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“All powerful, Untamable; awe-struck we fall to our knees and humbly proclaim, You are Amazing, God!”
Many thanks to Chris Tomlin to help me come close to explaining our reflections on Africa! And many, many, MANY thanks to each of you for praying, giving, encouraging, and praying again for this trip. We went to be whatever help we could in whatever ways we could; we return far more rewarded than we deserve! Truly, our God IS an awesome God!
We saw the devastating poverty of post-apartheid townships in South Africa. We walked through Masiphumele township; through running sewage and ditches filled with garbage, past shacks made of cardboard boxes & plastic bags, carefully reaching out to 1 and 2 year old children whose primary occupation is picking through the trash piles to find scraps of food or eggs the chickens have laid. And we were broken in humility when the 35+ member choir from the Masiphumele Baptist Church sang “Jesus, More Precious than Gold” during the concert intermission. The depths from which they sang were unfathomable to us; the glimpse of Heaven they gave us was unlike anything we’d ever known.
Once in Kenya, we visited high schools crowded with 45-50 students per classroom in buildings without benefit of electricity or running water. The students’ tattered uniforms were clean and tidy; as a teacher, I’ve never met students so eager to learn – traveling two hours each way to attend packed classes at a school that provides them with 3 meals and water to take home to the tiny siblings they’re raising, these young men and women lead worship for each other every day before classes begin. The teachers – many of them men who feel God calling them to be the Baba/Daddy their students have lost – donate their time or are paid in bartered services; even the public school teachers make less than $300 per year. We had the privilege of visiting an orphanage that is home to over 40 orphans, 15 day students, and four members of the best football (soccer) team in the province (they’re the only ones on the team who’ve been playing barefoot; we made sure they wouldn’t have to play that way again). The couple that oversees the orphanage are responsible for over a thousand children in 12 orphanages spread over 4 provinces; they set each one up licensed with the Kenyan government (this ensures integrity in their homes and the best benefits for the children) and invite school teachers from all over the states to apply for summer volunteer opportunities (two teachers from a Jewish day school in New York city were finishing up a four week stay the day we were there). The couple’s own children go to school with the orphans each day. It was amazing to see the faith of the director & his wife, the house mothers who live with the children, the social worker who rescues the abandoned from police stations, city buses, tenant houses, and street corners (imagine a 3 year old girl, left on a city bus for over 4 hours before anyone, including the driver, realized she’d been abandoned).
Over the course of the trip, we saw over 400 people come to know Christ and be put in the care of amazing churches run by their own neighbors who are now able to provide for their physical needs as well as the spiritual. We gave out enough school supplies for every orphan at the orphanage and many orphaned teens scattered throughout the schools we visited. We provided two large luggage pieces filled with clothing for the students we met; we were able to replace a dozen neighborhood footballs, made of rolled plastic bags & packing tape, with real balls that read “Jesus Loves Me” in every national language in the world. We were able to provide enough funds for an entire school full of children to have their fees and uniforms paid for the year. And probably what struck home the most, we were able to leave any clothing, shoes, Bibles, books, or supplies from our own luggage before we left. Without meaning to sound trite, it was a joy to carry bags emptied of the things that don’t last in exchange for carrying hearts full of the things that do. The students from our youth group were absolutely amazing; they brushed away tears from students’ faces in schools and flies away from babies’ hands in the orphanage without condescension or pity. It was a privilege to serve with a group so young and yet so brave.
And just so you know, our angels had a WONDERFUL time while we were gone – they had VBS at my sister-in-law’s church and then daily swimming lessons, so we came home to two very happy little fish! The sweetest moment of our lives was grabbing them up at the church when we got back and hearing them both talk 90-to-nothing about all they’d done and how they’d missed us. We both cried and squeezed them in bear hugs and listened to the music of our babies’ laughter.
