Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Tangible Jesus, Intangible Faith: Reflections from my trip to Africa


I figure it is about time for me to write something. It’s been awhile and not because I haven’t had much to write about. I got back about a week ago from a two and a half week trip to Africa. It is amazing how much this trip taught me and broke me in such a short amount of time. It hardly seems possible.

It’s taken me awhile to put together this post because God did something so amazing and tangible while I was on my trip, but I’ve been struggling with putting all the stories together because as I was reflecting on the trip I was overwhelmed with all that God did. I started thinking about why I was overwhelmed and it was all because of people I met or tangible experiences reflecting Christ, but what about all the intangible things? There are so many weeks I just wish seconds away at work or in other places without seeking God in every moment.

I guess in a way its easy to go to Africa because I prepared my heart to go. I was completely open and flexible and ready to do anything. I was ready to hold babies, which before the trip completely terrified me. I was ready to sit down and talk with people about my faith no matter what time of day because I was focused on serving Christ in each moment and asking that He would use me.

But before I get into all that more I want to reflect over some of the things God did when I went on this trip and opened my heart up to what He wanted to do…

The whole reason I went on this trip actually started when I was four years old. This lady came to my church and talked in children’s church about the power of prayer. She encouraged us that we could pray for the most obscure things and God would hear us. We could pray for any person in any place and our God is big and strong enough to listen and answer our prayers. My mind started wandering and I started thinking about the people and places God loves. For some reason I decided I should pray for someone in Africa. I went home from church and told my mom. I’m sure she thought it was a nice thought, but it probably seemed pretty odd that a four year old would really be serious about that. Well, over the years I kept a prayer journal for this woman in Africa. I didn’t have a name or know much about her, but I prayed over her for God to provide for her. I prayed specific Scriptures over her. When I was twelve, I walked away from my faith and didn’t keep praying for her. In fact I kind of forgot about it.

Last fall as I was spending time in my devotions and prayer, I really felt the Lord calling me to go on a mission trip. Honestly, I always thought it would be a waste of money. I mean what good could a two-week trip to another country actually do? Do the effects really last longer than two weeks?

But I kept getting that calling and this trip to Africa, to Zambia, kept sticking out to me. I applied for the trip, got accepted, and over the months before the trip the money came together. I knew God wanted me to go. I was reminded of that journal I kept and the woman I prayed for when I was a kid. As I was preparing for the trip I felt like I was going to meet her, but I didn’t want to be crazy or think about it a lot or build up expectations in my mind so I figured if God wanted me to meet her and know it was her then I would know.

Then I left for Zambia. I was completely clueless, excited, and unaware of what God was going to do.

The first thing that hit me was when I was on our second overnight flight. I had been awake for over twenty-four hours because I don’t sleep well on planes. I was sitting there thinking about all the different types of people and places we were flying over. How in the world could God keep track of all of these people and places? How in the world could He love every single one of them? I was so jet lagged and exhausted traveling through all these places and yet God doesn’t need rest. That’s because He is outside time. That struck me in a new way because I saw how much I needed Him because He was outside of time. I had to depend on Him for energy and strength because when we arrived in Zambia it was 7am there (12am at home) and we started helping right away with a milk and medicine distribution.

I guess I should explain what we were doing in Zambia and who I was with. I went on this trip with 7 other women. Six of us are students at MidAmerica. The other two were the mom and aunt of the student leader of the trip. We stayed at the House of Moses in Zambia, which is a transitional home. A transitional home is like an orphanage. It houses kids whose parents have passed away, abandoned them, or couldn’t afford to keep them. A transitional home works to rebuild relationships between kids and their families, administer adoptions, or raise kids throughout their lives. What separates a transitional home from an orphanage is that its goal is first to restore relationships and create long-term establishments for kids. House of Moses is part of the organization Alliance for the Children Everywhere. It is one of three transitional homes for this organization in Zambia. It houses infants and babies up to age two. We stayed here as there is housing for mission trip teams that come frequently to help with the babies, other kids at the other homes, and distribution sites. We worked at the Bill and Betty Bryant Home, which houses kids from age two to age six. We also went to schools that are associated with the Alliance for Children Everywhere. Then we took part in distributions for the Milk and Medicine project, where we handed out food and clothing to families that qualified for special aid.

The first couple days were a little surreal. Everything in Africa looked exactly like I imagined or like pictures I had seen. It was hard to believe I was actually there.

One of my favorite days was going to church and hearing all the amazing worship. We heard from over five choirs and it was over an hour into the service before we got to what was listed in the bulletin as the “Praise and Worship” part of service. One of my favorite parts of the service was the prayer time. Everyone would pray out loud in different languages. It was awesome to see a congregation of people praying openly in different languages to the same God. The church loves visitors, so I went up and spoke for a couple minutes. I thanked the church for having our team and talked about the character of God. I talked about the concept that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. I got to express how great a privilege it was to be in a different part of the world worshiping the same God and getting to be united by the blood of Christ as brothers and sisters.

Once again, I was seeing how God is outside of time.

Throughout two weeks, I got over my fear of holding babies. I spent lots of time holding little babies who had been abandoned and deeply needed love. I spent time talking with students at schools who walked miles without shoes because they valued their education. I talked to moms of sick babies who were the same age as me. I met orphans wearing Toms shoes. I got really sick and stayed in bed for two days. I met boys wearing pink shirts that said things like “girly girl” or “mama’s girl” because that was all they had. And I fell in love with a little four-year old boy at the Bill and Betty Bryant home.

