The body of Christ is called to have the mind of Christ- a mind of submission.
Jesus was God but humbled himself, submitting himself to death on the cross.
Likewise, we as the body of Christ need to submit to one another. This is not
just talking about adhering to a “pecking order,” but all members of the body
of Christ submitting to one another out of love. Wives to husbands. Husbands to
wives. Children to parents. Parents to children. Etc. What is Submission? Biblical
submission is thinking of other people’s needs ahead of your own. It is crazy
how when trying to actively practice submitting my will under the will and
needs of others, I recognize how incredibly selfish I am. My first inclination
is always towards what I want. Thankfully by the grace and Spirit of God I can
recognize this tendency before I act on it. But then I am faced with a
completely new challenge. I then have the choice to act on that selfish
tendency or to submit and this is not always and easy choice.
9. Beauty is most
important: Men and women are created in God’s image. We are both image
bearers of God. Men display the adventurous, warrior spirit of God. Women
encapsulate the tenderness, compassion and beauty of God. I had no real idea
how deeply rooted this idea of beauty was in my heart. God showed me in Africa that the core desire of my heart is to unveil this
beauty to the world around me. Our world settles for a cheap imitation beauty
that makes lofty promises and always disappoints. I desire to restore beauty in
this fallen world; God’s beauty, an unfading, radiant beauty that gives life
and rest to those who are touched by it.
10. I want to take
care of myself: Health goes far beyond just wanting to be a size 4. At
the beginning of my time in Africa God freed me from the bondage of disordered
eating and distorted body image. This was the first step in learning about my
inner beauty. And after many months of needless, nutrition less carbs,
inactivity, and pop- I found myself much more sluggish and unhealthy
physically, emotionally and spiritually. They all work together. I left Africa with a stronger desire to take care of myself and be
the best version of me that I can be; strong and healthy. I have challenged
myself to not put things in my body that has zero nutritional value, and
likewise not to put anything in my mind, before my eyes or ears that has zero
emotional or spiritual value.
11. We have
freedom in Christ, but sometimes he calls us to lay our freedom down:
Many times in Africa the Spirit had to remind
me that the joy of the Lord is my strength. The truth is, especially in Uganda, I just
didn’t enjoy what we were doing. By month three I was tired of wearing a skirt
and being caught up in the legalism that is not Christ but religion. I didn’t
feel like I could fully be myself or express myself the way that I desired. But
as we were debriefing with our squad parents Rozy said,
“It sounds like you had some rights and
freedoms that you needed/ were asked to lay down. God is bigger than us and can
definitely work outside the little boxes we shove him into, but you must also
remember that God is bigger and can definitely work from inside those boxes
too. Just because how they do things is not how we would prefer to do things,
does not mean God isn’t in them. We have freedom in Christ to eat, drink, wear
what we want, but as Christ’s ambassadors sometimes he asks us to lay those things
down for the sake of others. Jesus is the ultimate example. He had all rights
and freedoms and was fully God, but he laid it all down to be obedient to
death. We are to follow his example“.
**photos by myself and Jeanne Bensch
