Week one

In the days that have passed since when I left until now, I cannot possibly fit all of my new experiences in this post, but I'll try to explain some of my favorite things and memories so far.

The Gable family…

Andy and Stephanie are the missionaries I am working under and living next to. They have been so welcoming and hospitable, showing me around town, getting me settled in to the guest house where I am staying, and introducing me to many new friends at the clinic where I will be working.  I am excited to learn more of their work that they do here and ways they are reaching out to the community. Then there’s their kids! There are five of them. They are beautiful, sweet, thoughtful, energetic, and crazy all rolled into one bunch of siblings, and they really make me laugh. Oh yes, and throw in the 2 dogs and 5 puppies that live in and run around the yard. There is never really a dull moment here.

Embracing the things that are different...

Getting used to cockroaches in the house and hearing mice scampering in the ceiling at night. Concerning things I am more excited about, there is the challenge of learning another language with all its ups and downs. Being able to go to the bread store to get fresh baguettes, buying food at the busy and crowded outdoor market. I find myself thinking what my professors from school would say, the ones who taught me entire classes on food safety, as I buy fruits and vegetables with flies swarming all over them, mostly just attracted to the vendors selling raw animal parts a few rows down. But I will just have to unlearn some of my food safety education because I love the experience of buying grilled plantains and acheke from stands on the side of the road.

Fri Feb 14....

First day at the clinic, learning how to take blood pressure and possibly more to come. Apparently anyone on the clinic staff is allowed to learn how to do things like take blood and give shots. I will stick to taking blood pressure for now. In the afternoon, Andy, me and another young man from town named Yaya drive about 45 minutes away to a little village in the bush, where they share bible stories a few times a month. While there I get to meet the Muslim chief of the village. He sits there on His blanket smiling and smiling, wishing us blessings and thanking us for coming. I loved sitting in the village as we read through Acts 13 and 14 with the handful of people who have come, the ones who have grown to like this God of the Bible and the Jesus that saves. As we read people ask questions and Andy answers them.  In French, the one man talks about how this Jesus is very interesting. It is interesting that believing in Jesus is not about what you have to do to be saved, he says. That unlike any other god, this God comes to us. It's not about what we must do but what He has already done.

It is amazing, and I always want to stay in awe of this precious gift. Jesus has paid the price. Now He invites people, everyone and anyone who wants it, to come. Come and have life that is real. He wants the ends of the earth to have the salvation He died for. Please pray for this village, for the people who come to hear and learn about more of Jesus. Pray for Yaya, who wants to follow Jesus but is still counting the very real cost of the effects of following Christ. Here, deciding to follow Jesus often means you will be cut off from your family and community. You risk losing your house, land, husband or wife, and a way of making a living. These problems are great, but our God is greater.

Like Paul wrote in  Romans 8:38, this is our hope...

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Thoughts from the plane ride to Africa

I feel God’s love wrapped all around me sending me off on this journey, through all the people I see in the last week before leaving. The truth sinks in how truly blessed I am to have so many people that I will genuinely miss. My family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, small group girls, and my church family all over Buffalo.

I cannot list them all by name but just hope they know who they are and how much they mean to me, these people who I would not be the same without. The people who love, encourage, teach, and guide me, laugh with me and inspire me. The ones who sent me off with cards, food, friendship bracelets, books, love, and prayers. I treasure each one of those gifts and am so thankful to have these reminders with me of the people that I love.

Sitting here thinking of the adventure before me, I realize that this adventure is not really starting now. This adventure actually started the day I gave my full “Yes” to Jesus. My “Here it is,You can have it, I don’t want it, yes yes yes to whatever you have God. I only make a mess of things and I have no idea what I’m doing so take it, take my pathetic personal attempt at life and please Jesus make it something beautiful to You”. That was about 3 years ago.

Now I am going somewhere where I have no idea what to expect. I do not know how I am going to help people that need help or what anything will be like there. But I know Jesus and am happy to realize how much I need Him, thankful that He promises to always be enough. He has never let me down before, and even when I was unaware I have never walked one step of my life alone. I know this is not the beginning. This is just one more “yes” to Jesus, one more reply to His overwhelming grace in my life, one step deeper into a love that makes it near impossible not to take another step forward.

A few hours before my plane lands, I am exhausted but resting in God's beautiful words, proclaiming all that He is...

"You hold me by my right hand. You will guide me with Your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I should desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever" [Psalm 73:23-26]

Hut lovers

Saying goodbye to people is making this real. I am torn between leaving all of the amazing people in my life and the excitement of the unknown adventure that lies ahead.

Hanging out with my Pizza Hut family for the last time tonight before I go, I thank God for letting me know and work with them all, these people that I share life with and have for the past 3 and a half years.

The late nights, the crazy rushes, the hours that can pass without a single customer, the days that seem like they will never end. Working too much for too little with some of the hardest-working people I know, although anyone rarely notices or gives them any credit.  In all the chaos of that place, with the precious memories there that are too many to count, basically there’s something about working together there that just bonds you. We’ve seen the best and worst sides of each other but all I can say is that it is real and that is what I love most about it.

I love it also because I see Jesus there. I see Him in the mess of our lives, bringing peace into the hectic days. I think of how Jesus is more than capable of being able to relate to this work on the especially bad days. Serving without getting noticed or appreciated, being taken advantage of and looked down on. I love it that in any situation, He can understand. This was His life and more.

As I drive home I look at the bracelet Annie gave me as a going away gift, the glittery cross across my wrist, and I think of my Jesus. How unworthy I am to share the news of His beautiful grace with the world. Here and everywhere I go. Any words I say could never describe how Jesus has changed my life forever. The perfect life He lived for me, exchanging it for my life ruined from the start by sin. He died so I wouldn’t have to, taking what I deserved and inviting me to have the life He earned. He made adoption by God possible, so I am free to live with closeness to God, knowing that He is my Father and I am His daughter. The way God wanted it to be from beginning, for everyone. For us to be His own.

Being truly set free, that is the gift of Jesus. That is why I desire so much to live a life that is beautiful to Him. That is why I have to tell people about Him. This news is too important, this new life is too good to keep quiet about, the news that there is One who saves.