I wrote this about....3 months ago.This joy that I share is overdue. Regardless, my heart has not changed. Here is a little synopsis of my Kenyan journey :)
When I left for Kenya I had no idea what to expect. All I
knew is that I had one month to mentally, physically, and spiritually prepare
for an adventure to the other side of the world with a girl that I barely knew
better than a name. I thought to myself,” Go big or go home.” I knew I had to
go. I knew God would provide the funds, and I knew that meant leaving behind my
ministry at New Covenant for almost an entire summer. That last part was the
most difficult. Leaving behind my Asylum kids? That seemed unbearable. Glenn
felt the same way. But Like I said, I knew I had to go. I didn’t know why. But
I went .
So here I am on the other side of my adventure with a girl
who I now know WAY better than just a name! In case you were wondering, her
name is Alexi. And yes, we became best friends almost instantly. I keep trying
to decide if we are better friends or teammates, but then I just give up and
settle for a tie because we are so awesome at both, if I do say so myself.
As I sit here and try to figure out what story would be best
to share with you all, I just can’t stop thinking about Alexi and how much her
partnership meant to me. It was truly a God-ordained partnership. I know that
you all want to hear about the Lions that we saw on safari and how beautiful
the red clay was as it backed up to the swaying green coconut trees and bright
blue sky. And let me just say, we certainly had a true African experience out
there between the crammed bus rides, giant spiders that wanted to share the
bedroom with us, showering in little coconut huts, and desperately trying to
learn Swahili so that we could buy vegetables from the market… but isn’t it the
relationships that matter most? If you want to know more what Africa is like, Google
would be a great place for that… or you can ask me later. But if you want to
know my heart and what really happened in Kenya, that is the story that you
just heard.
Being thrown into another culture alone is scary, but with
your best friend…no big deal! Let’s do this! The people over there are so
enthusiastic about their faith and worshiping the Living God whom they know has
saved them. God reveals Himself so much to the people in Kenya through healing
of sickness. We saw that over and over again. Alexi and I thought it was a
little ironic that God would reveal Himself to us through healing also. When we
left America, we were both sick as dogs. A friend reminded me that it would be
a great opportunity for us to heal together. So we healed physically from our
sickness, but God wasn’t finished there. You know how God is. He wants the
heart. He wants to redeem. And He did. He led us to in partnership to deal with
insecurities, questions about faith and questions about life. Not only did God
work in us, but He worked through us. Because you know, God loves to work
through the broken. And aren’t we all broken?
We saw the hope of Bryson’s ministry restored. We saw women
who seemed so closed and reserved open up to us and weep upon our departure. We
saw teachers over-joyed by simply our presence. These are only the things that
we saw. Who knows what else God did in their lives. We planted seeds out of our
brokenness, through the grace of God, and into their brokenness. And on top of
it all, I got to do this all with a girl that God had set aside to be one of my
best friends. Isn’t it great that God has greater plans for us than our own
plans for ourselves? I think so.
Because of faith,
"Thankful"
