Senga Blues

Typically, at the end of every month I am excited. Excited to look back and see how much bigger God has gotten to me, excited that it’s only T-minus so many more days until I’m face to face with the loved ones I left back in Florida, more than anything excited to move on to the next country and our next phase of ministry. The end of December was very hard for me to be excited because I knew I would be leaving a part of my heart in Senga Bay. That never feels too good.

 

When we arrived at our ministry site the beginning of December with Team DR, I felt God had called me home. It was a weird but familiar feeling, and I thought it best to just keep my mouth shut because it sort of scared the crap out of me. Two days passed and I shared with my team something ‘weird’ was happening to me. Four out of seven Team Haven members, myself included, are beach bums from Florida, California and Hawaii. I joked with them on the way to our ministry site on Lake Malawi that I would understand if they did not want to continue on with the Race at the end of our month, due to the fact that our ministry site was so incredible, nautical and right up their alleys. I was certainly caught off guard after only being there two days and realizing I may have been prophesying over myself and not them. This was all before I had time to fall in love with the focus of our ministry, and our incredible host family. Fast forward 30 days…there is a piece of my heart floating around somewhere in Lake Malawi near Senga Bay.

 

The Matthee family consists of a Daddy, Mommy, and three precious children. They are from South Africa but have been missionaries throughout the Southern Africa region for the past few years. They have lived at Senga Bay for a year now. I was thankful to God that we were going to be able to spend the holidays, Christmas and New Year’s, with a family. Maybe this would help us get through the holidays without ours’. I know on both ends we never expected to become our own family so quickly. I have often wondered if I were to become a full-time missionary, submit to and serve a husband while raising children and serving a community in a foreign field…what does that really look like? God gave me a front row seat this month. I got the opportunity to observe and learn from a family who are nothing short of saints and who will always remain dear to me, even if Senga Bay is not in fact part of the future God has for me.

 

The Matthees’ vision is a long-term, relational approach for the lodge they operate on the bay. A vacation destination smack in the middle of a Muslim community, feet from the local mosque, their family are often the targets of persecution from locals, yet they persevere and continue to reach out in grace and love. One of the projects we began working on at the beginning of the month took off and looks amazing now. Many hours were spent converting the second story of a conference room on the grounds into a coffee shop/Christian bookstore. Double wide doors open out on to a balcony overlooking the bay and surrounding mountains. It is absolutely gorgeous, and its purpose is to serve as a place where anyone can walk in to relax and learn for themselves what they want to know about Christianity. No pressure, just a place to hang out and be poured in to. Literally and figuratively.

View of Senga Bay from the balcony of Common Grounds, the coffee shop/bookstore

For those that don’t know this about me…coffee shops and books are two of my absolute favorite things, and with experience as a professional barrista, cooking in various cafes, and retail coordinator/manager…I can’t help but see some potential in a future back at Senga! Certainly no plans have been made – 5 months left on the Race as a team leader is quite enough of a load for me now, it is just incredible how God pokes the heart and shows us our desires in front of our very eyes. That they can and will be used to bring the Kingdom.

 

The other project of the month that has a piece of my heart, but not so much progress at the moment is a boat ministry we were hoping to have up and running by the time we left. The Matthee’s acquired about a 30 foot wooden boat, through a series of miracles, and have a goal to restore it fully to use as a vessel to evangelize the local islands surrounding Senga Bay. I was officially on ‘Boat Crew’ duty for the month, but our hired workers never really showed up to get the project rolling for us. Our crew worked more around the lodge on random projects, or lending hands to the coffee shop. Prayerfully, other mission teams will visit Senga and complete our initial tasks.

 

I want to close with a tremendous thank you to my supporters. Your prayers, your generosity, your understanding of the importance of furthering the gospel for His glory continue to make this world a much bigger and better place. You are always appreciated by me and those we get the opportunity to meet, but truly – my life changed this month. I don’t know what it means. My parents are probably freaking out after reading this – but don’t worry! I will be back in America at some point in time, and do hope to come see you before we see what God has next for me and his word.

 

Team Haven & Team Dismantle Repair saying goodbye to the Matthee’s