Africa Recap – letter style.
Hey Team!
Things are awesome! I'm loving the Race! Enjoying the process more than ever, well… actually enjoying the process is a more accurate statement. 😉 The past month in Cambodia has been my favorite month so far and I feel the best is yet to come… I feel life is like that in general and I am understanding "the best is yet to come" more and more on this journey.
My team is so great!!! Seriously, we are not just teammates, but friends and becoming more and more like sisters. 🙂 Being intentional with one another and focusing on friendship has been a big focus for us this month.
Halfway there, CRAZY!!! But, happy too. Excited about the next 6 months and looking forward to the end. Living out one of the many oxymorons of God. Here and there, rejoicing in both. "An oxymoron of God" has become a common phrase for me lately; my appreciation of the mystery of the most Holy is growing… I lean not on my own understanding and I grow in my appreciation of Him. 🙂 I can see why it's a prayer of Paul's in Ephesians 3, for to appreciate the mystery for me is to know more His love for me… and everyday it feels more like the stuff made of fairy tales, those stories and feelings you long for as a little girl, but in real life. So yeah, I'm good. 😉
We leave in the morning to start our travel to Africa. Prayers for travel mercies!!! We bus to the Thai border, get out and cross the border by foot to start the "border crossing" process from Cambodia into Thailand. We have heard this can be rough, so praying the transition is smooth. We will get on another bus from there to take us to Bangkok, where we will fly to Kenya, 6 hr layover, then fly Kenya to Tanzania. So why not straight from Cambodia to Tanzania, one word, budget. Lol. This is the cheaper route.
Biggest prayer need right now, money. My final financial deadline is in 30 days, March 1st, and I need $3,500. I trust God will provide, so I've got that all-surpassing peace. 🙂
Alright, it's 3:30 am and I still have to pack to get ready for our 6:30 am leave-out. Nice thing about living out of a backpack, packing's pretty easy and at this stage in the game, it's becoming a science.
Big hugs and lots of love to you,
Monica
~~~Look closely… The top of Mt. Kilimanjaro!~~~
TANZANIA
Jambo!
We're in Tanzania!!! We're staying the night in Dar es Salaam and taking a 10 hr bus to Arusha tomorrow. My ministry local is 2 hrs from Mount Kilimanjaro! We are staying in a house, which is good since most of my team sent their tents home after ant and termite infested Thailand. God is answering our prayers! We are working with a church here doing door to door evangelism and helping with their women, children, and youth ministries. I gave the message Sunday morning! Was on 1 Corinthians 13 and "going out in love."
~~~Shelli's bus buddy~~~
Prayers over my team and Team Agape who we are serving with this month. Four girls are very sick and are being taken to the hospital. Prayers of healing over them and protection and health and wellness over all of us. Thank you!
We have felt your prayers! Thank you! All of the girls' tests came back negative and they did not have to stay overnight! They are back and are resting and will be back to ministry by tomorrow! Sickness couldn't hold them down!
Praise The Lord! Twenty-one people have prayed to receive Jesus Christ in two days! One man I witnessed to and prayed with, his name is John. God also healed a woman's body pain. She couldn't stretch out her arms and after we prayed, she started throwing them out away from her body and laughing. God is able! The enemy is resisting, so continued prayers of mental strength and health over us.
~~~My sweet, little friends from our children's ministry.~~~
What a month!!! We have been doing door to door evangelism and talking to whomever we see on our path. One man, Joseph, was sitting under a tree by the road watching his flock in the field nearby. We approached him to speak with him. He took off his hat and told us he was ready to hear the word of God. So beautiful.
~~~Serving God and loving life!~~~
So…. my squad is stuck at the Tanzania/Malawi border. The border has closed for the night and we are stuck here, in a roach infested bus I might add. It's 9:50 pm and we can't cross until 8 am. Prayers for protection over us, our bus, our stuff, and for favor over our border crossing tomorrow!
Love and hugs!
Monica
~~~Our squad's two night stay in a church in Tanzania as we came together in prep to head to Malawi. The tents were needed because the mosquitos are so bad at night!~~~
MALAWI
Hello my beloved Team! We made it safely into Malawi, no problems! We've been here for a couple of days and I love it. I miss you all and I'm doing amazing! God is doing so many amazing things in me and my squad!
We are headed to Senga Bay, Malawi on beautiful Malawi Lake to work with a ministry that is building up a Bible school there. They are involved in many things, but I think what we are going to be doing mostly is construction. There is a passport team already there that we are going to be working with. Twenty-five 18-23 yr olds that are spending 3 months in that area. Passport is another AIM missions program. So it is gonna be a full house. My team is working with a mixed (guys and girls) team for the first time and we are really excited. We are tenting, having to carry our drinking/usable water, and the lake just very well may be our showering accommodations. When we tented in Thailand it was pretty crazy with the termites and ants and of the like. Oh!!! And it's rainy season. Soooooo, prayers over all of that.
Malawi is a small country bordering Tanzania and Mozambique. Looks like we will not be going to Mozambique at all, so route change there. The people here are beautiful, laid-back, and friendly. I'm loving it!!!
Prayers into our month, our ministry, my team, my squad, health and wellness, protection from spiritual attacks, and good lake water! Also, parents have an option to join us for a week in Romania, and my mom is planning on coming. Prayers over her! I am stoked!!!!
Prayers over funds. The deadline was extended to April 1st! Praise! I am $1,600 from being fully funded. I know it's coming in!!! God wants me here.
