Book
It’s been a while since I’ve updated you all, so first let me direct you to the book team Alvah wrote in Guatemala last month (now available on Amazon, proceeds to GO! Ministries). Every day we wrote about our thoughts and experiences as we worked with the widows and children of the mountain villages of Xenacoj and Santa Maria.
New Team
After leaving Xenacoj at the end of the month we spent a few days meeting together as a squad in Antigua, Guatemala, where we were all placed on new teams and launched into Africa. My new team is called Elohim, which is a name God uses to describe Himself. It speaks to His authority and power. That only He is the One who creates from nothing. That we need only be still and know that He is Elohim. Our team is excited to be a part of Elohim creating in us and through us. There are links to the blogs of my new teammates on the left panel of this blog if you want to get to know them a little better.
November: Unsung Heroes
Our ministry this month is unique. Our charge is to travel around Zambia discovering ministries who the World Race could send teams to in the future. We’ve met with many amazing people, and received much grace. We are extra aware of the costs of life, and God’s one-of-a-kind budget. Revenue can look many ways when you own the cattle on a thousand hills, if you know what I’m sayin’. One ministry we visited this week was an orphanage and school for 19 Zambian boys and girls, called New Day Orphanage. For the price of a loaf of bread New Day Orphanage was born onto 66 acres of Zambian bushland. The local chieftain of the land enjoyed the bread. For the price of four cows a man can be married.
Spiritual Growth
We discovered many ministries of excellence. We were encouraged by the dreams that sustain them every day. But sometimes I feel disconnected from home and forgotten. The feeling makes me want to remain silent, devaluing the power of sharing my experiences. There’s a cost to leaving home that can’t be denied. But there’s also invaluable reward.
I’ve also been beaten down into the lie that short term missions are emotionally driven, selfish and without lasting impact. I’ve felt ill-equipped to be here. Worthless. Unneeded. Discouraged. And then I met Chewe, a young mother born with HIV who’s currently fighting TB. She knows all about counting the costs. She knows what it looks like to love and fight for what’s of great value. She told me about her conversations with God, sometimes angry but in the end bringing peace to her situation. She told me about her sweet three year old daughter Gertrude, the only thing she’s really living for. And I was encouraged to keep fighting. Saying yes to the Lord and to His Kingdom, that’s the ONLY thing that makes a lasting impact. In our short time in each country, we are encouraging for those who are open to being encouraged. We are helpful to those who want to be helped.
Last, I have grasped that “the woman I want to be” isn’t 10 years away. She’s here. Now. I don’t have to labor after an identity, or wait for it to come to me. Already I am selfless. I am joyful. This woman loves fiercely and speaks boldly. She sees the children, the sick and the abandoned as of greater value than her own self, because they are the treasures God is raising up to His side. I am a woman who hears God calling up everyone who will listen and asking them to GO. Help my son. Feed my daughter. Comfort. Clothe. Please.
Let me wrap up this jumbled update with a quote from the wall at New Day Orphanage:
Today is a new day! You can start fresh, wipe the slate clean. Begin again. Embrace kindness. Practice compassion. Stand up for justice. Talk to strangers. Ask for help. Listen with your whole heart. Offer hope. Work for the common good. Love well. Be the change you wish to see in the world.
