Guess Who’s Back, Back Again…
I’ve let this whole blogging thing get away from me. Not because I haven’t had anything to blog about. I’ve actually had several things I could be writing about, such as pig poo, our family host and their ministry in Zambia, homesickness, personal growth, adventures, and more. So here’s to blogging again! I love you all and want to inform you what’s going on in this crazy life of mine and keep my supporters up to date on what exactly their funds are taking part in.
So here we are in Malawi! We arrived yesterday after a 20-hour bus ride. It’s crazy how all of this feels so normal now. New country, long bus rides, airports, new cultures, cold bucket showers, tents, goodbyes, different ministries, and the list continues. Things that were so foreign, intimidating, and uncomfortable are now normal daily life. I’m starting to see where re-entry back home in December, while being something we are beginning to long for, will actually be a huge challenge. But I’m not going to get ahead of myself here. We still have 5 months on the field left. I’m actually going to rewind a bit back to Albania and work my way up to now in multiple blogs.
Albania, the Month Famous for Pig Poo
We were serving at Lightforce International where we prepped and repaired for summer camps, which are taking place as I type. The 2500 kids that will be attending the camps over the summer are what kept us motivated during our month there. It was sometimes hard when you can’t witness that in the moment when you are painting fences, cleaning out drains, and shoveling pig poo in the heat of the sun. We had to remind ourselves daily that we were doing the things needed for these camps to continue in order to reach these kids. It was a good reminder that we may not be the long-term missionaries in these countries, but while reaching the nations ourselves, we are also equipping the long-term missionaries to continuing doing what they do.
You probably want to hear a little more about the pig poo, or maybe not. Okay, I’ll tell you. One way Lightforce keeps things running financially is by raising and selling pigs. We played a very crappy part in this, literally. There was a section of fencing that needed some attention. Where pigs once sun bathed and socialized was now nothing but a pool of knee deep pig poo. Our job was to clear out the poo and bring this area back to its good ole’ days. Sounds like a glorious mission, right? Okay, maybe not so much. However, it was a humbling mission. It’s sometimes easy to think in those moments, “I did not sign up for this”, when in all reality, it’s exactly what I signed up for. A life of sacrificing my plan and ideas of what serving the Lord looks like and getting down to what it really looks like; being willing to do whatever the Lord ask when He ask. It’s simple. We always think about the bigger picture like being face-to-face with orphans, leading someone to the Lord, seeing someone healed, etc… then we miss the smaller things that it takes to get there, like shoveling pig poo.
To Be Continued…
I don’t want to overwhelm you with a lot of words so stay tuned for part two of Albania: Receiving the Torch
