So, if the first half of my trip back to Africa stretched my bow beyond what I thought capable, the second half relaxed the bow and allowed me to reflect on the places my arrow had flown and hit over the last 7+ years as a missionary. Going back was of course "the same, just different".
It was the same in the way that the people and places were familiar. There were cows in the road. I was able to "hoot" my horn (you don't "honk" in Africa). I was able to return to being comfortable driving on the left side of the road and to stop when the "robot" (stop light) turned red. I was able to enjoy butternut and feta cheese and "beet root" (I was corrected twice for referring to it as only "beets"). It was different in that my "grace" was gone and it was no longer where I belong.
Let me explain. Something I learned as a missionary is that if you don't answer a call on your life you will be miserable because something will always be "missing". But when God calls you to do something, He gives you the grace to do it. It is that grace that helps you to overcome cultural differences, environmental differences and a supernatural peace about the distance from the family and friends you love. That doesn't mean being a missionary or doing anything God calls you to do is easy, it just means you have the grace to endure it with a sense that you are exactly where you are suppose to be. Even as seen below as I joined my Nelspruit church cell group dinner and we had to eat by candlelight because of "load shedding" (rotating electricity outages) during our scheduled event.
My lack of "grace" for Africa didn't mean I was miserable being back... hardly. It was more a sense that my unexpected life as a missionary in Africa had come to an end. When God called me, being a missionary was no where on my radar but at the same time, once I was in the "field" I never expected not to still be one. This trip allowed me to reflect and fully grasp that the era had come to an end. I'm sure, like you, we try to live a Christian life that reflects Him. We don't always succeed and we rarely realize what impact we have had but over time we hopefully can look back and see that we are reflecting Him better than we use to. This half of my trip was realizing the lessons God had taught me, mainly that what is the light of His kingdom is relationships more than my actions. I was fortunate to be able to see that my relationships impacted not only me in a positive way but also helped others draw closer to God. I have to say I grew leaps and bounds in being relational while I lived in Africa. The culture puts much more emphasis on relationships than anything else. It takes precedence over time and/or even financial constraints!!! I'm speaking beyond family and sometimes includes complete strangers.
"Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
John 13:35
Sometimes I wonder if this one truth is why He had me in Africa. (Actually it is probably one of many reasons God needed me to leave my old life so I could focus on Him.) While I was in Swaziland and South Africa I might not have been able to see everyone I wanted but I had the peace that I saw the ones that were meant for me to hug in person. Regardless of physical touch there are people and memories from my "era" that have impacted me and touched my life. People and memories that drew me closer to God, showed me His love, confirmed His presence in the hard and unexplainable times, taught me to trust more, love deeper and obey Him above all else. The physical "era"of being a missionary in Africa might have finished (which also means another "era" is beginning), but I thank God for all of you that I had the privilege of doing "life" with and the ripples of change and inspiration you have been in my life will continue to enable me to minister to others.
(The pictures posted below are not all or just the "important" people but a handful of the ones that I had the presence of mind to remember to take. LOL!)
Let me explain. Something I learned as a missionary is that if you don't answer a call on your life you will be miserable because something will always be "missing". But when God calls you to do something, He gives you the grace to do it. It is that grace that helps you to overcome cultural differences, environmental differences and a supernatural peace about the distance from the family and friends you love. That doesn't mean being a missionary or doing anything God calls you to do is easy, it just means you have the grace to endure it with a sense that you are exactly where you are suppose to be. Even as seen below as I joined my Nelspruit church cell group dinner and we had to eat by candlelight because of "load shedding" (rotating electricity outages) during our scheduled event.
"Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
John 13:35
Sometimes I wonder if this one truth is why He had me in Africa. (Actually it is probably one of many reasons God needed me to leave my old life so I could focus on Him.) While I was in Swaziland and South Africa I might not have been able to see everyone I wanted but I had the peace that I saw the ones that were meant for me to hug in person. Regardless of physical touch there are people and memories from my "era" that have impacted me and touched my life. People and memories that drew me closer to God, showed me His love, confirmed His presence in the hard and unexplainable times, taught me to trust more, love deeper and obey Him above all else. The physical "era"of being a missionary in Africa might have finished (which also means another "era" is beginning), but I thank God for all of you that I had the privilege of doing "life" with and the ripples of change and inspiration you have been in my life will continue to enable me to minister to others.
(The pictures posted below are not all or just the "important" people but a handful of the ones that I had the presence of mind to remember to take. LOL!)
I am so grateful that God loved me enough to call me to serve in Africa and impact me beyond what I could ever imagine.
"Now glory be to God! By His mighty power at work within us, He is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope." Ephesians 3:20
No comments:
Post a Comment