Encouragement: I want to encourage you to listen to the Spirit and pray as you feel led. Reading, pausing, listening, and praying into how you feel led. I've found it helps me get quiet and tune in to the Holy Spirit, and many times helps me feel closer to God in my prayers. We are all different parts of the body with different gifts and God uses us differently in our prayer lives and our ministry.
I miss your faces, your voices, your laughs, your looks, and your hugs! An abundance of blessings over you!
Big hugs!!!! ~ Monica
~~~My friends at the lake.~~~
We are doing construction and painting this month, helping grow the Bible school that the missionaries here have been called to start. They are amazing "ground-breakers" for the Kingdom. They went from living in a tent with their 3 children on this land to now having a house provided by The Lord. They have amazing testimonies of provisions through prayer. Here's one: they are being GIVEN land from the Muslim chief of their community to build the orphanage/children's school of their missions vision. And in three years they have gone from being the rejected and persecuted "white people" of the village to being fought for by the people here because of the love of Jesus the people have seen in them. So awesome to be a part of!!!
The sun is intense here and we are experiencing extreme heat. Prayers for our skin and our energy. We also survived a crazy thunderstorm last night, and yes, survived is the correct word – tenting on a hillside with intense wind gusting and taking over. I have a new understanding for 'staking your claim' and 'riding out the storm.' I don't think I've ever felt as subjected to the elements as I have here, but it's causing me to pray new prayers, to pray with more authority, and to depend more heavily on God's strength. I am happy to say, the inside of my tent stayed dry and I got some sleep. I find myself praying over my things more and more, I know it's just stuff and if God asks me to surrender it, I will. What I'm learning is that God knows my heart, and so He calls me to pray and ask for His protection over myself and what He has put in my possession, and He answers my prayers, no matter how simple, no matter how small. 🙂
Lots of love, Monica
~~~Some of the most amazing sunrises and sunsets I've ever seen were in Malawi.~~~ Sunrise.
SOUTH AFRICA ~ EASTER HOLIDAY
Happy Easter week! Our Messiah has risen! Abundant love!
Praise The Lord! I am FULLY FUNDED for the remainder of the Race! Thank you SO MUCH for your support and your prayers!!!
We have spent the Easter holiday in Nelspruit, South Africa and it has been awesome! Truly refreshing. A gift from God. 🙂
I am doing amazing! And my team's doing great! We are leaving in the morning to head to Nsoko, Swaziland. We are at a care-point center, working in a garden (yeah, this one's new for me), painting, loving on kids, working with the discipleship team. Our area sounds pretty remote, so I'm not sure about contact availability. If you don't hear from me, that means we're "in the bush" and contact is scarce.
Last month held SO much good stuff! We were super busy last month, and God used me as a voice in our body community often. I'm hoping for a more balanced month this month to process and pray into things laid on my heart, and be a little more quiet.
We are working with a new team from our squad and I'm super stoked! I'm great friends with a couple of them and there are two married couples on this team. I'm so excited to get to know and grow closer to more of my squad-mates and to do life with "marrieds" this month! 😉
Prayers over all.
I hope you are well, and that you are having an amazingly blessed season! A "3:20" season! ;)))
Love and big, big hugs~m
SWAZILAND
We're here! Prayers for unity within our teams and for God to give us His heart for Nsoko. We're working at care-point centers doing feeding programs for hungry children. Unemployment, poverty, hunger, and HIV+ are all extremely high here. Prayers for us to be present, sensitive to the Spirit, and to love well.
~~~My playful buddies at our main care-point.~~~
We heard about what happened in Boston. We've been praying for the city and our nation. It's humbling how we feel the pain, though we're not in the U.S. We're connected as countrymen, as a people group; we're connected through the human spirit. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." Matthew 5:4. Comfort, peace, strength, forgiveness, healing, hope, and love. ~Monica
Well folks, we're headed to Europe, and I have surely left a piece of my heart in Africa, and in particular Swaziland. The words to best describe me in Swazi were content and satisfied. I dropped off the Internet map almost completely for the month, but it was because I didn't want to tap into any other place but where I was.
I continue to feel called back to the states, but I feel God will allow me to visit Africa from time to time to refuel me. I loved the simplicity of life; how we as people were each other's entertainment, and how everyone was glad to see you, especially the children-quick to wave, smile, and RUN to give you a hug! Ahhhh, I miss it already. 🙂 Granted, I've been told that we had really good countries in Africa; that there are parts of Africa that are much rougher and harder to be in, but that is not the Africa God chose to show me.
This was a month of loving on children and working with the care-points to help feed them and disciple them. For many of the kids, the two meals they got at the care-points was the only food they got. They would get breakfast and lunch and a to-go plate to take home for dinner. Porridge for breakfast, rice and beans for lunch and dinner; ALWAYS rice and beans, everyday. And they were happy to get it, pushing in line, as kids do, wanting to get their portion. They delighted in our presence, and we sang, laughed, played, and loved. Some of the children's parents left early and came home late everyday to get work, so in their parents sted, we held them and gave them our attention. It was enough that we were just there.
At the team house, we cooked together, played cards together, cleaned together, worshipped together, laughed together, ate together, shared stories together, worked together, exercised together, rested together, were silly together. Community at it's best. On our first day off, we didn't care about getting Internet or going to the store, and it was great! One of my best days off! We enjoyed each other. I loved it; I was so satisfied.
So, that's it for Africa!….Na-na, Na-na-na, Hey! Hey!…at least for now. 😉
Next… Europe!
Then, HOME!
Onward and upward, going from glory to glory! ~m