I’ll never forget the day we went to the Bryant home for the first time. There is a guy on staff at the House of Moses to be the host for the mission trip teams. His name is Kevin and is originally from Canada but he married a Zambian woman and lives in Zambia with his wife Matilda and their son Ty. Kevin ate almost all our meals with us, drove us around, and taught us everything about the culture. On the way to the Bryant home, he asked if one of us would hold his son Ty. The whole way Ty cried. As soon as we stopped Kevin picked up Ty and Ty stopped crying. He had been crying because he wanted his daddy. Right after that we walked into the Bryant home and all these tiny kids ran up to us with their arms up. They all wanted to be held and tickled and kissed. It was there I met the sweetest little guy. I’ll call him Peter. He had the sweetest smile and was ready to be cared for. There was barely any crying while we were there and it was when Peter fell asleep on me that I got to thinking what this little guy’s life was going to be like. Would he be fed well throughout his life? Would he have a home? Would he go to school? Would he get adopted by loving parents? Would he have brothers and sisters? Would he grow up to be an honest man? Would he love Jesus? It was in that moment I thought of Ty and how lucky he was to have a dad like Kevin. He gets to cry out to his daddy until he picks him up. Who would Peter cry out to? Who on earth would reflect his heavenly Father to him? My heart broke for this little boy every time I saw him because I see myself in him. I see Peter’s need for a father and for love just like I need my Father and His love. And it’s because of this Father’s love that I so deeply wanted to show His love to Peter.

The next thing that broke my heart was visiting a high school called Helen Devos. We talked with students in grade twelve about what they wanted to do in life. We talked about our faith and who we wanted to be when we “grew up”. After we talked to these incredibly intelligent students, we sat and talked with three students from grade nine who stayed after school to talk to us. One of the boys shared with us his hardships in life and how he came to know Christ as his Savior. He asked us all questions like what we looked forward to when we get to heaven. The girl sitting with us told us that her father told her when she got to heaven the size of her house would reflect what she did for God on earth. She said that even though her home on earth is very small, she hoped that she would find a mansion waiting for her in heaven. After that, one of the boys asked what we all liked to do for fun. I said running. Someone else said traveling. Another girl said watching movies. And one of the grade nine boys said he liked to read his Bible. He kept talking and His love for God became so evident in everything he was saying. I had this conviction not that running was wrong but that I didn’t value God in the same way this boy did. He loves God so much that he would love nothing more than to spend his free time with Him. His reverence for the Lord was deep and something I realized I long for on a day-to-day basis, not just when I go across the world. And it started hitting me just how the words I say and everything I do has a chance to reflect Christ and I don’t always take that opportunity. I don’t always extend grace as I should, or hold my tongue on what things I say like I should, or find the extra moments expressing praise and love for God as I should.

Why? Why don’t I give God the glory He deserves? Why did I see His glory so clearly in this place? Because I was looking for a tangible God. I was looking for a crazy story to tell about an experience, but experiences never satisfy. If they did then only one of these crazy experiences would have satisfied. What lasts is the peace of God and it lives in the hearts of all Believers. In Zambia, I noticed that people there don’t pay attention the clothes or makeup I wear, but they look at the heart. They sing beautifully with such passion and admiration of the Father. They speak with such deep faith of the Father. They live with such servant hearts, looking for ways to serve people who have many more possessions than they do.

But it was really in one woman that I met in Zambia who reflected the kind of faith and love that I want to reflect. Her name is Ruthi. She was one of the cooks at House of Moses. Right when I met her, I had tremendous respect for her because her love for people and God is so evident. I randomly walked into the kitchen and offered my help for little things that led to conversations about our lives and our faith. One day I asked her what it was that made her believe that God loved her. She told me about many of the hardships she had gone through in her life. She said that she had a heart of steal that she no longer wanted. She wanted to trade in all the hate and bitterness for a heart full of love and grace. She wanted to love everyone. She said one night in the midst of hardship she prayed for God to reveal Himself in a unique and beautiful way. The next morning she woke up with Scripture in her head and the feeling that someone was praying for her. It happened again many times and she knew she needed to pray for the person praying for her. Over time she sensed this person was far from God and started praying for her salvation. I asked her when that was and it lined up to when I walked away from my faith. That is when I knew. Ruthi was the woman I prayed for when I was four years old. And Ruthi prayed for my salvation. I told her about my prayers and she told me she had been waiting a long time to meet me. We hugged and prayed and cried. Over the couple weeks I was there I learned so much from this wonderful woman. In the mornings she would tell me what Scriptures she was reading and we’d share together. We shared things to pray for and our addresses to write each other.

The story of Ruthi reflects nothing of two humans but all of one incredible God that unites all Believers across all cultures to His self. Ruthi is such a beautiful tangible example of God’s love and grace to me, but it is a tangible example because of intangible faith.

It is only when we seek the Lord continually that we live with His peace. His peace is such that it transcends all culture, language, time, or any boundary.

It is through being sure of what I hope for and certain in the things that I do not see (Hebrews 11:1), that I got a little taste of Heaven- life that has no boundary or sadness. I say it is only a taste because many things I saw reflected Christ, but many things I saw reflected brokenness. I got to know a little boy who has the sweetest smile and spirit, but I got to know him because of the brokenness that brought him to the Bryant home. I got to see the beauty of Christ reflected in students at Helen Devos and the workers at the House of Moses because of the hardships that have deepened their faith in Christ.

It is through trusting in the Lord, I hope to reflect Christ. I can’t wait to know Him in all His glory some day, where there is no boundary to his love in all His people.

"Seek The Lord and His strength. Seek his presence continually"
-1 Chronicles 16:11