Life outside Dar es Salaam, Tanzania is moving slowly. We've been told that sometime soon we'll do some door-to-door and hospital prayer ministry. Since being here we've really just spent some time with the pastor and his family along with visiting the home of his neighbor and her children, encouraging and praying for them. Paul has spoken at two church services this week, and the whole team attended the church's prayer service last night…which was really, really good. A woman walking by (with her baby strapped to her back) came in to see what was happening, and stayed with us through the end….so awesome to get to see that.
But the downtime has been really, really solid for me. A LOT of reflection happening in my head as we near the end. We're coming up on our last month. So much has happened. I haven't really been able to process it much throughout the year…and as someone who tends to get over-sentimental, I'm starting to think a lot about what I experienced, what I didn't, what God said and what He didn't, what I learned and how I've grown. I'm thinking a lot about the people I've spent this year with, and realizing I spent nearly every single day with them for close to a year, and soon, very, very soon, we'll be back home, spread across the U.S….not meeting to discuss the day and our issues each night. Not sharing inside jokes. I'm going to miss them. I think about my family and friends in the States. And I'm thinking about the racers about to leave in the next few weeks and months. As the senior racers, the "experienced" ones (when did THAT happen?) there is so much I want to tell them…but most of it I can't, because telling them isn't as helpful as them simply experiencing it blind for themselves, like I did.
Future racers…I am praying for you. I think about you a lot. Whether I know you or not…you are on my heart and in my thoughts. I am so excited for you. So excited.
Anyway…that's what's going on here. A little ministry and a lot of reflection. I think this amount of downtime is an incredible gift, because it allows me to process without taking me out of ministry…and allows me to head into each day wanting to cherish it and the people I am gifted to experience it with in a way that hasn't been my habit this year. It's good. Really good.
I'm sure I'll share a lot of those reflections once I'm home. So stayed tuned. In the meantime, I'd love to share some photos taken from the window of our bus as we traveled from Uganda to Tanzania. These were all taken in Tanzania, which I had no idea was so beautiful until it hit me smack in the face just before sunset. God really knows how to make something incredibly beautiful doesn't He? And we get to see it…that's my favorite part.
