For those of you who don’t already know we have officially finished our time in Africa! It is hard to believe that we are already on our last continent. Time has absolutely flown by, yet sometimes it feels like it is only passing inch by inch. After we left Europe I shared a blog that was all about what we did for ministry during our time there. I want to do the same again for Africa. I know I have shared bits and pieces of our experiences with you already, but I really just wanted to share with you exactly what we have been doing in the places we having been going. I hope that you enjoy reading about it!
We started our African journey in Zambia. We were placed in the capitol, Lusaka. It was a super busy, overpopulated city with people every where. Of all of the places we stayed or visited in Africa we faced the most adversity there. While there were most definitely some friendly faces and we did make a few good friends. We were shown what it meant to be different. We spent most of our time doing outreach in busy market places and local communities. We were blessed to be able to speak to people about Jesus and to give them back hope that many had lost. The difficulties came in the form of places that were saturated with inebriation and people who were more than a little fascinated by combination of our gender and the color of our skin. My favorite part of our month there was the last week. Instead of walking around markets and communities we got to spend our time visiting hospitals. It was difficult seeing the differences in the quality of care even between different communities in Lusaka. You could tell which communities were better off before even stepping in the door. We got the opportunity there to share the Gospel with families and just talk with them and brighten their days a little.
Our second month we were Gaborone, Botswana. It turned out to be one of my favorite months on the Race so far. We partnered with Kingdom City Church. The people were so friendly and accepted us into their family immediately and without hesitation. We had the opportunity to help with their City Youth program. It is for youth from the ages of 12-18 (but we actually had kids as young as 8). We got to spend Saturday afternoons playing games and loving them. On Sunday we would spend the day at the church helping with anything and everything from setting up to teaching Sunday school lessons to praying with people. We spent some of our weekdays doing outreach for the City Youth events and Sunday service. The rest of our time was fellowship! I lost count of the number of games we played and movies we watched. Anything from Dutch Blitz to Monopoly as well as some very intense and spirited games of Spoons. Whether we were watching nearly 100 kids doing a crazy relay Race, teaching younger kids about Jonah and prayer, or just hanging out at the hub you could see God everywhere!
Our final month in Africa was Namibia. Location is a little bit more difficult to explain this time. We were originally placed in a city called Oshakati up on the northern border between Namibia and Angola. We spent a few days there with a beautiful woman of God named Rebekka. You could tell from listening to her speak that she loves God and is so passionate about her ministry. God’s plan however was not for us to stay there. Due to some safety concerns we were removed. This month we really saw God provide on crazy levels. When we left Oshakati we didn’t know where we were going or what we were going to do when we got there. Eventually God led us to Okahandja a town about 30ish minutes outside of Windhoek staying and working with Joan and Dieter who were connected to Emmanuel Church. Emmanuel Church was hosting one of our other teams and was gracious enough to take us in. With Joan and Dieter we spent our time helping in preschools in the mornings. Joan works with 27 preschool, doing everything from setting curriculum to just helping out in the classrooms to helping them get materials. Through them we were also introduced to a couple who also does mission work in Okahandja, Derek and Esther. They took over taking us to preschool ministry and showed us their ministry while Joan and Dieter were in South Africa for a wedding. Derek is an American and his wife is Zambian. Their family has lived in Namibia for many years. We spent time with a group of street boys that Derek has been working with for several years, helped serve several hundred men, women, and children at a soup kitchen, and spent an amazing evening dancing, singing and learning about teenagers in the Bible with a group of 50 girls between the ages of 13 and 18. It was honestly a humbling month that was filled with joy, laughter, flexibility, and change. The process of learning what it means to truly let go and rely completely on God to provide.
Wow, Africa… It was definitely an experience. I learned so much over those three months. Ministry is a big piece of our time and is a large part of our purpose in being on the Race, but it is not all of it. While I learned and experienced so much during our time doing ministry I have learned even more about myself, my team, and God through spending time with God in prayer, worship, journaling, and so much more which I have done my best to share with you through out our three months there. We headed into our final continent with new outlooks on life and an ever deeper relationship with the Father. I’m going to deviate from the topic of Africa for just a minute to let you know what my team is doing this month in Malaysia. We are doing what we can UH or Unsung Heroes. What this means is that we are searching for church, organizations, and ministries that are not yet World Race host, but might be interesting in hosting a team in the future. We are doing a lot more traveling this month and are facing a lot more unknowns. We are focused on what God has for us. While AIM has given us regions to focus on we are completely Holy Spirit led as to when and where we go. It is a continuation of our lessons in trusting Him completely for provision and for guidance. Please pray for my team as we go forward in this month.
