My last week in Africa was a crazy rollercoaster ride. My team and I traveled to the desert to minister to a Masai village. The week was a positive experience but it was definitely full of ups and downs. Here’s a little peak into my week.
Lows:
-I forgot to change out of my shower shoes. So I arrived in the village with cheap foam shoes from Old Navy which did nothing to protect me from the abundance of thistles and thorns that covered the desert floor. Every third step I had to stop and pull the thorns from my feet.
-I forgot to change out of my shower shoes. So I arrived in the village with cheap foam shoes from Old Navy which did nothing to protect me from the abundance of thistles and thorns that covered the desert floor. Every third step I had to stop and pull the thorns from my feet.
-I realized that my “preaching voice” is the same stupid voice contestants use on Wheel of Fortune. Seriously, you have a microphone. Vanna can hear you; you don’t need to yell. And umh, Tomina…there are four people under the tree with you. You don’t need a microphone; you don’t need to yell. They can hear you.
-The wind brought great relief during the day, but was a nuisance at night. The wind blew with such strength at night that I felt I was in the middle of a sand storm. My screen tent did little to protect me. I could never seem to get all the sand out of my tent, and so would resign myself to just sleeping in my sandbox every night.
-It was so hot this week. I felt as though I were tenting directly on the sun. I applied sunscreen hourly and yet I still managed to blister all over my lips. Not only did it look gross but it hurt every time I tried to laugh or smile.
-I was relieved to arrive back at the YWAM base after our week of preaching. I pulled my bag from the trailer only to discover that the gas can had leaked all over my bag. Everything still smells like gasoline.
Highs:
-I was feeling really homesick and lonely during our last seminar. Then a little girl named Happy crawled into my lap, snuggled up against my chest, and fell asleep. It made me feel better.
-I was feeling really homesick and lonely during our last seminar. Then a little girl named Happy crawled into my lap, snuggled up against my chest, and fell asleep. It made me feel better.
-I felt lead to preach about God’s healing power during seminar and I was really nervous. I wasn’t sure how people would respond but my teammates told me it was exactly the encouragement they needed. And the pastor of the church was moved to tears.
-The children are VERY loud during church. So teammate Lindsey and I took the children out for Sunday School. We talked about Psalm 150 and praising God with instruments. Then, each of the children made an instrument out of an empty water bottle. The kids had so much fun performing for their parents when we returned to church. It was so cute; the instruments were louder than their singing!
-There were lots of pregnant goats! I had plans to watch one mother give birth but she birthed her twins so quickly it was over before I got there. The babies were so tiny and adorable. The pastor gave my team one of the baby goats as a gift. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take it with us to India (stupid rules). So, we named the goats, Summera and Wilbur, and left them to be tended by the shepherds. The pastor reassured us that he would email goat updates.