Again, thank you for your prayers and your encouragement. To those of you who also gave us supplies and clothes, please know that your sacrifice brought huge smiles, silent tears of gratitude, and the freedom for hundreds of school children to continue their education (there are 15 year olds who are one notebook, one pencil, a change of clothes, and $30 away from having to forego an education and work street vendor jobs to support themselves and their families).
We are grateful; so very, very grateful!
Today has been an INCREDIBLE day! We had ladies’ Bible study at my mentor’s home. Let me tell you, GOD SHOWED UP! And we LOVED it! There is nothing, NOTHING sweeter than His presence!
We’ve been going through the book, Lies Women Believe and the Truth that Sets them Free by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Elisabeth Elliot. Now, let me just admit that I don’t actually own this book; I came in late on the study (hence, I haven’t bought it) and we are stretched at the moment (hence, I haven’t bought it). So, I’ve been benefitting from what I remember for reading snippets of the book and from the awesome Bible study that my mentor has been presenting. Today we discussed lies about our emotions. Oh, let me tell you how I KNEW I needed to be there! Seriously, I couldn’t sleep last night, so I worked on stuff for next week (more about that later) and I called my best friend (and accountability partner) this morning to commit verbally to someone else that I would be going to Bible study!
The three main lies we discussed about emotions today were, “My emotions cause me to do unwise things, so they must be sinful,” “If I feel it, it must be true,” and “I cannot control my emotions.” We read II Corinthians 10:5 and discussed that no one “makes” us feel anything; what we feel is just that — what we feel; the conduct we allow to flow from those feelings is our CHOICE. Joyce Meyer said it completely, “Your mind, your will, and your emotions — when was the last time any of them told you the Truth?” No matter what my mind thinks about how my heart feels or how strongly I want it, I DO have a choice. Ultimately, I am in control.
Proverbs 25:28 says, “Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.” How often do I feel vulnerable, broken down, available for attack, unguarded, unable to defend myself? All the time if my emotions are out of balance! Self control is required to develop into fullness of our personalities. I appreciate that self-control is key to avoiding sin, thwarting attack, and drawing nearer to God. Self-control enables me to see the temptation, maybe even feel its pull, and turn to God for His already prepared escape. Self-control denies Satan any foothold when he comes at me with whispered lies and wicked half-truths because I am disciplining myself to recount the deeds of the LORD and walk according to His Word. And at every turn, I am drawing closer to Him; ever closer, every day.
Naturally speaking, there’s nothing in me that wants to be under control.
There is only that passion to have control.
We saw a clip of a video by Nicole Johnson who travels with Women of Faith; she said something that hit like a jackhammer on eggshells: “When anything becomes everything to us, it quickly becomes nothing.”
Nothing. All my striving for control of everything else results in a total lack of self-control, and life running away from me like a team of wild horses bucking to escape ill fitting reins.
So today, what did I learn about my emotions? That truly my heart is deceitful above all else and beyond cure. I need a new heart. So God, in His infinite mercy, removed my heart of stone and gave me a heart of flesh. This doesn’t mean that I don’t try to walk in the old heartbeat sometimes; I do all too often. I allow the feel of the old rhythm to guide my steps rather than the still small beat He has given me. What do I reap from my old rhythm? A life completely out of step. I’m now marching to my own beat — and it must be right, so everyone should march to it — and my steps don’t match with anyone, especially God. What do I reap from His new beat? A walk with my Abba, Father. The joy of dancing on top of His shoes. And in the waltz I share with Him, I find I’m really too busy to make anyone else march. In fact, I just want them to join me in the dance. The feeling is unmistakable freedom. Pure joy. The peace of abandon.
Well, here it is world; I’m making a new commitment, both to God and to myself. No more up and down fluctuation; as best as it depends on me, I will live at peace with all men — and today, that starts with myself.
Daddy, my feet hurt from marching and my throat is sore from barking orders for my family and friends to maintain cadence. Heavenly Father, may I have the honor of this dance?
I love You; thank You for loving me.
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