Tomorrow will mark the beginning of my third week in Livingstone, Zambia. I have tried to put off writing this update blog about my transition to the great continent of Africa because it overwhelms me to try and capture my experience thus far onto a limited page with words that fall short. But for you I sit here and make an effort.
I am living on a compound with two other teams. We are settled in the middle of a child-infested village called Marmba. The instant we step foot outside of our gate we are swarmed by the little children. They come running down the red dirt path and without hesitation reach up their arms and leap knowing we will catch them. Each morning my team leaves our compound and walks to a nearby preschool at the Marmba Centre. There we assist the teacher with lessons and entertain the little nuggets with songs and dances.
And every afternoon we take a walk to the grounds and play soccer with the children who live in our village.Those hours are spent kicking around a ball, letting the girls braid our hair, picking flowers in the cornfield, and just laughing. Its a time where these children can come and simply be children. A time when they can forget about their responsibilities at home (most of them cook, clean and are a guardian for younger siblings) and freely enjoy playing like a kid. Afterwards we tell a bible story to the crowd of smiling faces and teach about God’s unfailing love.
I love this ministry. Even though it is physically exhausting and mentally draining, my team does a beautiful job of rejuvenating my spirit everyday by pushing my focus on Jesus. I love my team. So now I am going to take time to explain who they are.
Rewind to Thailand debrief. It was then when I was told there would be team changes. For the first six months of the race I lived in insanely close community (maybe too close haha) with the same 6 indescribable people. But change happened. I now live with 7 crazy yet lovely friends I now call family. Michelle, Brian, Faithe, Henry, Ali & Krista.
New team means new team name, sowe soon settled on “Goshen”. Let me tell you about Goshen.
Goshen is a place designed for God’s chosen people. The land of Goshen was where the Israelites resided in Egypt while they were still enslaved awaiting to be set free. Then Moses came and did his thing. Ya know the whole Plague thing. I have always known this story. It is ingrained in my sunday school-minded brain. But it wasn’t until I started reading Exodus in February that I intently and intentionally studied this rich story. Before, when I thought about Moses and the Plagues, I thought of God’s power to make miracles happen. He turned a sea into blood! Miracle. He infested an entire nation with frogs, gnats, flies within moments and then by His single command they all immediately fled. Miracle. Plague after plague I saw God’s might and sovereignty displayed through His destructive power against the Egyptians.
That is what I used to think. Then God wrecked this perspective and gave me a revelation which transformed this story and the God of this story.
God’s power is not displayed through His wrath against the Egyptians, but through His mercy on the Israelites. God’s might is shown through His ability and desire to save the His people from the destruction of the plagues.
“But on that day I will deal differently with the land of Goshen, where my people live; no swarms of flies will be there, so that you will know that I, the Lord, am in this land. I will make a distinction between my people and your people. This miraculous sign will occur tomorrow.”(Exodus 8:22-23 during the plague of the flies)
That right there is mercy. That is grace. That is the gospel. This is the God we serve!
So Goshen represents the place designated for God’s chosen people, but also it is a reminder of God’s promise to protect His people from wrath. And as we move forward on this final stretch of the race, our team clings to what our team name represents. God’s protection and God’s love.
