Expectations… such a beautiful and dangerous thing. It is beautiful to see the Lord use and alter my expectations to His glory. It is dangerous to believe that the enemy will NOT manipulate my own desires and passions into falsehood. In these short 2 weeks of ministry I have seen both realities. I can say confidently, I did not expect to witness an exorcism in the middle of Sunday morning service, to have gotten lost in the desert and to have so far 27 marriage proposals. If any of you thought the Lord does not have a sense of humor… I have story upon story to prove you otherwise.
This past week my team and I had our first full week of ministry. It was beautiful and vulnerable in every way. Our days are filled with Pre-schoolers through 12th graders; leading and teaching curriculum/bible stories. We head into each day with a schedule of what we want to accomplish … but you all know how that goes… Most of the time it’s merely just spending time loving them. We sing till we can’t anymore and play till we look like we just exited a sauna. I have come to see that these simple acts mean the greatest and can speak volimes to their little souls. Seeing their bright innocent eyes always takes me back remembering what it was like to be a child and have a child-like faith. In my own reasoning, I sometimes feel I have witnessed too much sin to ever return to that point of simplicity and pureness of thought that a child has. The fact is, I am childlike…I am currently and forevermore a child of God. I never have seen too much or done too much that I am incapable of simple innocence.
Yesterday, my team and I went on a couple home visits to our nearby village. We went from house to house trying to get to know the community from a different perspective. When we arrived at our first home there was a little old lady named Gogo who was about to go to the well to get fresh water. She saw us in the distance and immediately dropped what she was doing so she could entertain her new guests. She carefully made sure that we were properly comfortable as she unrolled individual mats for us to sit on. I began asking her questions about her life and who she was. Once the conversation was wrapped, we prayed over her and more than half of my teammates left and we ended up going to the well to gather water with her (without my translator might I add). It ended up being just Gogo, my teammate and I sitting in complete silence enjoying each other’s company. We built a tower of rocks, drew shapes in the dirt and sang hymns. In that perfect moment I was reminded that ministry is not always verbal words, sometimes it’s having the contentment of silence. It’s in the silence where you can hear Gods whisper in your soul, I strive to be so near and intimate with Christ that I can hear His quietest whispers.
I am in awe as to how the Lord has moved in my life in the few short weeks I have been here. He has grown me in vulnerability and shaped my individual gifts to the glory of His service. I thank Him for His intentionality of pursuing me day in and day out.
Prayer requests
Week 2
- Health: Though there has been improvement some are still struggling.
- Energy: Every day we go so hard with little rest. When you become a human jungle gym to dozens of little children, it’s easy to be discouraged because of being physically drained. I can say truthfully that I have been in that boat on more occasions than one.
Thank you all so much for your continuous outpouring of support. Updates and new blog posts will hopefully be uploaded every week. We are in rural Africa so WIFI is not the simplest of tasks… I will be posting vlogs as well as photos and other video’s so stay tuned! Your patience is highly appreciated.
Father,
Your will be done, nothing more, nothing less.
