Africa

I wish that I could tell you that being in Africa was everything that I had hoped it to be and that I loved every minute of it. The truth is, being in Africa was the hardest time of my life. I had such a romanticized idea of what it would be like to bring hope to the hopeless and to comfort those who mourn. I had no idea just how hopeless the nations were and just what people suffer through every day. Also, being white, we were automatically placed in a position of power. Our words had more worth to them merely because we were blessed with everything we were born into.
Being the first time I had ever led a team, it was hard to come to the realization that this time was more for them than anything else. We are only in a place for a couple weeks at a time, and it was so incredibly hard to move from one suffering population to the next without seeing any fruit of our works. My hope was that at least one of us would develop a vision in the short time and return to the same place: that God would speak so clearly that one day we would be face to face again with those we had worked with. I am still praying, but I know that I must trust these nations in God's hands.
Our vision was to encourage the believers, work with children, and use soccer as a way to develop relationships. We had a few ministries and locations planned out, but we wanted to be able to go where God wanted to lead us. We had the vision to live by faith knowing that we can only offer words of hope, truth, encouragement, and most of all life. Christ was really all we had to offer, and even though everything else is meaningless in comparison, imagine what it is like to tell someone in the midst of suffering to merely believe.
"How did we get to be born into such privilege, while these people suffer?" Many times I would be asked this question and I can tell you that I have no idea what the answer is. I just know that the God I love and serve, is much bigger than I could ever imagine Him to be. He exists outside my concept of time, of suffering, of meaning. He is completion and He merely asks me to trust. Nothing goes without reason, and I know that I am blessed. I will not stop speaking of His promises.